I figured this is as good a place as any to have this question. First, a bit of background. I have an English class of 12 4-6 year olds. In the class, there are two Vietnamese-speaking assistants, and me. Two of us are qualified teachers, but none of us are qualified in early-years education specifically. Hence why I'm coming on here to ask for advice. I've had my fair share of loud or disruptive children, and so far, the basic methods of controlling behaviour I know about have been reasonably successful. But in this new class, I have one boy who's a bit of a challenge. So I thought I'd write down some of his behaviour and see if anyone has any ideas of how to teach him. Also, just to mention that we operate in a colourful room with mats around the outside, toys in one corner, and not much else.

- won't join in with any team-based games or group activities, with the exception of TPR (total physical response) and anything where we're sat together in a circle.
- always sits apart from other students.
- will often make disruptive noises, but not in a way that suggests he's looking for attention.
- will usually sit on the mat if told to...for a short time.
- will often just wander around during team games, often getting in the way of people playing, but not deliberately.
- will never do any worksheet-based tasks I give him, but will happily sit down an draw for ten minutes or so.
- doesn't really register punishments or threats in the same way as other children. He can have it clearly explained to him in Vietnamese that he won't get a sticker (the usual system of bribes), for example, and when it comes to the end of the class, he will still expect one to the point where he'll try and take it from me.
- never cries or looks upset.
- will occasionally get fixated on something. On Sunday, I was counting down from 5, and I didn't say zero. He shouted zero and walked up to me saying "zero" and wouldn't do anything I asked until I acknowledged it.
- during the test, he could answer all of the questions, but was massively distracted throughout and I had to be quite insistent sometimes before he'd answer the actual question I asked.
- occasionally seems to crave my attention, but usually doesn't seem to care either way.

What do you think the best strategy would be for teaching him. I can probably spare one of the TAs for most of the class if he needs one-on-one tuition (that's what we're trying next week). Obviously, I could probably give him a piece of paper and have him drawing stuff for a lot of the class, but he's not likely to learn anything. Equally, I don't want to change everything for one student, when I have 11 other students to think of. Any advice would be much-appreciated from teachers or parents.

Sounds almost exactly like the child my house-mate has!

EDIT: Does he love computer games on top of all that?

For a moment there, IWS, I thought you were asking about your own child!

He certainly does sound like a bit of a challenge. From what you've said, and my own experiences as a TA with similar behaviours, it appears that he could be on the autism spectrum. Does he hear and speak well? What kind of pictures does he draw?

You could try to assess this for yourself using one of the TOM assessments described here, but of course that would not actually prove anything except to give you a vague idea of what might be going on, especially as he is still so young.

I wondered about the current level of understanding regarding autism in Vietnam, so I googled and found this! You could contact them and ask their opinion. In the meantime one-to-one is worth trying, even if only for part of the day, because then he won't be a 'resource hog' taking attention away from the rest of the class with his distracted and distracting behaviour. It's also worth bearing in mind that one of the reasons such children may become distracted is that they are often very intelligent, sometimes much more so than their peers, and find the tasks they are given far too easy!

IWS: Firstly, I'll preface this by saying that this does not replace the need for professional advice...

But do you have any experience with behavioral techniques in the classroom? If not, it might be good to read up a little on the issue.

I'm With Stupid wrote:- won't join in with any team-based games or group activities, with the exception of TPR (total physical response) and anything where we're sat together in a circle.

It sounds like you already have the building blocks for getting him to engage in team-based games or group activities here. If he participates in TPR, or things when you're sitting around in a circle, why not incorporate those elements into a team game? Like maybe playing duck-duck-goose, or something.

The point being to start with what he's comfortable with and what he enjoys, and slowly introduce new elements.

I'm With Stupid wrote:- always sits apart from other students.

You'd need to figure out what the reason is for this before any suggestions can be made. For example, is he escaping other children, or is he enjoying being by himself?

I'm With Stupid wrote:- will often make disruptive noises, but not in a way that suggests he's looking for attention.

The idea that kids do things for attention is, I believe, one of the biggest problems in all of education and parenting. There are a number of potential causes of problematic behaviors, and it's certainly far from the case that they are usually caused by attention seeking.

The key to figuring out why he's doing this (and by he's doing other things like sitting by himself), is to draw up a simple ABC chart. This stands for "antecedent - behavior - consequence" and the idea is to fill in the details of what happens before and after a behavior occurs (usually with other details too, like day, time, and notes on any other things which might be relevant).

