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Father says teachers bullied autistic boy

April 24, 2012 @ 5:00 pm (Updated: 10:41 am - 4/26/12 )

Listen to Dad says teachers bullied his autistic son

The father of a 10-year-old autistic boy kept getting reports from school that his son was disruptive and causing problems. It didn't make sense. He wired his son with a recording device to find out what was really going on.

Boy"When I listened to the audio, my life changed forever," says Stuart Chaifetz. "What I heard was so disgusting, vile and just an absolute disrespect and bullying of my son. That happened, not by other children, but by his teacher and the aides and the people who were supposed to protect him."

"Shut up," a voice says on the audio tape, which captured discussions on February 17th at Horace Mann Elementary in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

A boy can be heard screaming. A teacher's response is, "Go ahead and scream, because guess what? You're going to get nothing until your mouth is shut."

At one point in the six-hours of recordings the boy, Akian, is called a "bastard."

Several negative comments about parents are made in front of the children. There are inappropriate conversations about alcohol use and problems with their marriages.

Below, a 17-minute video Chaifetz made that includes snippets of the audio recordings. More audio can be found on a "teacher bully" website he set up to bring this issue to light.

 

In an email interview, Chaifetz tells me bringing the recordings to the attention of the school has resulted in the termination of an aide. But another aide and the teacher were only transferred to another school in the district.

The school district has not been available for comment yet.

Chaifetz says he doesn't want to take legal action against the school, but he does want a "public apology" from the teacher and aides who were in the school room. And he wants them all to resign.

He also wants legislative action so that no teacher who "bullies a child" is allowed to keep their union job and continue working in a school.

"No one who treats children like that, who call them vicious names, who humiliate them, deserves to be a teacher," he says. "What you did was so disgusting you should be walking around with your head in shame."

By LINDA THOMAS

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Comments (16)


  • Add A Comment

  • Shaeye wrote...
    even worse...
    April 24, 2012 6:31 pm
    looking this story up on another news site I learned the class was specifically for autistic children. Every child in that room was autistic and being treated that way as well. I am so very disgusted by this school district and their defense of child abuse. I have known children taken from their own parents for the same things these "professionals" were doing to these poor children.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • tuleman003 wrote...
    only gonna say this once
    April 24, 2012 8:56 pm
    People that are entrusted to take care of special needs students have to be a lot more patient than I would be. Only one reason why the father would not fight this legally; he's not legally here in the first place.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Vlastimil wrote...
    that's dusgusting
    April 24, 2012 10:46 pm
    This is worse:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcQwsq-PKCg

