A teacher’s aide is under fire in this Ohio school district after allegedly stapling a note to a young autistic student’s head.
According to the report that you can read excerpts on here, the note was meant to remind the student to bring a water bottle from home. The student had asked the teacher several times for a water bottle, the report stated. This took place in Mid January 2021 at Boardman Center Middle School.
Boardman police, who investigated the situation, with the advice of the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office, decided not to file charges. The teacher aide was reprimanded but, at this time, has not lost her job.
There was debate on whether the aide stapled the note to the boy’s hair versus his head but regardless, the boy was left with marks and physical and emotional pain.
As an autistic man who is a public speaker and gives talks in the schools, I often have said that the schools should offer more professional development for teachers to truly understand students with special needs. I was lucky never to have something like this happen to me but, every now and then, I heard a story like this happen in our special needs community that just shakes my head. In this case, though, shouldn’t every adult have the common sense to understand that doing something like this, regardless if they have a disability or not, is just wrong?
Follow my journey on Facebook, my Facebook Fan Page, & Instagram! My name is Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum.
