Autism and the double standard of discrimination

June 12, 4:54 PMAutism ExaminerBrian Field

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Did you hear the news recently that told of the business executive -- at his company for 12 years -- who goaded his (white) co-workers to ostracize the single African-American employee and have her separated from the other workers? Of course the executive was discovered for what he’d done, senior brass brought in, and the executive was quickly fired for discrimination in the workplace. Justice was served, and onlookers breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that story was just a generalized example, one of many such incidents that occurs – whether racial or sexual discriminatory in nature. Here at the beginning of the 21st century, we almost expect such a perpetrator to get caught at this point. But swap out “African-American” from this story and replace it with “autistic” and all bets apparently are off.

Case in point: In May 2008, a Florida kindergarten teacher of 12 years, Wendy Portillo, allowed her students to “vote” 5-year old Alex Barton, who has autism, out of their classroom after the boy exhibited behavior problems. As a result, Portillo was suspended from teaching for one year without pay and her tenure was revoked. Justice served. But wait. As it turns out, yesterday the board of education reversed its decision. Now, come November, they’re to reinstate Portillo’s tenure where she is guaranteed a teaching position within the school district.

Welcome to an example of one of the last frontiers in American discrimination where those that are ‘wired’ differently are allowed to be communally expelled from an environment that is their legal right to enjoy, and those that incite such behavior are slapped on the wrist, but later provided guaranteed employment. While many who supported Ms. Portillo’s reinstatement, defending her character, contributions and desire to continue teaching, could make claim that hers was a “error in judgment,” how would the board have reacted if it had been a matter of voting a student out of a public school classroom because of his race or his religion, rather than his autism?

We can only speculate.