So it'll end up looking something like this: ABC Chart.

The key is to stick to facts; don't try to interpret behaviors or come up with your own explanations. Just write down exactly what happened (e.g. instead of writing "John was grumpy because he hadn't eaten and so he wasn't very receptive when I asked him to perform a task", just write "John ignores request to do Task X").

Do this at various times across the day, throughout the week, and every now and then review what you've recorded. You should see a pattern start to emerge. For example, you could see that every time he makes a disruptive noise the children around him stop trying to talk to him, or you might find that whenever you talk to another kid in the class he makes the noise, etc. The results should give you a clue as to what is causing the behavior, and then you should be able to figure out a way to work around it.

I'm With Stupid wrote:- will never do any worksheet-based tasks I give him, but will happily sit down an draw for ten minutes or so.
- doesn't really register punishments or threats in the same way as other children. He can have it clearly explained to him in Vietnamese that he won't get a sticker (the usual system of bribes), for example, and when it comes to the end of the class, he will still expect one to the point where he'll try and take it from me.

Why try to give him stickers (something which clearly has no effect on his behavior) when he is obviously motivated by drawing and finds the activity reinforcing? Next time you want him to do something, give him the opportunity to draw for 5 minutes when he successfully does what you ask.

Mr.Samsa wrote:It sounds like you already have the building blocks for getting him to engage in team-based games or group activities here. If he participates in TPR, or things when you're sitting around in a circle, why not incorporate those elements into a team game? Like maybe playing duck-duck-goose, or something.

I need to look at this in more detail, but it seems that he's not so much participating as sitting there not being disruptive. It becomes quite obvious when sometimes it's his turn to speak and he says what he assumes the language point is (from previous lessons) rather than what it actually is. I've played duck, duck, goose a few times, but the problem with it is that there's not a lot of language happening, which is bad for the other students. Only one student is saying anything at a time, which means that for 5 minutes of the class, each student has spoken for about 10 seconds.

Mr.Samsa wrote:Why try to give him stickers (something which clearly has no effect on his behavior) when he is obviously motivated by drawing and finds the activity reinforcing? Next time you want him to do something, give him the opportunity to draw for 5 minutes when he successfully does what you ask.

I wouldn't say he's obviously motivated by drawing. He'll do it for a short time if you hand him a paper or pencil, but my point was to demonstrate that he doesn't seem to make the link between his actions and the consequences in the same way that every other child does. I've had some pretty hyperactive kids before, but they will always react to a reward system, even if they forget it ten seconds later. I can try it, but I still think he's unlikely to make the distinction.

Thanks for your other suggestions though. All of this is made much more difficult by the fact that we don't speak the same language, obviously (similarly, I don't speak directly to the parents, who are obviously doing a good job teaching him the language at home). Particularly when it comes to interactions with other students. He seems to respond positively when other students talk to him, yet I often don't know exactly what they're saying, and he doesn't ever really make any effort to initiate contact with others. I'm gonna try some pairwork this weekend, but that's always tricky with this age group at the best of times. I've also asked the TA to phone his parents and find out what sort of stuff he likes to do at home, but from the sounds of it, his own mother finds him tricky to handle too.

I've done a bit of reading into behaviour management for teaching, but the problem is that a large amount of it is verbal (how to praise, etc) and most of what we do is visual. Normally I would go about it by praising students doing the right thing, but I honestly doubt he'd notice. I'll let you know after next weekend.

Doubtdispelled wrote:He certainly does sound like a bit of a challenge. From what you've said, and my own experiences as a TA with similar behaviours, it appears that he could be on the autism spectrum. Does he hear and speak well? What kind of pictures does he draw?

He hears and speaks fine when he wants to. Just gets distracted really easily. He was about average for the class on a little test we did a few weeks ago. His pictures vary. Mainly vehicles of some sort. Often just scribbles. I've never seen him write.

Doubtdispelled wrote:You could try to assess this for yourself using one of the TOM assessments described here, but of course that would not actually prove anything except to give you a vague idea of what might be going on, especially as he is still so young.

Yeah, I'm not looking to diagnose him. Even if I could, I suspect fuck all would happen about it in this country. One interesting thing he did the other day was to take a load of crayons and line them up on the floor. I'm aware that this is a symptom of autism, but I'm also aware that I used to do a similar thing when I was his age, and I'm not autistic (I don't think).

