Difficult student

I have been seeing so much negativity lately. I think it just comes from my current state of mind.  Everywhere I look I see students who disrespect staff and are not paying attention.  I know that the majority of the students are doing the right thing. But, I am not sure why the 5^th grade class I work with feel it have the right to be rude.   A quarter of the class is students that are behind. We have usually 2 paraprofessionals and a teacher with 23 kids.   I see kids talking, writing notes and drawing during teaching time. As soon as they are given the assignment hands go up like telephone towers in a new country. No one knows what is going on and doesn’t know what to do. It’s driving me nuts.  

There is one little boy who has dyslexia and he refuses to listen.  I catch him day dreaming and being rude to the other para and the teacher. The thing that really gets to me is that his parents don’t want him to have special services. They believe he is gifted.  He is great in other areas but is unable to write. They feel that the staff needs to make accommodations. I catch this student drawing guns of every type. For the last six weeks I have told him this isn’t appropriate time to draw. I have told him out right not to draw guns that it is against school policy. Oh, I forgot to mention his father is a state patrol officer.  Long story short, I like the kid. I think his parents are not doing him any good by keeping him out of special services.

The moral to this story is I need help. Do any of you have an idea on how to keep him focused without him feel like he has educational boundaries.  I have to say from the psychiatric point of view, I believe he is autistic.  He has so many of the signs. But again his parents will not get him tested.   How do I deal with this? Someday soon I will have my own classroom and I am struggling with the fact that parents can be so neglectful to their children.