Louisiana Teacher Fired, Posted Video of Autistic Child Crying

A Louisiana teacher has been fired after allegedly posting a video online of an autistic student crying during an outburst in class.

Louisiana Teacher Fired for Posting Video of Autistic Child Crying

The mother of an autistic first grader is upset after her child's teacher posted a video to Snapchat of her son having crying during an outburst in class.

The child is a student at at Paulina Elementary in St. James Parish.

The child's mother, Brittny Hayes, tells WBRZ that in the Snapchat video her son is "sitting at a table by himself just crying his eyes out, then she puts the camera back on herself and she kind of smirks and covers her face".

The teacher who posted the video is a former "Teacher of the Year" award recipient.

Hayes feels that it was inappropriate for the teacher to post the video without her consent and that she was exploiting her son's disability for laughs and amusement.

Hayes tells WBRZ -

"[He's] the happiest kid. He's like a big loveable teddy bear.

I feel like she's mocking him, like she's discriminating against his disability. She just didn't want to deal with it in that moment."

The mother says that because of her son's autism he is prone to outbursts like what is seen on the video, but that the solution to the situation was really an easy one.

Hays says that all her son needed was for the teacher to hug him and calm him down.

After Brittny Hayes contacted the school and the school board, the teacher was placed on administrative leave while an investigation was conducted.

Wednesday afternoon (12/13/23) the Superintendent of St. James Parish told WBRZ that the teacher was no longer employed by the school.

"Our system initiated a deep and thorough investigation. The employee in question is no longer employed by the St. James Parish School District, and no further comment will be issued."

You can read more about this story and read the full statement from the St. James Parish School District at WBRZ.com.