Doubtdispelled wrote:I wondered about the current level of understanding regarding autism in Vietnam, so I googled and found this! You could contact them and ask their opinion. In the meantime one-to-one is worth trying, even if only for part of the day, because then he won't be a 'resource hog' taking attention away from the rest of the class with his distracted and distracting behaviour. It's also worth bearing in mind that one of the reasons such children may become distracted is that they are often very intelligent, sometimes much more so than their peers, and find the tasks they are given far too easy!

I don't know if any of the tasks could be described as easy or difficult though. It's just games that use the language. Linguistically, he's about average for the class.

I agree with Mr.Samsa. Try the ABC method if you are really interested in nailing down what is causing the problems while the boy is in your classroom.

TBH, though, what you are describing is all very typical of this age group. In some ways, I almost think there is something "wrong" with your other kids. This age group often needs lots of opportunity for individual exploration and play because they really haven't learned all the social rules about playing with others and sharing yet. And perhaps you are doing (boring)worksheets for too long?

Most recently I was a soccer coach for this age group. I have a son this age. (BTW there usually is no passing or team play at this age. It's every kid for himself. ) One thing you can guarantee is that you cannot make a child play or join in. I had one kid this past season who was like that. Often times I would give the child a job such as picking up the cones or retrieving stray balls (with his feet of course ) Most importantly, I had firm rules for behaviour towards others and consequences for breaking them.

You can make them feel welcome and included, but if he would prefer to sit by himself as long as he is not harming anyone or himself, is it really a problem if he is learning? Surely there are ways to be flexible with you program.

reddix wrote:TBH, though, what you are describing is all very typical of this age group. In some ways, I almost think there is something "wrong" with your other kids. This age group often needs lots of opportunity for individual exploration and play because they really haven't learned all the social rules about playing with others and sharing yet. And perhaps you are doing (boring)worksheets for too long?

Well it's not that he sits and does it for a while and then gets bored and wanders off, he simply doesn't do it from the start (although he'll usually do something with the paper). BTW, worksheets is just a cover-all term for anything that involves sitting down. Craft activities, cutting, sticking, etc. He won't really get involved with any of them.

reddix wrote:You can make them feel welcome and included, but if he would prefer to sit by himself as long as he is not harming anyone or himself, is it really a problem if he is learning? Surely there are ways to be flexible with you program.

Well my issue is that I'd question whether he is learning. He's obviously learning at home, because his parents go through it with him afterwards, but I'd much prefer it if he was learning in class too or at least enjoying himself (which he might be, of course).

I teach a number of kids that display these behaviours (aged 11-16).

I can't offer any simple solutions because there are none!

It's just a case of chipping away and seeing what works and building upon that. For example, one of my students fits all the behaviours you listed and can work well and achieve when placed one to one with my TA's, but can still often become very disruptive. At such times I have found that sending him off on a 'mission' (fetching some pencils from somewhere or sent with a note to a teacher for a 'short weight' really works well ). Basically, getting him out for a few minutes sometimes helps him when he gets back. Sometimes it doesn't!

That kid sounds exactly like how I was when I was that age in Primary School...

So there's nothing wrong with him...



When I was that age I was obsessed with War of the Worlds (the Jeff Wayne musical) and would spend ages in class drawing Martian Tripods destroying ships and stuff. Apparently the teachers thought that I wasn't right in the head but fortunately my parents ignored their advice to send me to a special school or anything like that.

I'm With Stupid wrote:

Mr.Samsa wrote:It sounds like you already have the building blocks for getting him to engage in team-based games or group activities here. If he participates in TPR, or things when you're sitting around in a circle, why not incorporate those elements into a team game? Like maybe playing duck-duck-goose, or something.

I need to look at this in more detail, but it seems that he's not so much participating as sitting there not being disruptive. It becomes quite obvious when sometimes it's his turn to speak and he says what he assumes the language point is (from previous lessons) rather than what it actually is.

Well maybe it could be that the material is too difficult for him, or even too easy, and so it's not motivating enough for him to want to make the effort to participate.

I'm With Stupid wrote:I've played duck, duck, goose a few times, but the problem with it is that there's not a lot of language happening, which is bad for the other students. Only one student is saying anything at a time, which means that for 5 minutes of the class, each student has spoken for about 10 seconds.

True, but if it was something you thought might work, I'm sure you could think up ways to modify the game to make it more of a language game.

