I Need Help Fast. Teacher with Held Water from Austic Son as Punishment

OMG! I would go directly to the principal and give them all I had. That is totally unacceptable. I have a child with learning disabilities and have never EVER seen such behavior from a teacher even when they were at their wits-end with my son. I don't know if it is child endangerment - but it is cruel and unusual punishment and I for one wouldn't stand for anything less than an apology and a transfer to another teacher's class.

L. - I a working mom of 4 boys (9, 7, 2 & 1). I am also in the West Carrollton School District and have found these teacher to be the best for my 7 year old with speech problems and Sensory Integration Disorder.

I would go to the Principal or Director of the program and discuss this issue and have the aide present. Discuss a better way to have handled this. Explain the risks. Your son could have gotten dehydration issues which can be very bad. Other issues could have occurred. Kids need lots of fluids especially after any play outside or inside. You can do time out or take away a toy , but not water. That aide is crazy. I work for a Preschool Part-Time and the kids get thirsty after 15 minutes of play add another half-hour after playing in the heat outside. Your child could have been very sick after sitting in wet clothes. The teacher needs to work with helping your child talk. That is what I did in my latest lesson on Thursday. We were discussing land animals and I was having each child say the animal just to learn to communicate. Do you have a speech person working with your child? Try to move your child to another class and ask about the discipline ?

Good Luck.
Would love an update on this.

J. R.

The IEP is very important. However, the teacher does not have the right to withhold food or water. I would talk to the principal today. If they do not discipline the teacher, then I would go to the board. Do not stop until they take care of the problem. It is child endangerment, especially if the child was outside playing. Good Luck.

If your child is in public school and has special needs, he should have an IEP (Individual Education Plan). If you do not already have one in place, you need to get a copy of the IDEA booklet and to schedule a meeting with the school authorities to get one. If you already have an IEP, it should detail your child's specific special needs and what methods of discipline are appropriate for your child. The teacher should be following this plan and obviously didn't.

Either way you need to contact the principal or director of your son's school and let them know your concerns. This is not an appropriate consequence for any child, but especially an autistic child. That needs to happen this morning before your son is allowed to return to her class.

I totally agree with the other posters. Withholding water is not an appropriate measure of discipline at all. Perhaps this teacher is not aware of it, in which case, the principal need to be notified of this right away so all their teachers know what is acceptable and what is not.