No offence guys, that's just what they called people who they classify as Aspies or salvents.

You see, in history class today we were talking about the English king, James I and as he was incredibly intelligent, completely untactful and had weird habits they started making fun of those with asperger's. Then they denied they were making fun of the "socially retarded" when I challenged them.

So... what do I do? Do I tell the teacher about my 'condition', walk out then tell her or ignore it?

I'd certainly tell her.  Hopefully someone else will be along with a tactful way to do this, though.  The frame of mind I'm in right now, any suggestion from me is going to involve telling her via a written complaint to the nearest applicable anti-discrimination tribunal, but that's probably a gross over-reaction.

Was the teacher present when this was going on?  If so, that's unacceptable.

If you don't want to tell the teacher, then I don't see why you should.  Teachers shouldn't be condoning discriminatory behaviour of any kind and I don't see that you would need to be on the Spectrum to be offended.

Why don't you tell the teacher that the comments were offensive and inappropriate and ask what action will be taken to prevent such stupidity in the future?

Yeah the teacher was present she was doing some of the bagging.

Completely and utterly inappropriate and disgraceful.  I'm leaning even more strongly towards the written complaint, now.

This is unacceptable behaviour and against the law in many countries. Tell her in writing and give a copy to the principal, even seal a copy in an envelope and mail it to yourself (it has a date stamp).

Then if it repeats you have evidence for court. A lawyer or someone with a legal background could draft something suitable to suit your area of the world. In the US an automatic court case if one has funds.

I don't think I would go that far, but... I don't know.  Do I tell her or not?

Personally, as the teacher participated in this behaviour, I'd be inclined to go above her head and write formally to the Head Teacher or whoever is her direct supervisor.  I don't think that you should say anything about your own diagnosis, but point out that the comments made were clearly inappropriate, offensive and discriminatory.  Ask for a written response and enquire as to the school's equality and anti-discrimination policies (or whatever the terminology is wherever you are).

Is your relationship with the teacher generally good and is she likely to listen to what you have to say and act on it?  If so, then maybe speak to her in the first place and if she takes responsibility for what happened and apologises, then maybe that would be enough.

From my own experiences at school, teachers like this are generally not very good at their jobs, and are bullies who go for cheap laughs at the expense of good classroom discipline and structured teaching.  But maybe this was a one-off...?

Oh, and good on you for challenging your classmates!

Marcia is quite correct to send a letter to the supervisor. I tend to be quite a bit more confrontational. I absolutely loathe bullies and discrimination. But the teacher will certainly be pulled in. If you just told her, nothing changes.

I would prefer to d sort this without involving the higher ups as it was just making me feel uncomfortable about how i was diagnosed as there was an NT elitist mood in the air, it wasn't extreme mocking but... you know. Also no one new that I was an Aspie or they would of shut up.


So... what do I do? Do I tell the teacher about my 'condition', walk out then tell her or ignore it?

If you must, write a note to the teacher and hand it to her at end of class. Walking out may create problems as will ignoring it. I can assure you they know, they just haven't said it in so many words.

It took me all of two days on a teaching practicuum to be picked up and I told no-one.

Ok.  You don't want to involve her superiors, that's fine.  We're giving advice as adults and as people who aren't directly involved in this situation.  We're trying to find something that will work for you.

There are really two issues here.  The specific incident which made you feel uncomfortable and also the deeper issue of a teacher who thinks it's ok to make these kinds of comments.

You don't give any information in your profile about yourself or your diagnosis.  Is there any other adult that you trust and can speak to about this?  Are there any support groups in your area who may have experience of this type of thing and who may be able to give you specific advice about this school/teacher?  That might be helpful.

I think that what you should do first, if you haven't already, is write down what happened.  Record the date and time of the incident and, as accurately as you can, what was actually said and by whom.  Having recorded the facts of what happened, then write down how it made you feel.  Note when you wrote this down, and keep a continuing diary of any future incidents of a similar nature.  This way, if things don't improve, you will have information to refer to in the future if necessary.

As for what you do now - do you want to tell the teacher about your diagnosis?  Has anyone else in the school been informed that you are an Aspie?

If you don't really want to tell her, then this is where the wider issue comes into play.  Whether or not anyone in the class is an Aspie, those comments were inappropriate.  If you want to keep it between you and teacher, why not say only that you felt uncomfortable about what was said and ask that it doesn't happen again.

If you want to tell her about your 'condition' as you put it, then do so.  But I wouldn't want you to feel pressured into sharing that information.

Yah, were I in such a situation, I'd have blurted out, in classic Aspie TMI fashion, my own condition and then challenged everyone in the class--starting personally with the teacher--to start piling up on me.

I'd have considered any social ramifications later, if at all, probably in the principal's office, waiting for my father to come get me.

Agreed.

Emo, what if, instead of bagging on "socially retarded Aspies" they were bagging on gay people or a racial minority? Would you have been offended by that?

Your own diagnosis is your business. Even NT's should have been offended by the idiotic talk and particularly by the teacher's involvement in it. You don't have to be part of the targeted group to know that it's wrong.

As a teacher myself, I don't think it would be necessarily the best idea to disclose your diagnosis to this particular teacher. She's already supplied strong evidence that she's an a**hole. I do think the talk should be with her superior.

I always start the first day with my classes talking about discriminatory acts and words. We talk about what groups get "targeted." I explain that not all of these groups are necessarily "visible." They would not dream of talking about "those n***ers" in a classroom with black students, but they may not  realize that there is sexual diversity and neurodiversity that they don't even notice.

Unfortunately, teachers who are not comfortable with these topics -- or who have got their own f*ed-up issues, as with your teacher -- are unlikely to provide rules or enforce them. That is the principal's job. Talk to him/her.