Do you know how the child feels? We know how his mother feels. She vented to the press and how SHE views him will shape how he sees himself.
I don't know if you saw my post 90: My MiL had polio at 3 years of age. That was in 1916. She had one malformed arm and a shorter leg for the rest of her life. She led a normal life and had numerous surgeries as technology advanced in order to help her leg but her right arm was always shriveled. She became a school teacher and had 3 children. She told me that when she was 5 she came in complaining that her siblings were pelting her with snowballs. She was told to throw some back. She did.
Let me elaborate. How my Mother in Laws parents viewed her was the basis for her view of herself. They were told in 1916 that she would never walk again. They NEVER said that to her. By the time she was 5 she was walking again. Haltingly but walking. When her siblings teased her or threw sonwballs at her she was told to defend herself. They did NOT view her with pity. They allowed her to discover what she could and could not do. They saw her as a child.
When others pitied her it HURT. I should add that sometimes she had to use a wheelchair. There were days that her left leg just would not hold her up.
I work with special needs kids all the time (Public school Teacher).
These kids don't want "special" treatment, they want simple consideration. These kids are thrilled to be able to participate in any activity that remotely resembles something the regular ed students do.
I wish I had a video of the Christmas Concert (Yes we call them that here in Virginia) where the SPED class did their version of "Jingle bell Rock" They brought the house down.
Would it really have been that difficult to have the kids move over to one side with the teacher standing next to him? Would it have been difficult to have a row of chairs in front with him him at one end or the other (The front row is all sitting)?