RE: Yikes...glad I escaped this.

[Guest guest]

Ugh, how awful. I understand the need to vent, but she shows no

understanding or empathy for the kids she teaches. I don't know why someone

like that even gets into teaching special ed kids, or any kids at all for

that matter!

Norah

>

> Reply-To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 21:16:26 -0800

> To: Aspergers Pride <AS-and-proud-of-it >, AutisticSpectrum

> TreeHouse <AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse >

> Subject: Yikes...glad I escaped this.

>

> I ran across this web journal/blog this evening -- it documents the

> work-life of a special ed teacher to, among other things, high functioning

> autistics.

>

> http://tardblog.com/

> Specific mentions of autism I have found thus far:

> http://tardblog.com/sa/12-20.htm

> http://tardblog.com/sa/1-10.htm

>

> I am SO glad my parents refused to let the district dump me in one of these

> classes. I'm not sure what's more revolting, the teacher's attitude or the

> environment the HFA kids are stuck in. I'm tempted to write her, but

> doubtless the fact that I'm a " tard " means she'd disregard whatever I have

> to say.

>

>

> DeGraf ~*~ http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy

> " Being alone " is not lonely; being with idiots is.

> -- Nanne the Cerulean

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

DeGraf wrote:

> I ran across this web journal/blog this evening -- it documents the

> work-life of a special ed teacher to, among other things, high functioning

> autistics.

>

> http://tardblog.com/

> Specific mentions of autism I have found thus far:

> http://tardblog.com/sa/12-20.htm

> http://tardblog.com/sa/1-10.htm

>

> I am SO glad my parents refused to let the district dump me in one of these

> classes. I'm not sure what's more revolting, the teacher's attitude or the

> environment the HFA kids are stuck in. I'm tempted to write her, but

> doubtless the fact that I'm a " tard " means she'd disregard whatever I have

> to say.

I am having a hard time believing that this could be real. I mean, no one gets

into

special education because they want the big bucks... I have a hard time with

thinking that

someone that thinks this way can really hold a job in special education. There

are hate

sites all across the web, and this is just one more of them. It's not even

worth your

time to reply to it. This is not, as the writer claims, all in fun or humorous

at all.

There is a meannness and an utter contempt in the blogs that is obvious. If

this is

acceptable behavior, if there is nothing wrong with it, then why has this person

not

posted where she teaches school? If this is real, and if this person really is

a special

ed teacher, she would be fired in an instant if anyone found out about this.

This smells

like a hoax to me.

[Guest guest]

,

I wonder if this person ever taught in regular classes, since she sounds eerily

like my sixth grade teacher. Apparently she moved on from terrorizing me to

those even less able to defend themselves....(extreme sarcasm here).

What I found pitifully ironic is that she criticizes one child for saying

" ain't " when her own grammar is atrocious, and apparently cannot complete a

sentence without at least one obscenity.

Yikes...glad I escaped this.

I ran across this web journal/blog this evening -- it documents the

work-life of a special ed teacher to, among other things, high functioning

autistics.

http://tardblog.com/

Specific mentions of autism I have found thus far:

http://tardblog.com/sa/12-20.htm

http://tardblog.com/sa/1-10.htm

I am SO glad my parents refused to let the district dump me in one of these

classes. I'm not sure what's more revolting, the teacher's attitude or the

environment the HFA kids are stuck in. I'm tempted to write her, but

doubtless the fact that I'm a " tard " means she'd disregard whatever I have

to say.

DeGraf ~*~ http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy

" Being alone " is not lonely; being with idiots is.

-- Nanne the Cerulean

[Guest guest]

--- DeGraf wrote:

> I ran across this web journal/blog this evening --

> it documents the

> work-life of a special ed teacher to, among other

> things, high functioning

> autistics.

>

> http://tardblog.com/

> Specific mentions of autism I have found thus far:

> http://tardblog.com/sa/12-20.htm

> http://tardblog.com/sa/1-10.htm

-------Wow.

I'm curious; I glanced at that Tucker Max blog,

and wondered whether he isn't the actual teacher,just

disguised himself as a " she " ? The writing style seems

similar.