I'm With Stupid wrote:

Mr.Samsa wrote:Why try to give him stickers (something which clearly has no effect on his behavior) when he is obviously motivated by drawing and finds the activity reinforcing? Next time you want him to do something, give him the opportunity to draw for 5 minutes when he successfully does what you ask.

I wouldn't say he's obviously motivated by drawing. He'll do it for a short time if you hand him a paper or pencil, but my point was to demonstrate that he doesn't seem to make the link between his actions and the consequences in the same way that every other child does. I've had some pretty hyperactive kids before, but they will always react to a reward system, even if they forget it ten seconds later. I can try it, but I still think he's unlikely to make the distinction.

It's possible but I imagine his "failure to make the link" is more just a common demonstration of why "reward systems" are usually useless because they try to apply a "one-reward-fits-all" approach to kids, when of course what one kid finds rewarding, another one won't.

In this case, it would be best to try to figure out what he personally finds rewarding. This is difficult given limited time and language barriers, but a simple way to do it is to just observe him maybe before class or when he's not participating. When he has a free choice to do whatever he wants, what does he do? Does he play with something? Look at pictures on the wall? Draw? Stand by himself as much as possible?

If anything like that comes up, then use it as a reward. If he enjoys being by himself, then give him "alone time" as a reward. To be clear, this wouldn't be a punishment in the way that "time-out" is usually used, because the concept of time-out relies on the idea being that the kid is rewarded by attention - so by removing them from the situation, you stop them from being rewarded for their disruptive behavior. If the kid enjoys being by himself though, then time-out becomes a reward.

I'm With Stupid wrote:Thanks for your other suggestions though. All of this is made much more difficult by the fact that we don't speak the same language, obviously (similarly, I don't speak directly to the parents, who are obviously doing a good job teaching him the language at home). Particularly when it comes to interactions with other students. He seems to respond positively when other students talk to him, yet I often don't know exactly what they're saying, and he doesn't ever really make any effort to initiate contact with others.

Out of interest, how much interaction do you have with him? And, on average, how much of that interaction is you praising and rewarding him for good behavior, and how much of that interaction is you telling him to stop messing around and get back on task? One of the key findings in education is that often problems can be maintained and even generated by the fact that teachers tend to mainly interact with students when they're doing something wrong, and often they fail to actually make the effort to praise the kid when they're doing something right (because, of course, we expect "staying on-topic" to be the norm and not needing praise, when in reality it does).

I'm With Stupid wrote:I'm gonna try some pairwork this weekend, but that's always tricky with this age group at the best of times. I've also asked the TA to phone his parents and find out what sort of stuff he likes to do at home, but from the sounds of it, his own mother finds him tricky to handle too.

That's a good idea, but yeah parents aren't always the best judges of what their kid likes to do.

I'm With Stupid wrote:I've done a bit of reading into behaviour management for teaching, but the problem is that a large amount of it is verbal (how to praise, etc) and most of what we do is visual. Normally I would go about it by praising students doing the right thing, but I honestly doubt he'd notice. I'll let you know after next weekend.

Fair enough, that does make it tricky. Good luck either way.

Well, my knowledge of the subject is all second hand, but it sure as hell sounds to me like he has a high chance of being autistic. Your post is riddled with the kinds of cliches autistic specialists joke about being such common indicators.

And while you say you don't want to diagnose him (and you presumeably wouldn't be qualified to anyway), bear in mind that if he is, it's extremely unlikely that all the best behaviour control and motivating techniques you can muster - formulated as they are around the assumptions of neurotypical children - will make a blind bit of difference.

Beatsong wrote:
And while you say you don't want to diagnose him (and you presumeably wouldn't be qualified to anyway), bear in mind that if he is, it's extremely unlikely that all the best behaviour control and motivating techniques you can muster - formulated as they are around the assumptions of neurotypical children - will make a blind bit of difference.

Very good point, Beatsong. And that's why I suggested that IWS contact the people at New Hope Resources who may be able to give some advice, and who 'make these same therapies and resources available to families and educators who do not yet have access to them in their own communities.'

reddix wrote:TBH, though, what you are describing is all very typical of this age group. In some ways, I almost think there is something "wrong" with your other kids. This age group often needs lots of opportunity for individual exploration and play because they really haven't learned all the social rules about playing with others and sharing yet.

