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« on: August 22, 2011, 07:36:31 PM »
I'm not an interested party, although I'm interested. I'm from Canada so the gross abuses being told here have largely stopped with the closure of the residential schools in 1982. I just watch in horror at the stories of connected charlatans running amok down south. I don't believe Canada is immune to the problem, though there are adequate disincentives here that it is not such a problem as it is in the US. However I do have experience with institutionalised abuse at the public school that resemble somewhat of the abuse described on this site.
I know there are a couple aspies here and can relate to the trials that one can experience at a public school. To be honest, the public schools in this city are very good and there are not a lot of private school options - the wealthy kids are sent to the same school as the impoverished kid and we make do as best as we can. Back when I was in grade one, I moved from a small hamlet to the big city school and the remainder of that year was pretty well. Grade two was another story as the teacher was nearing retirement, the administration was in a dysfunctional state, and there was no such diagnosis of Asperger's at the time. I spent two thirds of grade two in a small cubicle and was often forgotten, given a stack of blue and pink pages to fill out and give to my parents (never given) and by the end became quite claustrophobic. When I was let out, the teacher basically let the other students to pick on me, beat me and steal from me. This pattern on the playground persisted all the way until grade six. Some teachers were better than others, but the playground never improved.
Grade seven was an absolute horror. Moving to junior high, the principal was better many of the teachers were battle-hardened but there were some that were not prepared for the raucous body of students. In one class, no teaching was ever possible and fights broke out often, maybe everyday in front of the teacher. I was the one that got involved in 95% of them, defending myself. The worst was when my Tourette's got me into trouble and the teachers were helpless for the firestorm that would follow. I would eventually be swarmed on multiple occasions by 100-200 students, taking turns and beating me for half an hour at a time to "prove a point" or something.
I was taken out in grade nine and moved to a better part of the city where I never got into such messes ever again. There was also help at the time as Asperger's was becoming recognised and my younger brother got diagnosed (I got my diagnosis a couple years ago.) So yeah, while I don't think my story is as bad as what happened at Élan or WWASP, it was enough to send shockwaves when I did get around to admitting these things happened. These swarmings happened a year before Columbine. I moved a month before Columbine happened. I know a kid was swarmed and killed in the high school a week after that.
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