She/he could relay the stuff, but why use the word

'tard'? There are horror stories in special ed, to be

sure (i.e., the kid who said he was late to school b/c

his dad couldn't find his drugs, etc.)

I'm going to look at it further, and glance more

at the Tucker Max blog (same style even).

It is extremely mean. Perhaps you could have your

hacker pal find out the true source, and then report

to the school district?

Nanne

=====

" If you include your nightmares, the person of your dreams is within your

reach. " -- Carina Chocano

[Guest guest]

-------Oh, and let me guess; this is probably one of

the top-rated/most read/popular Salon blogs, right?

Those smug Salon Premium folk sure are wearing their

superiority, aren't they?

Ugh.

Nanne

--- DeGraf wrote:

> I ran across this web journal/blog this evening --

> it documents the

> work-life of a special ed teacher to, among other

> things, high functioning

> autistics.

=====

" If you include your nightmares, the person of your dreams is within your

reach. " -- Carina Chocano

[Guest guest]

--- Klein wrote:

> If this is

> acceptable behavior, if there is nothing wrong with

> it, then why has this person not

> posted where she teaches school? If this is real,

> and if this person really is a special

> ed teacher, she would be fired in an instant if

> anyone found out about this. This smells

> like a hoax to me.

>

>

>

> ------------If this is a Salon blog, then it is

probably a site guaranteed to draw attention to

itself. I still suspect that Tucker Max is the

author.

Nanne

=====

" If you include your nightmares, the person of your dreams is within your

reach. " -- Carina Chocano

[Guest guest]

Newstead danced around singing:

>I wonder if this person ever taught in regular classes, since she sounds

>eerily like my sixth grade teacher. Apparently she moved on from

>terrorizing me to those even less able to defend themselves....(extreme

>sarcasm here).

I had a 6th grade teacher like that too! She said *to the principal* right

in front of my parents and I: " I don't want to waste my time teaching

cripples. That's not what I was hired to do. " Nope, nothing was done to

her, she's still an instructor at that school from what I've heard...

>What I found pitifully ironic is that she criticizes one child for saying

> " ain't " when her own grammar is atrocious, and apparently cannot complete

>a sentence without at least one obscenity.

I noticed the same thing... I'd find that surprising, except I've known a

few too many barely-literate instructors myself.

DeGraf ~*~ http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy

[Guest guest]

Cerulean danced around singing:

>Oh, and let me guess; this is probably one of

>the top-rated/most read/popular Salon blogs, right?

>Those smug Salon Premium folk sure are wearing their

>superiority, aren't they?

>Ugh.

Heh. No, I found it as a link in a comment in a favorite (totally

unrelated) blog called www.inpassing.org (InPassing is pretty neat, it's

all just bizarre things that a Berkeley student overhears as she wanders

around.)

I haven't tried reading the Salon Premium blogs -- something tells me

they'd be so full of themselves I'd just want to knock them off their high

horses with a telephone pole!

DeGraf ~*~ http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy

[Guest guest]

Klein danced around singing:

>If this is real, and if this person really is a special

>ed teacher, she would be fired in an instant if anyone found out about

>this. This smells

>like a hoax to me.

Possible... Though if it's a hoax, it's a remarkably well-researched one,

considering she accurately describes the behaviors (or language) related to

several disorders. Most people wouldn't think to have an " autistic kid "

speaking at all, let alone having his comments be in line with things we'd

say. Also, sad to say, I had more than one instructor with exactly this

attitude, so they do exist.

DeGraf ~*~ http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy

[Guest guest]

--- DeGraf wrote:

> Cerulean danced around singing:

> >Oh, and let me guess; this is probably one of

> >the top-rated/most read/popular Salon blogs, right?

> >Those smug Salon Premium folk sure are wearing

> their

> >superiority, aren't they?

> >Ugh.

>

> Heh. No, I found it as a link in a comment in a

> favorite (totally

> unrelated) blog called www.inpassing.org (InPassing

> is pretty neat, it's

> all just bizarre things that a Berkeley student

> overhears as she wanders

> around.)

