To me is like someone needs to talk to both the child and parent and if the child needs to be seen by a psychiatrist. it should be done quickly when they are young. Problems like this can be resolved quickly. Also the school is responsible for making sure that the children are safe in school.

It sounds to me like someone needs to talk to this child's parents and the child needs to see a psychiatrist. Regardless, the school is responsible for making sure that the children are safe in school. I don't see this happening. You might want to talk to a lawyer.

OOPS... Are there other parents who have the same concerns that you do? Get them all on board with this. MAYBE more in numbers you can deal with this matter faster, getting better results. Just a thought/idea!

If the Principal REFUSES to do something about this disruptive child WRITE TO YOUR SCHOOL BOARD!

File a WRITTEN complaint - Document everything! Dates, Times, Witnesses etc. Leave no stone unturned. Be vigilant with this matter.

With her LICKING/BITING, it could be considered a HEALTH RISK/HAZARD! Cross contamination of bodily fluids causing health problems in others! Contact your local Health Department and file a complaint with them. Also contact your Intermediate School District alerting them to this Health Risk/Hazard. Keep filing complaints until YOU get satisfaction. Even file/email your State Department of Education, letting them know of this situation.

Demand that this child gets MEDICAL/EDUCATIONAL HELP IMMEDIATELY! Your daughter and the other students DESERVE an undisrupted edcuation.

SOME parents want to deny/ignore their childs possible illness/problem hoping it will go away.

Good Luck with this.

kjdmom,
I don;t know what State you live, but here in Michigan, schools in general are fairly good about it. In our school, children who need special aid, have been provided with whatever is appropriate. In fact, our MEAP results who better than expected from special aid kids.
Having said that, I personally don;t think that the school is simply paying no heed to the parents regarding this girl. If the parents of this girl don;t do anything about it, I believe the Principal will...I was told something she "couldn't" do in 1st grade and able to do in 2nd apparantly!
I would appreciate if you dig up the information from your archives.

wow, Eccentric, in this state that would be considered medical neglect - and something school officials would be required to report to DFS. The school actually is just turning a blind-eye to this situation. Reading the posts on this website really has opened my eyes to what goes on in other districts or other states - whoa - I'll stay right where I am. We have children in our school who started in the district in early childhood due to special needs and go straight to the resource room as kindergartners to get the best education they can right from the start. We have others that go between the mainstream classroom and the resource room - but socially they are okay to be in a larger group of students. What you brought up takes me back to my earlier post about checking out if there is an alternative in your state to having the parents making the educational decisions for a child who obviously needs some extra help. I will look through our district's webpage archives and see if I can find the information and then will post the link.

Last year, many parents went to the Principal to complain about this girl that she needs help. Principal simply said that they are handling it. For next year, the principal said to me that one of the second grade teachers (who is brilliant) has her way with this girl for some reason. The girl's parents are completely blind to the situation. If it turns out that she is as bad as her 1st grade, we may have to submit a written complain. Acoording to the Principal, the girl has not been diagnosed with anything so no special need aid.

I saw this little girl at the cafeteria. She did not touch her food that she had bought. Instead she kept pulling her tooth til I saw blood. I took a few napkins and asked her to stop (which I suppose I shouldn;t cos I was there just as a parent!). The girl sneard at me like and made a sound like a cat! Apparantly, she's like a time bomb that can blow off anytime...not been diagnosed! hummm

I never thought about these issues since I never had to deal with that. However, it turn out that last year, one of the first grade sections had a few students with disruptive behaviour. I'm particularly concerned about on girl who will end up with my son in 2nd grade next year. She's extremely explosive, has fits, has been moved from school to school (private to charter and now to our school). Problem is that her parents don;t think their girl has any problems, and they don;t want any help. She bit her own father in front of my eyes when he came to pick her up, and kicked him in his let's just say very sensitive body part!

As a general rule of thumb, I feel that my kids should learn to be around all kind of children. I feel that's character building. Granted that the girl hasn;t really hurt any other students, she's extremely nasty to everybody, constantly pulls on her teeth til blood comes out, and simply a distraction for everybody.

I guss I'll handle it next year and see if there is any progress in her behaviour at all. At this point, parents have refused to have her evaluated or requested for any help.

My son, who has Asperger's Syndrome, had a 1:1 aide up through 6th grade. If there were other kids in his classroom, the aide would help the other special ed kids, as well. So really, it wasn't 1:1. If my son was the only child in the class with the 1:1, the aide would generally "assist" the teacher during class, meaning handing out papers and assisting other kids if they were having trouble understanding concepts.

