Parents record teachers yelling, cursing at students with autism
The special-needs class at a Florida public school was empty on Thursday, as parents admitted they felt afraid to send their children to a classroom where, they had discovered, teachers were screaming and cursing at the mostly nonverbal students.
Miriam and Matt Adar, parents to a child on the autism spectrum, told Florida outlet WSVN that when their son started swearing at home, it was a red flag. Their son tends to mimic everything he hears, they explained, so when he started using expletives in an aggressive manner, they knew that it had to be coming from somewhere.
“He wasn’t whispering it. He was saying it in an aggressive tone: ‘Get over here. I’m going to eff you up. Get over here. I’m going to mess you up,’” Matt told the outlet, “so I knew that it was an authoritative figure.”
To determine just who was influencing his son’s language, Matt sent the 6-year-old to school with an “Angel Sense” listening device. The device, which is made for children with autism, allows parents to call it and listen in. What they heard, they allege, was disturbing.
WSVN obtained the recordings, which captured a teacher saying, “So do your work. (Inaudible) Drag your ass over there. Watch me. Try me.”
Another teacher was heard threatening a student, saying, “You better not touch me or scratch me, you understand? You are getting a diaper change!”
An additional recording allegedly caught a teacher yelling at Mercedes, the daughter of Gisela Lopez .
“Why are you not doing your work? Why are you not doing your work? Go to time out. Go to time out,” the teacher was heard yelling at the little girl.
Lopez told WSVN that she could identify her daughter in the recording because of the little girl’s scream.
“That is fear. That’s panic, and she was in pain. She was in real pain because I know that cry,” Lopez said.
She also noted that the audio clip was from the same day that Mercedes came home with a bruise on her arm.
Miami station WFOR confirmed that the secret taping was illegal under Florida law. However, parents including Jason and Lauren Segelbaum are grateful that the device was able to capture something that they would have otherwise not found out about.
“Our son is non-verbal, I mean we would not know if anything is going on inside the classroom,” Jason told the outlet. “And we both are incredibly thankful that this all happened and it all came out.”
The parents reported what they heard to Child Protective Services and held a meeting with the school’s principal on Thursday.
“The principal was actually in tears over what happened,” Jason said. “But the truth is that doesn’t make up for an entire year’s worth of abuse that our child and the other five children in the classroom have experienced.”
The family’s special-ed advocate, Ysela Heim, told WFOR that many schools are underfunded when it comes to programs for special needs students, which leads her to believe that students are being treated similarly in other districts.
Broward County Public Schools didn’t respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. The district told WSVN that the teachers involved have since been removed from the classroom.
“Upon becoming aware of allegations involving a teacher and teacher’s aide, school administrators took swift action and immediately removed the employees from the classroom. School administration followed proper protocol and contacted all appropriate agencies, including the district’s Special Investigation Unit,” the statement reads, in part.
The Pembroke Pines Police Department tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the teachers have since been suspended.
“Last week our agency was made aware of an alleged child abuse incident that occurred at Pasadena Elementary School. Our detectives are currently investigating this case, in collaboration with the Broward Sheriff’s Office Child Protective Investigations Section and Broward School Board Criminal Investigations Unit,” the statement says. “Both teachers involved have been suspended pending the result of this investigation. At this time we are unable to release any additional information, due to it being an active investigation.”
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