>

> I haven't tried reading the Salon Premium blogs --

> something tells me

> they'd be so full of themselves I'd just want to

> knock them off their high

> horses with a telephone pole!

>

> ------------I have read The Reverse Cowgirl's Blog,

which is funny sometimes. A screenwriter, and he has

some hysterical observations/links etc. on the porn

industry.

By the way, I just read that Tucker Max's

Personal Info on his blog. I bet my 'bottom dollar'

that he is the author. Read what he likes to do for

fun while visiting the humane society.

Nanne

=====

" If you include your nightmares, the person of your dreams is within your

reach. " -- Carina Chocano

[Guest guest]

After some more thought on the " tardblog, " I reached several conclusions. At

first, as I

posted to the list, I thought it would be pointless to respond; obviously, I

thought, if

this was even real, this character is so hateful that it would do no good to

reply; in

fact, it would make anyone that replied a subject for her to laugh at as well.

Then, I

began to think of the old adage about all evil needs is for good people to do

nothing, et

cetera, and so I began to write a response. I finished it, and while I am

reasonably sure

it would cut " Riti " to the quick, I thought that I should read more of her stuff

before I

sent off a letter. I did not want to be one of those people that objects to

something

without experiencing it. So I read everything, including her FAQ and all of the

blogs

available. I am left thinking several things:

* This is indeed not a hoax. She does seem to be a real sped teacher.

* Her explanation of why she writes this in general, which is roughly " gallows

humor, " is

actually

plausible. When I read the excerpts that linked, I thought she came off

as hateful

and angry... but after having read more, it appears that she is just an

exceptionally

coarse person, and not actually hateful _generally_, although the fact that she

thinks

these things even to the point that she would write them shows intolerance. I

often

derogate people in general when I do not

really mean it with regard to the individual, because I pretty much dislike

everyone. It

is a general dislike that may not reach down to the individual. That same

paradigm seems

to exist with this person. There does appear to be some level of contempt for

these kids,

although not, IMO, rising to the level of hatred.

* This is an immature, foul-mouthed person. Her bragging of her drinking

exploits are the

kind of thing I would expect, and have heard much of, from underage high-school

students.

Numerous anecdotal examples of her own immaturity are evident. Her constant

interjections of gratuitous profanity smack of a strident effort to be " cool. "

She is, in

effect, being a shock-jock. The payoff here is in the attention; the letters of

adulation

and the letters of complaint are probably equally gratifying for her. She is

IMO probably

still several years away from being mature enough to truly handle the job to

which she is

currently entrusted.

* She is a coward. Her real name and location are kept secret. If I write

something and

put it on a web site, I put my real name on it and stand up for what I have

written.

Anonymity brings out who a person really is... as they say, a true test of a

person's

character is what they do when they think no one is looking. As it says on her

site, her

real identity is hidden " for obvious reasons. " Obviously, she knows that she

would get

(at the very least) fired if she were connected to her words. That makes all of

her

claims about how this is really ok seem rather thin. If she knows that she

would be fired

for this, then she should know better, and to hell with the excuses.

* Some of the examples from HFA kids sound exactly like me, as a child and

now... indeed,

as pointed out, that is a strong support for the idea that this is not a

hoax. To wit:

> is another case. Truly, a case. He is in fifth grade and likes to flap

his arms

> like a bird. He is amusing though, because he will say things to you like " Do

you have

> a hyperlink on your website to the Parkland School District. "

Well, we already know she is in the Cincinatti area, as she speaks about going

to a

Cincinatti Reds ball game at Cinergy Field (as if it is close by)... now we

know, maybe,

the school district.

I like to flap myself, and these sorts of questions are the kinds of things I

have always

said. She does not refer to as autistic there, but she does later on:

> One time I said to him " , so funny you are. " He stops, thinks for a

while, and

> says " You said 'so funny you are' instead of 'you are so funny'..........I

like that. "

Unknown to her, probably, but I bet this was echolalia. Bobby Hill, a young boy

character

on the prime-time (adult oriented) cartoon King of the Hill, said exactly that

line when a

house guest said something in reverse like that.

