Secret recording reveals teachers mocking autistic student

Camden, 12, was mocked on camera by his teachers. Photo / Education for All/ Facebook

A mother made the decision to send her son, who has severe autism, to school with a secret recording device in his backpack, after noticing that he was coming home each afternoon increasingly distressed.

When Milissa Davis listened to the audio she discovered her son was being mocked by school staff and made to endure nasty comments from teachers.

Camden, 12, attended Hope Academy in Louisiana, but his mum knew something was wrong when he started to become aggressive at home and wet the bed.

Two adults, identified as a teacher and teachers aide, can be heard making snide comments to the 12-year-old boy and even imitating the noises he was making.

"You're just writing the word. What is hard about it?" one of the adults can be heard saying.

Camden grunts in response and the adult is heard mocking the noise.

"Camden, why don't you have anything written down? That's why you can't sit with everyone. Tell your mumma that," one of the teachers says a while later.

The barrage of nasty comments continue, with one of the adults heard saying: "Let's see what they do with him in f***ing public school. He was going to go to Live Oak Middle. Uh ah, he wouldn't make it for a minute."

Ms Davis told WBRZ she couldn't believe what she was hearing when she played the audio.

"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."

Hope Academy's website states that they specialise in meeting the "unique needs of students" with learning disabilities, such as autism, asperger's syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia and down syndrome.

Following the release of the recording, two staff members have reportedly been fired and Ms Davis has hired a lawyer and plans to file complaints with the Education Department.

Hope Academy Principal, Linda Stone, released a statement saying Ms Davis never brought the recording to the school's attention.

"The recording appears to be a compilation of audio clips, many of which involve private conversations between two adults with no other persons/children present. The recording contains regretful conversations between these adults," the statement read.

"The parent never brought the recording to the attention of Hope Academy before posting it to social media. The parent has also refused to meet with Hope Academy to discuss the actions we have taken to address the issue."

The statement finished by inviting Ms Davis to discuss the incident with the schools saying that the recording is "not an indication of who we are".