We’ve posted before about the politics of autism, and now there’s this story you may have heard out of Florida, where an autistic child was “voted” out of his classroom by his classmates, and it happened under the supervision of the teacher.  Nuts.  It started when young Alex Barton was escorted out of class for kicking students, eating crayons, etc. 

During Alex’s absence, his teacher, Wendy Portillo, “gathered the students to talk with them” about the youngster’s misbehavior.

When Alex returned, Portillo, who has been teaching in Port Lucie for 12 years, directed the youngster to the front of the room and “asked him to listen to what the children didn’t like” about him. According to Alex, the children complained that he “eats paper, picks boogers … and bites his shoelaces,” and Portillo herself said, “I hate you right now. I don’t like you today.” (Page 2). Portillo next “polled the class” about whether to let Alex back in (Page 4). Alex lost the class vote, 14-2, and spent the rest of the school day in the nurse’s office. That night, Alex “did not eat dinner [and] would not sleep in his own bed.” (Page 2).

Read the rest here, and see the document that testifies to it all.