When a headteacher wins instant fame by turning up at parents' homes and confiscating children's TVs, the real story can get overlooked.
Duncan Harper believes that some children who arrive at school too tired to work after spending hours watching TV or playing computer games are being wrongly labelled autistic.
It was his response to this problem which led to last week's headlines such as "Head confiscates TVs from pupils' bedrooms" and "School's ban takes it to top of the class".
His school, New Woodlands in Downham, south London, is a special school for 58 boys and six girls aged five to 12 with emotional and behavioural problems. Following an inspection three months ago, it was graded as outstanding in all categories.
Mr Harper said the key to the school's success was its excellent relationship with parents, who are contacted by phone every two weeks. With their backing he and his deputy Elizabeth Davis, have regularly visited homes and confiscated TVs or PlayStations.
The haul this year stands at two TVs, four PlayStations and a Gameboy.
Mr Harper said that although around 20 per cent of his children had been diagnosed with some form of autism, none actually suffers from the condition.
"We don't like labels at this school," he said. "Labels take the focus off parenting at home and teaching at school. They are part of an excuse culture. True autism is where a child has massive communication problems and cannot relate to their peers or to adults.
"What we're seeing is children who at first appear unable to communicate. They tend to be obsessed with computers and machines. After a few weeks here they are able to mingle with their peers, and they're not biting, kicking or scratching each other."
Of the 50 per cent of the children at the school diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Mr Harper regards only two as genuine victims.
From tes.co.uk
I cannot believe the insanity of this.
When children with autism first start school it will take them time to get used to the new routine and they will react, and once they get used to it, they will calm down.
How on earth does he translate that into autism not existing??? Those same children are not then transferred into mainstream schools, so they must still have some kind of different need. The UK Government doesn't spend extra money on special education schools unless they are really needed.
In fact 'excuse culture' is actually looking more like 'blame culture' from him towards the parents.
It's well known that autistic kids like computers.
I used to work with a kid (undxed spectrum, severe behaviour issues) whose parents would let him play and watch unsuitable videos and games- I mean 18 rated ones, he was 7- and I would say they definately had an effect on his behaviour. For one thing, the kid had such severe nightmares he couldnt sleep in his bedroom (where the computer and video were) Another was that he was soooo tired from playing games all night he could quite literally fall asleep on the hard floor in school. You could tell if he had watched something unpleasant the night before as he was twitchy and frequently violent the next day.
so if someone had been in a position to take those things away I would have been very pleased. But then surely it was the parents responsibility not to let him watch such blatantly inappropriate material???
On the other hand, Alex spends a lot of time on the computer... he learned to read (and thus to speak, which followed the reading) by his Talking Book computer games. If someone had taken these tools away from him he would have been seriously disadvantaged by that.
I agree that playing video games and watching TV for long periods of time is unhealthy, but saying it causes autism...I wonder how this nutcase ever got to the position of running a school.
Yes, I agree that was a stupid and ignorant thing to say. However people are bombarded with (false) messages that autism/ ADHD equals 'bad' behaviour and vice versa, (I got an email from an online friend the other day basically saying helllp- my daughter's behaviour... is she AS?? we ran through a few things and I'd say it was extremely unlikely...), so in that sense, its logical to assume that if the behaviours decrease, thats the autism magically disappearing...
On yet another hand, whatever the general perception is, one would hope the head of a special school knew better. That really IS worrying.
"What we're seeing is children who at first appear unable to communicate. They tend to be obsessed with computers and machines.
He seems to think this is a bad thing? Yes, parents need to limit the amount of time their child plays with/watches TV, video games, etc. But for a teacher to come to my house and TAKE AWAY things I've paid for with my money, is just an appalling idea. That's called "theft" in anybody's language, isn't it? Particularly since he's counting his "haul". And there was no mention of him giving any of it back at any time, or reimbursing the costs, either.
Alison
"We don't like labels at this school," he said. "Labels take the focus off parenting at home and teaching at school. They are part of an excuse culture. True autism is where a child has massive communication problems and cannot relate to their peers or to adults.
While there reasoning for thinking this way is flawed I agree with some of it. Alot of parents due seem to use the label as an execuse not to parent and teachers use it as an excuse not to give a proper education thus making the "excuse culture" description true even if their reasoning is flawed.
If the reactionary, retrogressive head teacher "doesn't like labels", then why is he teaching or working in a special needs school?
It sounds as though the headmaster's thinking on this topic is along the lines of the "hang em' and flog em'" school of thought. This recalls to mind the attitude of the teacher in the Pink Floyd album The Wall.
A surprising number of special needs educational professionals don't like "labels" or diagnostic constructs such as ADHD or AS and this probably relates to their antiquated notions around family relationships and psychodynamic therapy; ideological committments that get in the way of objective appraisal.
Actually, they're right not to like labels. It's been proven; labels are often damaging to the mental health of the people involved. That doesn't, however, mean that they don't serve a purpose. You just have to be careful with them, as treating a label negatively (e.g., 'autistic' = 'bad') leads to the child beginning to think of themselves that way- "I'm autistic, I can't help it, I'm naturally bad" type of thing.
This guy is missing the fact that, while labels are damaging, it's important to realize that the things you're labeling don't not exist (pardon my double negative). These kids (at least most of them, anyway) have ASD, wether or not he wants to call it that. And if he won't admit that, his teaching of them is going to be flawed.
What I could think is going on here:
"True autism is where a child has massive communication problems and cannot relate to their peers or to adults."
He does not know about the spectrum.
"What we're seeing is children who at first appear unable to communicate. They tend to be obsessed with computers and machines. After a few weeks here they are able to mingle with their peers, and they're not biting, kicking or scratching each other."
Some children are spoiled by their parents. They would rather spend time on their computers, playing games and watching television instead of going to class. If they are not biting, kicking or scratching each other, it might be because there is no bullying at the school?
At least he is talking to the parents on a regular basis. How many schools call the parents regularly just to discuss their progress.
I do not think he has any right to confiscate tv and games from people's homes. He could advise parents not to let their children watch or play anymore than a maximum number of hours per weeks.
We have a school over here in the states in which the principal did the same thing, taking the TV and Playstations out of the homes. But this was a school for kids who were in danger of failing because of risky home environments...and he eventually gave the items back.
But I do agree. Saying that children with ASD don't "really" have it is assinine. Who is he, their doctor? Does he have the ability to make a firm diagnosis? If he doesn't, he's overstepping his bounds. It reminds me too much when adults with ASD try to get disability benefits and they have to keep proving over and over they still have an ASD, even though it's something you're born with, not something that goes away.
This know-nothing headmaster probably doesn't care if he's right or wrong. He is just playing up to the uninfomed opinions of the most people, who don't want to be forced to think about issues of disability and neurodiversity. They'ed all like to pretend it all doesn't really exist. He's a populist dictator in charge of a school.