    Where's the national "media" regarding this story?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • judojerry wrote...
    There will be no National Media on this
    April 25, 2012 9:36 am
    Our son experienced the same type of treatment from staff members and other students while attending Puyallup School District. I have tried to get the attention of the media about this type of abuse because the court system has simply and blatantly ignored all the evidence that shows that staff and other students abused our son to protect the district from litigation. Each judge solely dismisses our case not allowing us to present our case in front of an unbiased and non-politically motivated jury. The media keeps turning a blind eye to the testimony and official record that I have to offer that exposes this entire story from the District staff to the 9th Circuit Court of appeals. Judges know that if our case is exposed it will open a can of worms that will spark others to follow our action. Society’s most fragile do not have the same equal rights as others enjoy. To stop this, video cameras need to be installed in every special education class to protect those who cannot advocate for themselves. Puyallup staff took full advantage that our son did not have the communication ability to tell us what was happening daily. I wish I would have put a recorder on him. Our son was a gentle quiet boy and then started acting out at school, we asked staff if everything was ok and they withheld the truth from us.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • misformichelle wrote...
    Try try again
    April 25, 2012 10:06 am
    I responded previously but it didn't seem to appear. I also have a child in the PSD who has autism. Would love to talk in more detail with you. Have you tried social media as an outlet for your story? PSD is on there and they don't like negative attention. Even making an anonymous fb account could take you far. Or, if up for it, using your real one for further emphysis. I hope your child is in a far better program now. PSD is a district people come to for ASD kids. And while I believe as a whole I think the PSD and their autism programs are fantastic? There are some SERIOUSLY bad eggs and it is NOT okay to sweep it under the rug! (Please feel free to contact me at misformichelle gmail)
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  • tlmbrt wrote...
    Oh
    April 24, 2012 11:33 pm
    Get over yourself! Charges of "bullying" is the new "racism", used as a political weapon of intimidation against people they don't like! Maybe the kid needed some discipline. As usual, we get snippets that are carefully edited to produce the wanted result. Like the NBC "edit" of George Zimmerman's 911 call that was meant to paint him as a racist!
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  • RUKiddingme? wrote...
    Are you serious?!
    April 25, 2012 8:18 am
    In what way could "b*stard" be misconstrued? No teacher, anywhere, should treat children that way regardless of disability.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • misformichelle wrote...
    get over yourself?
    April 25, 2012 10:05 am
    Do you have a child with autism? Do you have a child who cannot defend themself and cannot tell you what happened? DISCIPLINE vs BULLYING is a huge difference. There is no excuse, even if edited, for the words and phrases to be used on ANYONE...let alone someone who cannot fight back. Get over yourself is the last thing I'd say in this situation. Only someone ignorant to the horrors of a child unable to tell you what is happening when you leave them for 8 hours of heir day, in complete trust and merccy of people you really don't know, would blow this off in such a wayl.
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  • MAXX64 wrote...
    Ignorance is bliss
    April 25, 2012 11:36 am
    Tell a class room full of special needs children to "shut up" is not appropriate once let alone multiple times. These people are suppose to be professionals and they have absolutely no right to treat any child in this manor.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SlcPunk wrote...
    ...
    April 26, 2012 9:23 am
    Get over yourself?! Seriously, dude. Edited or not, everyone can hear what is being said. YOU DON TREAT CHILDREN LIKE THAT. He's not complaining about the way another student treated his kid, but an adult, an adult who went through 4 years of schooling and should understand the disease to its fullest. You don't treat children like that... period. His child is completely defenseless against these people.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Vlastimil your clip looks like some of Dick Cheney work . . . .
    April 25, 2012 2:19 am
    hope the kids are well compensated[$$$$].
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ventiamericanoaddict wrote...
    Legal?
    April 25, 2012 7:15 am
    I wonder if secretly wiring a kid is legal or not? Before you start bashing me for my question, I agree that NO CHILD should be treated the way Aiken was but if we cannot record (video or tape) without the consent of parents shouldn't teachers be notified of the same? I am just asking.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Annie (1) wrote...
    This is New Jersey
    April 25, 2012 7:33 am
    This didn't happen here in Wa State-it would be illegal here--without second party consent. It happened in New Jersey & may be ok there. From hearing more of this story it seems like the father only released the recordings after trying to get the school to do something..I don't blame him.Teaching autistic children means you have to have an extraordinary amount of patience-and if you don't it's understandable, but the solution is not bullying the child-the solution is realizing you can't handle the situation & to get out. To timbrt-"maybe the kid needed some discipline"...please!
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  • kanajune wrote...
    Need more info
    April 25, 2012 9:40 am
    If this was a school specifically for developmentally disabled children then would clearly be a terrible personnel failure deserving terminations. This sounds like a plain old public elementary school. If it has been "mainstreamed" like we have here in Washington then I have a different opinion. While name calling is not excusable in either setting, the disruptive outbursts of behaviorially disturbed children is putting a terrible load on public school teachers and taking attention away from the rest of the classroom. The stresses put upon these untrained people is bound to cause failures, and the public, in dumping their problem children into such an environment, has to realize that something has to give. We need to fund special school environments with specifically trained experts to ensure education for special needs kids but also to enable the ordinary students to get quality educations as well. This is more a failure of the system as a whole.
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  • Moxy-MO wrote...
    Unions protect offenders and criminals!
    April 25, 2012 12:29 pm
    Once again, we see how Unions protect their own, even when they commit criminal acts, this is child abuse, verbally attacking a child that has challenges shows what kind of scum that Unions support. Far too often we are constantly reading stories that show how these organized criminal organizations (Unions) have their way and it all goes unanswered because someone is afraid to confront these people.
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  • artimus wrote...
    The teacher's actions are indefensible
    April 25, 2012 3:41 pm
    ...but you kind of lose me when you make your case via youtube.
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