I agree with you to some degree, Reddix, as they say, kids will be kids, but if this boy's behaviour is causing him to stand out so much from all his peers in the group, then I would say that there is a pretty good chance that maybe there is a problem which it would only be fair to him to explore and address?

Also, from what ISW says, he is getting good support at home, so it doesn't appear to be the case that he has failed to experience the early socialisation and communication which can sometimes be missing from a problematic background, and which can lead to failure to integrate easily into a school environment.

Beatsong wrote:And while you say you don't want to diagnose him (and you presumeably wouldn't be qualified to anyway), bear in mind that if he is, it's extremely unlikely that all the best behaviour control and motivating techniques you can muster - formulated as they are around the assumptions of neurotypical children - will make a blind bit of difference.

I agree that typical classroom techniques will likely prove useless when applied to a child on the autism spectrum, but just to qualify your statement a little - the best behavior control and motivating techniques will necessarily make a huge difference in his behavior. The methods I suggest above, for example, will work regardless of whether he has autism or not (with the only difficulties arising from the fact that I have to deal with generalities and assumptions, and can't observe or measure his behavior for myself).

The reason for this is obviously that the best methods of behavioral control in the classroom are those developed by applied behavior analysis - the same applied behavior analysis that is recognised as being the best (and really the only evidence-based) treatment of autism.

Doubtdispelled wrote:

reddix wrote:TBH, though, what you are describing is all very typical of this age group. In some ways, I almost think there is something "wrong" with your other kids. This age group often needs lots of opportunity for individual exploration and play because they really haven't learned all the social rules about playing with others and sharing yet.

I agree with you to some degree, Reddix, as they say, kids will be kids, but if this boy's behaviour is causing him to stand out so much from all his peers in the group, then I would say that there is a pretty good chance that maybe there is a problem which it would only be fair to him to explore and address?

Also, from what ISW says, he is getting good support at home, so it doesn't appear to be the case that he has failed to experience the early socialisation and communication which can sometimes be missing from a problematic background, and which can lead to failure to integrate easily into a school environment.

And I agree to some extent. It wouldn't hurt to use all available resources. Also, since techniques used with children who are autistic will also work with children who are not, I don't see the harm in looking into it or even trying it.

However, I am a little wary of a teacher who is apparently inexperienced with this age group diagnosing a child with [something] that could be the result of a misunderstanding of the range of normal for this age. I realize that IWS is not trying to assume a diagnosis. I am simply advocating caution.

I had an experience a couple years ago where a (brand new- just out of college) teacher diagnosed my kid with similar problems that IWS listed in the OP. It turned out that the teacher's techniques to get him to sit still and do his work were actually a large part of the problem as they made him afraid of her which caused a spiral of 'bad' behaviour.

Caution is all.

Mr.Samsa wrote:the same applied behavior analysis that is recognised as being the best (and really the only evidence-based) treatment of autism.

It is very far from a unanimous judgment in the field to say that ABA is the "best" treatment for autism. It's certainly not true that none of the other treatments available are "evidence based".

Also in the situations where ABA does appear to have had strong success with autistic children, it's because it has included VAST amounts of intensive input centred on the individual child. It seems unlikely from the context that IWS is in a position to implement something like that. He may, OTOH, get a significant improvement in results from a smaller amount of input from an autisim specialist working in conjunction with himself and the other adults concerned with the child.

Beatsong wrote:

Mr.Samsa wrote:the same applied behavior analysis that is recognised as being the best (and really the only evidence-based) treatment of autism.

It is very far from a unanimous judgment in the field to say that ABA is the "best" treatment for autism.

I'm not sure where you're getting your information from but it is clearly wrong. ABA is one of the best supported treatments in the entirety of medicine - the evidence is simply mindblowing in its enormity. This is because therapists who implement it follow a scientist-practitioner model, which means that when they introduce a treatment even when it's not part of a research study, they record a range of empirical data and utilise statistical designs that allow us to reliably establish the causal role of the treatment. Most medical treatments rely on generalising results from large-scale studies to predict success in individuals, where ABA is able to directly demonstrate success using the results from a single patient.

And of course, this is why all major organisations that have anything to do with autism, psychology, or behavioral therapy, treat the methods within ABA as the most important treatment option that a child with autism can receive. This is why it gets explicit approval from the surgeon-general and why most governments ensure that ABA is something that can be provided to all homes of children with autism.