I would think that if a child has a serious condition, such as the child you're describing, the 1:1 aide would be "stuck like glue" to that child and not assisting the teacher with other students.

At this point, I would think the question is as you posed originally: Do you move your child to another class, or keep her in the same class with the disruptive student? Since for the time being, your child will be in the same classroom as the other child, is it possible for you to visit the classroom during the day to check out the dynamics of what's going on? That way, you'll be able to document, first hand, what you've seen in the classroom.

Saphria, how old/what grade are the children involved in this situation? I can't understand how a 1:1 aide that's doing their job can't prevent the disabled child from biting other children and taking their belongings. If situations continue to occur, you need to continue to document them, and if the principal isn't responsive, also send a copy to the District Superintendent. From your description, I'm guessing the other child is autistic, but no matter what the other child's disabilities, at no point should that mean that your own child and others feel endangered.

I would like thank those that responded to this question. The child does have a 1:1. Unfortunately the child in question has disabilities and I am not sure of the extent of them. She is unable to speak for starters, appears to be unable to write. In group activities that were sent home other children were expected write, draw and color. This child's pages were obviously created by an adult. My heart goes out to this child but I also have to think of and place my child first. When speaking with the principal regarding this issue I was advised that they are required by law to keep a child in a mainstream classroom for as long as possible and that as the years go on these children spend more time in the resource room and less time in the classroom. How much does a child have to be incapable of doing before most of their day is in a resource room? One would thing that children would preform better in a setting that has been designed to help them. The school is not allowed to discuss with me anything relating to this child, even if it involves my child. A concern that I have is that schools are placing to much emphasis on trying to keep these children in a mainstream classroom so that the school can keep its state funding. I feel that they are not considering the affect that this has on the education of any of the children in the classroom including those that are classified as disadvantaged. I can't imagine even with an aid that a teacher with 20 children can spend the time with this child that the child deserves. If the teacher ,what does that say for the time that she/he is spending with the other children. All children should be treated equally when laws are written regarding education. How many laws are there out there that support children that excel? Everything in my state that I have seen discusses those children in the bottom of the percentages. I was also very glad to hear from 3peasinapod. I must agree that It is a lose lose situation for all children.

As the parent of a special needs, behaviorally challenged child, I have seen both sides of the issue.

It would appear that neither child's needs are being adequately addressed by the school. Your daughter should feel safe in her environment. I would imagine that the other student needs a 1:1 aide and some OT intervention to help with the disruptive and unhealthy sensory issues.

Have you considered reaching out to the parents of that child to see if they are aware of the issues and if they feel the school is supportive of their concerns? It may be that if you team together, you can find a solution for both children and ultimately their classmates as well.

If this is not an option or is not effectual before the new school year, I would have to agree that you should move your daughter. She will have the time to acclimate to the idea of the change AND begin the school year on the right foot with the right environment.

Unfortunately for special needs parents, we often have to choose between "all" or "nothing" in the area of environment and opportunities. If we back down because we feel our child needs more supports to be completely successful, we find our child pigeon-holed. In the end, it hurts our children and their peers. It's a lose-lose situation.

As another poster stated, the disruptive child should have a one-on-one aide with them during school hours, but that is not something within your control. It would probably be best to document what happened, and again request that your child be moved to another classroom based on these past events.

In the original question it says the child is "disadvantaged" - that could have a lot of different definitions. If the child is disabled, a full day in a mainstream classroom doesn't look like the best services to provide for the child. If the child's parents cannot or refuse to be involved in working through this with the school to set up the proper plans and learning environment for the child - some states have a "mentor parent" program - for which people must attend training - but basically allows someone with the training to be the spokesperson for the child in regards to special education needs. You may want to check that out to see if it is available in your area.

Verbal conversations don't "count" when it comes to legal matters. I would encourage you to factually document every single incident that occurs with the other child (date, what happened, who is involved, etc.) and send a written note to the principal, indicating that your child is not being provided with a safe, non-threatening learning environment. While I feel for the disabled child (no kid ever asks to be born with disabilities) I also believe the other child's needs aren't being met....they need a 1:1 aide to more closely monitor and prevent the type of disturbances from happening, and/or they need to be in a different classroom where more supervision is provided.

i understand not wanting to move classrooms b/c she is excited, however...is she really going to be that diassappointed after school has begun and she is making freinds in a new class?

my son was bullied this last year and after several meetings with the school and teacher, still nothing was ever done to protect my child. If i were in your shoes, i would change classrooms.

unfortunatley, i've learned that our kids don't have any rights, despite what the system "says', unless they have a special need, then it seems those kids are exempt from the rules of conduct. That may seem mean towards special needs, and it's really not, it's just the way it seems.