We Don't Say Those Words

I will never forget when I was working in a special education classroom as a paraprofessional and we had just gotten a new student. The student had only been in our classroom about two days and he was a student with Autism. I was at a table working with some of the children and the teacher was working one on one with a student and the principal came into our classroom with some visitors from our district office. If any of you know much about children with Autism they often speak their minds and don’t consider others feelings before speaking. The principal and the lady from the district walked over to the teacher and the student and said something. No sooner than they had stepped away the student looked at the teacher and said “Why are that ladies teeth so big?” The teacher told the little boy to be quite. No sooner than she had said that the student got up and went over to the lady and asked the same question. The then told him “that was unacceptable go sit down.” Later, the principal came back and tried to reprimand not only the student again but the teacher for the child’s behavior and what he had said. The teacher had to get the principal to understand that the student did not realize what he was saying was in appropriate and reprimanding him for such behavior might cause the student not to communicate with others as well. 

When children say inappropriate things I think it is important to have a conversation with them about how certain things could hurt people’s feelings and better ways to say it. However, I don’t think that a student should be silenced for what they are saying because it could cause the child to be more shy and not really speak at all. I think the best way to approach the situation that my teacher was in was to tell the boy to apologize to the lady for interrupting her conversation with the principal, the teacher then should explain to the student that all people are different and that not everyone looks the same. She should have also told him that is it okay to ask questions about why others are different but you have to do it in a polite manner. Parents and Adults need to be role models for children because they often mimic what they are saying. This is why in our society today some children are very polite and others are not it is all what is expected of them and what they are exposed to in their life. It is important as adults that we should not silence children for talking but show them other ways of saying things and asking questions in an appropriate manner.