Autism and education

UPDATE: Hope Academy says a second teacher has now been fired following the Investigative Unit’s report. See the latest info here: http://www.wbrz.com/news/educators-fired-after-mocking-autistic-student-in-audio-recording/

BATON ROUGE- A Hope Academy school employee was fired and another will be terminated when school lets out for the summer after an audio recording captured them saying inappropriate things about a special needs student.

The child’s mother, Milissa Davis, captured the discussion after formulating a plan to place a recording device in her son’s book sack after he became aggressive and wet the bed. The child is 12 years old and severely autistic.

Davis, who spoke with WBRZ and shared the recording Tuesday, said she was alarmed at what she discovered.

“I just wanted to cry, scream and do everything I could because it was so bad,” Davis said. “To think that I had sent my son there every day, and what had happened before, that I didn’t know about.”

For a full report and audio go here.