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Juniors

19th Oct 2017

Mum ‘livid’ after discovering her son’s teachers made fun of his disability

Shocking.

Jade Hayden

disability

This mum was “livid” after she found out via a Facebook post that her son’s teachers had been making fun of his disability.

Angela Hartfelder’s son has dyslexia, ADHD, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and a disorder that makes writing difficult.

Last week, a Facebook post shared by a man named Jason Goodlife detailed his experience of sitting in a restaurant in Dallas, Texas, and overhearing a group of teachers “talking loudly about a child with disabilities.”

The post said that the group were “laughing” about messages they had received from the child’s mother.

They also allegedly said that the mother should take better care of the child at home “before sending him to school for them to deal with.”

Hartfelder said that when she first saw the post, she ignored it.

Then she realised that she recognised all of the teachers in the image and knew they were talking about her and her son.

“They smile at us, and tell us what a great kid he is and that they will miss him next year.

“We are heavily involved with him in and out of school. We do not just expect them to do everything. We spent tons of money on tutoring when they weren’t helping him or addressing his Dyslexia.

“If they feel this way about children with learning disabilities then none of them should be teaching. I can’t even imagine how my son would feel if he knew this is the way they feel about him.”

Hartfelder’s post has received hundreds of likes and almost 50 comments, with others saying how “horrible” and unprofessional these comments were.

Since the post became known, the five teachers involved were placed on administrative leave.

The school district has also released a statement on the issue:

“Upon learning of the social media postings last week, AISD began an internal investigation into the allegations. Our district has clear expectations of professionalism from our staff.

“We hold our employees to the highest standards for confidentially of student information and appreciate our parents who partner with us in the education of their students. Because this matter concerns students and district personnel, we cannot release further information.”