I don’t know enough about Asperger’s Syndrome to be considered an expert on the condition. Regardless, I am sure of this – a teacher who has a reputation for saying demeaning and insulting things to his/her students with some level of frequency needs to find another profession whether they have Asperger’s Syndrome or not.
I am a deep critic of the general lack of understanding and support given to students with autism and other related conditions, so I want to make it clear that I am not insensitive to the difficulties that such a condition poses on a person’s social skills.
Having said that, it is my belief that Robert Wollkind, if indeed it is proven that he did do what is alleged, needs to be fired for his behaviour:
A Connecticut high school teacher faces the loss of his job after asking a student, who is overweight, if he had eaten his homework. According to the Hartford Courant, officials in the Brookfield school district want to fire Robert Wollkind who, they say, has made a ‘string of inappropriate remarks over his 32-year career.’ Wollkind, a math teacher at Brookfield High School, was diagnosed in 2002 with Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder in which individuals have normal or above intelligence but struggle with social, communicative and sensory skills. Wollkind has been on administrative leave since the November 2010 incident.
Lawyers representing the school district says that Wollkind has ‘used abusive language to others, including telling one student that he hated him.’ According to the News-Times:
The student, identified as “Student 21,” had been previously teased by peers about his weight, said the school district’s attorney Patrick McHale.
Wollkind’s personnel file also contains reported incidents of him screaming at a student, grabbing a student, and using “abusive and foul language” with students.
Wollkind counters that ‘many of those incidents have been described inaccurately.’
The fact that more than 1,000 Brookfield parents and students have signed a petition supporting him suggests he has some fine qualities as a teacher and that the parents of Brookfield are very understanding.
My issue is with his behaviour. Teachers have an important role to fulfill that goes beyond the teaching of skills and knowledge. They are there to build up the confidence of their students, empower them to take responsible risks and help them to realise their full potential.
Comments that hurt and strike at a child’s self-esteem do not belong in a teacher’s repertoire. It hurts enough in the schoolyard by peers, but to get teased by your teacher is simply not acceptable and potentially destructive to the child.
Whilst I can understand that Mr. Wollkind’s jibe’s were a product of Asperger’s Syndrome, and I am deeply sympathetic to it’s likely influence over his actions, I am not sure I would want him teaching my child.
Topical Teaching 