From the Asbury Park [NJ] Press, WXIA-TV, Atlanta, with video, WJXX-TV, Jacksonville, FL:

A judge has ruled that a non-verbal 11-year-old boy with autism was physically and verbally abused in his Atlanta area public school classroom. Stefan Ferrari’s mother sewed a hidden electronic microphone into the boy’s shirt after he came home with bruises from knee to hip.

The microphone picked up the sound of a voice threatening the boy with a “be-quiet hit,” followed by thumping noises and wailing. Also included in the audio recording were adults talking about the size of a boyfriend’s penis, conversation about drinking “dirty martinis,” and jokes about Stefan eating pizza taken out of a trashcan. A voice was heard saying, “Sit down, stupid.”

Judge John Gatto ordered the Atlanta public schools to pay for Stefan Ferrari’s private education until he is 22 years old. The Atlanta Public Schools student was attending a state-run facility in DeKalb County at the recommendation of APS.

Carolyn and Marcelo Ferrari removed their son from the school and sued the Atlanta Public Schools after contacting school administrators, the Department of Family and Children Services, and the Atlanta police to no avail.

During the week-long hearing, attorneys for Atlanta Public Schools suggested that Stefan may have injured himself or that Stefan’s father may have abused him. Gatto ruled that Stefan’s injuries took place at school, and were caused by multiple inflictions of trauma, by being struck by a hand or object by an adult.

Stefan’s teacher, Sherri Jones, did not admit to hitting the boy. Jones has reportedly not been disciplined and is still working in the classroom.

(Photo of Stefan Ferrari from WXIA-TV, Atlanta)

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 at 9:12 am and is filed under abuse, autism, education, special education, video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.