I have a friend, her daughter is a senior at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis. I won't give any more identifying info than than for a number of reasons. The situation relates to a teacher currently teaching a "Child development" course there at the school.
Said friend's daughter was terribly upset because during a discussion on birth defects this teacher (I don't have the name of the teacher but I am sure administration can determine who teaches this class) announced that autism was a birth defect. It isn't but it gets worse. When questioned by a student who believed this information was incorrect, the teacher doubled down on her ignorance and insisted that yes, autism IS a birth defect and "those kids" are "defective" and that she should know because her friends cannot have children and have "adopted several defective kids". This understandably was upsetting to my friend's daughter who is indeed on the ASD spectrum, causing her to ask her mother if she was defective.
My friend attempted to resolve this with a call to the teacher, wanting to give her a chance to explain herself in case her daughter was mistaken, or misinterpreting somehow. Said teacher did not return her calls. In fact, teacher questioned her daughter as to why mom was trying to reach her and reiterated once more that autism was a birth defect. When the girl pointed out that it is a developmental disability not a birth defect and she did not consider herself defective, the response was "oh, well if thats how you feel" followed by walking away.
I know this is not the first issue of ignorance of disabilities exhibited by this school and since I am just about ready to road trip myself up to Indiana to show them the error of their ways I decided a little light shining on them might be in order.
I do not, as I said, have the teachers information directly and would be hesitant to give it out if I did. However, contact information for the principal and the mailing address for the campus are publicly available on their website so....
Ms. Sandra Squire- Principal
sandra.squire@wayne.k12.in.us
Ben Davis High School
1200 N Girls School Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46214