Is soaking the crayons of an autistic child in hot sauce the best way to teach him to stop eating them? Probably not, but neither should it have cost a teacher her job ... or so says a Judge who recently ruled on the case of a Florida teacher who did just that.
In February, special needs teacher Lillian Gomez was fired from her job at Sunrise Elementary School in Kissimmee after she soaked an autistic boy's Play-Doh and crayons in hot sauce in an attempt to get him to stop eating them. She was also accused of force feeding them to him, but she has denied that.
According to WFTV, the school has spent more than $50,000 in attorney fees fighting to keep her out of the classroom, but she hasn't backed down in her quest to get her job back. Friday, a judge recommended that she be allowed to go back to teaching at the school, and parents are outraged.
If she force-fed the student anything that would be one horrific, inexcusable thing. Assuming she just soaked the crayons so that the boy would get a little spicy reminder to keep them out of his mouth, however, doesn't outrage me so much.
I remember being in first grade when a boy wouldn't stop sucking his thumb. The nun teaching the class would repeatedly take his thumb and dip it into his jar of paste. He just started eating it off, so it wasn't very effective, but it was her attempt to help learn a lesson as gag-worthy as it was for the rest of us to watch. I doubt it scarred him for life, and I don't really see this hot sauce incident as much different than that.
Were they model teaching practices? Certainly not, but as far as I can tell neither were done out of anything but good intentions. If that autistic boy had choked to death on a crayon, I'm sure we'd be outraged that the teacher was letting him eat the crayons.
Did she make a bad choice? Absolutely, but I don't think it's a choice that should cost her the job. Mostly, I think it's yet another wakeup call as to how much work there is needed to improve the way we educate autistic children and help those who teach and provide services to them so that they are better equipped to handle their challenging jobs.
Do you think this teacher should get her job back?
Image via Monica's Dad/Flickr
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Comments 49
I'm sorry but she should have talked to the parents about it first, then proceeded with the hot sauce to see if it stopped the kid from eating the crayons. That's how you get kids to stop chewing their nails...and yes it is a completely different story if she used any kind of force. In all reality she should have consulted the parents first.
I'm sorry but she should have talked to the parents about it first, then proceeded with the hot sauce to see if it stopped the kid from eating the crayons. That's how you get kids to stop chewing their nails...and yes it is a completely different story if she used any kind of force. In all reality she should have consulted the parents first.
I am get tried of people try to run over hour autism kids out here. I think because ever one out here think it ok to run all over kids with autism. That ok there day is come and i hope they get the hell bit out of them for do hour specail need kids dirty as hell. I have a autism son and they are no one do him him wrong if they do they get hell to pay because i will hunt them down and take care of them i tell you that. It like ever time i get on here some one is do some thing to a autism kids and i am get trde of it. Some thing need to be done about it now and not while until some thing bad happen then do some thing about it.
Obviously the people who think this was A-OK have had no experience with special needs kids. This teacher should should find a different job, maybe one that doesn't require basic human compassion. Also, consider the fact that the hot sauce would get on his fingers, and fingers go in mouths. Or worse, EYES.
If somebody gave my child, autistic or not, hot sauce in order to "redirect" them from eating crayons, I would be one very pissed off mother. Most places consider "saucing" (and that's what this is!) by parents as abuse but a teacher can do it? No way in Hell! The teacher does not have the right or authority to decide to do something so extreme to a child without the parents' approval. Speaking of the parents, why didn't the teacher work with them, instead of against them and their child, to correct the behavior?
Seriously?? I look at this as more of abuse than trying to 'help' the child. Yes, she should lose her job and not be allowed to work with special needs children again. As the mother of a child with Autism, I am outraged that something like this took place in the classroom. Aside from the fact that you have now put a taste into this child's mouth that could cause him to go into a complete and total meltdown or worse, there are chew toys available for children to chew on like Chew Stixx. They come in many different colors and made for this purpose This is a major sensory issue and definitely needs to be addressed in his IEP. There are way too many methods of distraction and redirection that can be used these days and this child should never have had to go through this.
I wonder if she discussed this plan with the parents before trying it. If I were a parent and out of options, I would probably see this as being a resonable way to get the child to stop... force-feeding is a different story. But just a quick reminder in the spice isn't going to hurt the child.