Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Chamchiman]

I have a fifth-grade boy in my public school whose behavior is unlike that of any other student. I don't want to diagnose him because I'm not a psychologist, but would be interested to hear advice about how to best deal with him.

The first thing you'd notice about him is his bizarre roleplaying. One day he's a police officer, the next day he's a pop star, and the next day he's a soccer referee - he's got a little wallet with a yellow and red card inside, a pencil and a small notebook for "booking" players (who don't exist), and a little whistle which he toots as he places the (imaginary) ball for the free kick and backs off the (invisible) guys forming the wall. He'll play these roles for hours if left alone.

As far as interacting with his peers, he's a nightmare. He often storms up and down the halls looking for other students, usually younger, and will yell and scream and berate them if he finds them.

His vocalizations are strange. He can yell at other students in loud, clear Korean, but when spoken to by teachers, he whispers or mumbles inaudibly. I've never seen any teacher be able to get him to speak clearly - he just clams right up. He can however make high-pitch noises, which he frequently does when he's distressed.

In the classroom he doesn't (can't) follow instructions for more than a few seconds. He enjoys playing games, but can't concentrate on them for long. He also doesn't (can't) sit still in his chair and will often either stand up at his desk or sit under it.

The most distressing thing about his behavior is his tendency toward hurting himself when stressed. When it came time for him to file out to the playground the other day with his classmates, he started violently pulling his own hair and wailing. He'll also try to scratch himself or try to vomit (perhaps in an attempt to show that he's "hurt" or "sick" and thus be excused from class). Finally, he cuts his fingernails, cuticles and hangnails with anything he can get his hands on, often to the point of drawing blood. I haven't seen him hurt anyone in my class, but I've heard that he has used these objects to stab at others.

Apparently his parents are at their wits' ends, and he receives beatings from his dad. This way of dealing with him has been suggested to me by his previous homeroom teachers, as he "listens to scary teachers". Needless to say my partner and I haven't been hitting him.

I've asked why he's in our school (as opposed to a school where he'll have more attention paid to his special needs), but the answer is that "his IQ isn't low enough". I have no idea about what he's been "professionally diagnosed" with, or what kind of academic assessments have been used to determine why he should be at a "regular" school as opposed to a "special" school.

Though he seems to exhibit some classic symptoms of autism - the strange noises, the inability to socialize, and the self-harming - it's not my responsibility to diagnose him. It is however my responsibility to ensure that he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else in my classroom, and I do have to try to minimize his disruptions for the sake of the lesson and his classmates. If anyone has dealt with kids who exhibit these kinds of behaviors, I'd be interested to hear how you dealt with them.

[Straphanger]

[loggerhead007]

+1

[The Gipkik]

Yeah, labels suck, they box people in; but they also offer a means of identifying exceptional individuals and offering some kind of help. Contact an educational psychologist over the web. Video record the boy and write down the symptoms. Sure, just calling the kid autistic may be doing the boy a disservice, but it is a start. And hey, you give a damn. Kudos to you for that.

[Scotticus]

[cruisemonkey]

[Straphanger]

[Kurtz]

He sounds Cuckoo for Caca

[moosehead]

OP - you probably can't deal with him because he's already so withdrawn inside of himself it will take years of therapy and medication to bring him back.

sounds like a classic case of sexual abuse - probably has been going on for years - some children are able to suppress the pain (both physical and psychological) and make it thru school only to be faced with it years later in adulthood, some break down as teenagers, often in adolescents, as they grow older and realize things aren't right, or just the entire situation has tramautized them so seriously their entire development has been crippled.

unfortunately, childhood sexual abuse in K is not something that schools deal with the way we do in the West. I once reported a young boy's behavior (7 yr old) to his teacher and said I was worried he might be suffering abuse and she thanked me and said she'd have a talk w/his mother (!) the thought it could be his mother abusing him - or his father - and that actually professionals should be called simply didn't enter the picture.

these situations, to me, have been some of the most difficult I've had to deal with here as a teacher. Statistics don't lie - there are children in all of our classes who are, or have been, abused at some point or will be in the future. there is very little we can do about it here other than bring it up and try and make it a topic of discussion as much as possible.

Sooner or later it will get through and progress will be made. In the mean time, be as kind and tolerable as you can; talk to his HR teacher (unless that's you) or whomever you can.

for more info on sexual abuse in boys try the male survivor website at www.malesurvivor.org; there is a discussion forum there as well if you want to post questions or just read for more info.

finally, now that I've posted this info, there will no doubt be some flames to follow. I hope that won't dissuade you from taking this post seriously since you obviously do care about your student.

take care.

[cruisemonkey]

I refuse to even begin a class where a student is (insert the flavour of the week) disruptive. It's not fair to the ones who are capable of, and want to learn.

Take the 'retard' out... and let me do my job.

I'm not paid (nor qualified) to do 'special' education.

[Rory_Calhoun27]

I think it's a pretty big jump in logic to assume disorganized behavior, an obsession over seemingly fantasy-based sporting events and lack of recipral social actions is caused by sexual abuse, esp. of ongoing duration. Not to mention unprofessional.


Anyway, it sounds like a pretty global problem for both the school and the child. There's jokes about Autism, and it can be overdone. One big factor in diagnosing both in a forum and even firsthand in another culture is that cultural factor.

Incidentially, one "flavor" of autism not discussed much is Asperger's Syndrome. There the child will have a particular obsession they will obsess over in virtually every way, have communication skills, but relate most things back to their obsessions, and in general have limited social skills. Sounds like the above could qualify for this, but then again, could qualify for many other things, too. Best to let the professionals IN the culture deal with it.

Asperger's cases do have their moments of levity. They were known as the "little professors" of the world due to their knowledge and stereotyped obsessions with certain limited topics, like The Titanic and its sinking.

[John_ESL_White]

You are not a "teacher" here. You are not really responsible for the welfare of the kids. That's why Min Su is sitting in the back of your class every day texting her best friend.

Kick the kid out or tell your Korean English teacher handler to take care of the problem.

Sounds like what you have on your hands goes way beyond normal discipline stuff into the realm of special ed., AKA- retarded kid syndrome, AKA - short bus kid, AKA - lost cause, AKA - straphanger (j/k).

Not your problem.

[yeremy]

It's a tough situation. That student (today) has the right to be in a mainstream Korean public school class, and his parents probably want him to be in a mainstream class. I've had and have several special needs students in my classes to date but none have been as disruptive as what you've described. I do have a couple of fifth graders now, who are quietly disruptive. I've decided to pretty much leave those two boys to themselves and let them listen more than plan on their actively participating in class like their classmates.

It looks like to me that you are going to have to figure out the best or better form of damage control. You probably are not going to be able to completely "control" the boy, but you can probably limit the effect while not getting dragged into spending way too much time, to the detriment of your other students, at keeping him quiet.

Personally, I would talk to your co-teacher about giving him a separate desk during class and just let him do his thing, if that is all that can be done. He, apparently, has a low, but not low enough to instutionalize, IQ and is a slower learner with perhaps other issues as others have suggested.

I'll pm you later. Cheers.

[Seoul'n'Corea]

[moosehead]