Verbal abuse of autistic student sparks calls for reform – USATODAY.com

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Verbal abuse of autistic student sparks calls for reform

By Jim Walsh and Phil Dunn, Cherry Hill (N.J.) Courier-Post

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-04-29/autism-education-abuse-r\

eform/54616582/1

CHERRY HILL, N.J. – When harsh words flew in a classroom for autistic

children here, the school employees who spoke them likely thought no one

in authority would ever hear.

" Shut up, " shouted one staffer, unaware that a digital recorder was

hidden in the pocket of 10-year-old Akian Chaifetz.

" Go ahead and scream because guess what? You're going to get nothing

until your mouth is shut.

But after the boy's father, Stuart Chaifetz, released excerpts of the

tape in an online video last week, millions of people learned what was

said at the Horace Mann Elementary School.

Now, educators and others are trying to figure out just what the

incident means....