If the claim was any stronger, indicating that ABA wasn't very effective or not effective at all, then we would of course be bordering on a creationist-like belief, given the overwhelming evidence against us.

Beatsong wrote:It's certainly not true that none of the other treatments available are "evidence based".

The qualifier "really" was meant to indicate that it's the only treatment with solid evidence behind it. There are a few other treatments that have weak to moderate support, and obviously there are a whole lot that are just pure pseudoscience, but really ABA is the only treatment that can get a child to a point where they can no longer be classified as autistic. There are a range of successful treatments for certain aspects of ADHD, like ritalin, but these are more ways to make components of their behavior more manageable, rather than actually treating the condition itself.

Beatsong wrote:Also in the situations where ABA does appear to have had strong success with autistic children, it's because it has included VAST amounts of intensive input centred on the individual child. It seems unlikely from the context that IWS is in a position to implement something like that. He may, OTOH, get a significant improvement in results from a smaller amount of input from an autisim specialist working in conjunction with himself and the other adults concerned with the child.

The intensive treatment practice is when we're treating autism, and you're right that it does require 40+ hours a week of training. But we're not talking about treating autism, we're talking about improving behaviors like staying on-task or participating more in group activities. These don't require 40+ hours a week at all and the methods within ABA are more than capable of dealing with these issues (and again, these methods are the same methods used to modify behavior of neurotypical children in the classroom).

The treatment of the kinds of behaviors that IWS is concerned about only require in-class training, and it doesn't even need to be constant for the whole day or even a whole straight hour within the day - especially when the kid (who may not even have autism) is functioning as well as what IWS has described. I know this because I've done the therapy myself and, when done correctly, you can see massive improvements within the same session.

I think part of the confusion is that sometimes ABA is thought of as "the autism treatment", when really it's just a field that contains a whole range of behavioral therapies.

Mr.Samsa wrote:

Beatsong wrote:

Mr.Samsa wrote:the same applied behavior analysis that is recognised as being the best (and really the only evidence-based) treatment of autism.

It is very far from a unanimous judgment in the field to say that ABA is the "best" treatment for autism.

I'm not sure where you're getting your information from but it is clearly wrong. ABA is one of the best supported treatments in the entirety of medicine - the evidence is simply mindblowing in its enormity. This is because therapists who implement it follow a scientist-practitioner model, which means that when they introduce a treatment even when it's not part of a research study, they record a range of empirical data and utilise statistical designs that allow us to reliably establish the causal role of the treatment. Most medical treatments rely on generalising results from large-scale studies to predict success in individuals, where ABA is able to directly demonstrate success using the results from a single patient.

Couldn't have said it better. Therapies utilizing the Floortime or Hanen methodologies may be effective; however, there is no baseline data set to which to refer in order to decipher what aspect of the intervention is truly affecting behavior patterns.

The mantra of many ABA therapists is a spin on the old dairy industry slogan: GOT DATA?

Yes, that's definitely their motto!

I can only assume that Beatson was objecting to my comment on the basis that it appeared to be saying that there is no evidence for any other kind of therapy, which would be a slightly extreme position, but instead I was more just pointing out that the evidence for other treatments is still being built and obviously no other treatment has anywhere near the evidence-base or level of unanimous support that ABA has.

Also, belated welcome to the forum! If you're a student, researcher, or therapist in behavioral psychology, or just generally interested, then stop by the Psychology forum at some point. There are a few of us milling around!

reddix wrote:
I had an experience a couple years ago where a (brand new- just out of college) teacher diagnosed my kid with similar problems that IWS listed in the OP. It turned out that the teacher's techniques to get him to sit still and do his work were actually a large part of the problem as they made him afraid of her which caused a spiral of 'bad' behaviour.

Caution is all.

Yes, I can see where you are coming from, Reddix. I hope the new teacher learnt something from making this mistake. You've awakened a vague memory of going into junior school myself to inform one of the teachers that he/she was frightening one of my children, but I can't remember which child or which teacher.

I've realised now that I'm probably coming at this from the opposite direction to you, in that my youngest son's school teachers failed to recognise that he had a problem (which turned out to be dyslexia and eye problems) even when it became obvious that something was wrong because he was 2 years behind in reading age and struggled with writing. Even then we had to have him privately assessed because he 'wasn't bad enough' for the LEA to do anything, but eventually he got the help he needed, both at home and in school. He ended up with a reading age of 15 by the time he was 10!

So yes, caution, but also vigilance, I would say.