Expert: Dr. Sharon A. Mitchell - 6/8/2010

Question
Hi,

My eldest son has Aspergers and adhd we have had various problems with school but recently the school want to punish my son for allegedly giving the v sign to support assistant on the playground, the question is should be be placed in what is called inclusion basically a class room sat on his own faced away from other children, he will have his breaks and lunch in this room as well and will only be left out for the toilet, is this lawfull and I dont think the punishment will work.

Regards,

Anthony Pugh

Answer
Hello Anthony,

If your son has a diagnosis of Asperger's then he has intellectual ability in the average to above average range. I am all in favor of such children being included in regular classrooms. These are the same people he will be rubbing shoulders with later on, as long as he acquires the social and independence skills to function as an independent adult.

Perhaps I'm not understanding something in your questions. It seems that you are describing inclusion as a bad thing and as punishment.

Do you mean that he is being placed in his regular classroom but his desk is turned away from the other children as punishment? O

Or that he is spending his breaks in a detention room, with his desk pointed away from the other students?

You don't seem to be questioning your son receiving a consequence for the behavior he chose, but the nature of the consequence, if I am reading you correctly. If so, I agree with you. Consequences, both positive and undesirable are a natural result of our choices. to have a life in mainstream society, your child will need to learn the rules of society and choose to comply with them (whether or not he necessarily agrees with each one).

How old is your son? That will make a difference. The younger the child, the more immediate the consequence needs to be in order for him to make the connection and use that information to guide his future actions. Also, the duration of the consequence is dependent on his age as well. Often for time out we use the rule of thumb of one minute per year of age of the child.

What is the length of time your son's consequence is to last?

Being in this room will likely not drive home the point the school is trying to make. He will need people to discuss it with him, go over what was going on when before he gave the v sign, how he felt, what his choices might have been and the consequences for each possible action. Did his actions get him what he wanted? Was there another way? What could he do in the future? Is there a way to make amends? Is there a chance to practice more appropriate ways of handling the situation the next time it arises?

These are all things you and/or the school could discuss with him. Being a child with an autism spectrum disorder, coupling the talk with visuals would be helpful. Drawing simple stick figures with speech balloons (like in comic strips) is one simple way of doing it.

Best wishes,

Sharon A. Mitchell, B.A., B.Ed., M.A., PhD candidate