> He recently said, " wouldn't it be funny if you snuck a camera into Costco and

secretly

> took a bunch of pictures of fat people. Then put them all on a website and

call it

> www.piggiesatcostco.com. [Ed. note-This is not a real website].

Then one would wonder why they chose to make that URL into a link... again,

though, this

is not unlike something I would have said as a child. Certainly, not at all

unlike this whole

tardblog-- how is calling a fat person a piggie any different than calling a

retarded kid

a tard? (The difference is, obviously, that one was an idea to make a website,

and one

actually is a website.)

Also:

> (from 12/20: Every student is funny in their own way) approaches me and

says,

> " Are you affected by Global Warming? "

>

> Me " Sure, are you? "

>

> Him " Well, in what way? "

>

> Me " Is your skin more suseptable to sunburn due to the increase in UV ray

penetration

> and a boost in the albedo effect? "

Bzzt! Sorry, that's not global warming (increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide

as a

result of fossil fuel combustion), that's ozone depletion (decrease in upper

atmosphere

ozone because of chlorofluorocarbon emissions and solar exposure)... get it

straight if

you are going to be calling people " tards. "

> Him " I would assume so, " he says, " I will have to do some research on the

internet,

> and then I will let you know. "

I had to laugh at that, because I have said that several times in just the last

few

months, in almost those exact words.

> This is a classic example of a highly functioning autistic nutcase.

Nutcase? I think that a student saying to his teacher that he would have to go

look is

laudable, rather than the NT answer of " Duuh... I don't know, " or just making

something

up. This is a great example of NT delusion of superiority. And yes, it is a

classic

example... but I take issue with the " nutcase. " Autism does not mean that one

is nutty.

In fact, I think I could make the case rather easily that this woman is a

" nutcase, "

unscientific word that it is. Certainly making a " tardblog " is more nutty than

saying one

needs to research something of interest about which he knows little.

> Later on that same

> day he asks me " What is the difference between raw sewage and cooked sewage? "

Nothing nutty about that. That sewage can be " raw " does seem to imply that it

can be

cooked. I don't doubt for a moment that a normal kid might easily have asked

that same

question. You can see how the question is logical in context.

I experienced a similar anecdote years ago. In my sixth grade class, there was

a kid who

asked, " Can you grade my paper? "

The teacher responded, " Yes, I can. " He sat there, looking expectantly at the

student.

The kid recognized that he had not asked the correct question, thought for a

moment, and

tentatively asked: " May you grade my paper? "

The teacher laughed, as it made some sense in the context. As in the prior

anecdote from

, you can see the thought process. The usual solution is to substitute

" may " for

" can. " Obviously, this kid had not grasped the syntatic rules that the teacher

was trying

to illustrate, just as had not grasped the alternate definitions of " raw. "

The kid

in my example was very much NT, btw.

In summation: The tardblog is certainly in poor taste, and is written by

someone that is

a bit coarse, immature, and who gets off on shocking people, but probably is not

motivated

by hatred. I think it probably is motivated by " gallows " humor, as she says.

There

certainly is a smugness in her own mediocrity, but a lot of NTs have that...

they just try

harder to hide it. It is, though, disturbing that someone that is supposed to

care for

these kids is one of those that thinks this way. Some of the anecdotes are

amusing, and

would be even more so if the writer quit trying to be shocking and cut out the

gratuitous

profanity.

[Guest guest]

I was terribly upset when i read this. many of the things that she writes about

eg the child whose father grew drugs, are not issues restricted to disabled

children and they are not funny. Teachers do laugh together about the funny

things that happen, but the majority are not malicious and do not pick at every

little thing that happens as this vile person does.

The kinds of things that I would laugh about in the staff room are like the

child who was singing the australian national anthem. We sang the line " for we

are young and free " and a tiny voice said sadly, " but i am 5 " . i would never

laugh at tragic home circumstances or at children being mocked by others.

disgusting.

I was so angry that I wrote to the Special Olympics committee to point out that

this site is perverting the spirit of the olympics in even pretending to collect

donations. I hope very much that they are able to take action against this

woman.

i have just been told that site is by a proffessional american comedian. well,

that is a new low.

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