Age/Grade of Child at Time of Incident
My child was only 5 at the time, and in kindergarten.
Child's Disability or Special Needs
My child has PDD-NOS.
Type of School or School Placement
The abuse happened in a public school in the autism classroom.
Who Was Involved in the Incident
The teacher of public school autism classroom was the abuser. She had a few aides in the classroom, none of who reported the abuse. It took a new aide in the classroom to report the abuse.
What Happened
The teacher in the autism classroom pinched, slapped, shoved, squeezed/gripped, and kicked my child; force fed another child; secluded my child, and secluded one other child, for hours at a time.
How We Handled It
We found out when we went in for a parent-teacher conference and the teacher was missing. We had to pry it out of the school personnel as to why the teacher was missing - they didn't want to tell us our child had been abused.
I wish we had called the police, but we didn't realize we could/should.
The teacher eventually had her license suspended. It took almost 5 years for that to happen, and she will get it back.
Advice
- Call the police as soon as you know/suspect your child was abused. Take pictures of the physical evidence. Take your child to a doctor to document the physical evidence. Document everything in a journal.
- Tell the school that it is the law that they must contact DYFS/IAIU. If they don’t, you should. If school personnel are not cooperating, go above them to superintendant or county superintendant.
- Contact an attorney to find out if they can help in your particular situation.
- File an OPRA (open public records act) to obtain all paperwork/emails from school personnel about the case.
- Remove child from school.
