Autistic student tapes bully – Chicago Sun

Updated: April 30, 2012 2:12AM

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

“Oh Akian, you are a bastard.”

But after the boy’s father, Stuart Chaifetz, released excerpts of the tape in an online video last week, millions of people heard what was said at the Horace Mann Elementary School.

“What happened in the classroom is not excusable and should not have happened,” Cherry Hill school officials said in a statement last week. The officials assert, “We believe this regrettable incident is an anomaly.”

But Stuart Chaifetz says he has heard from thousands of concerned parents and bullying victims, “some with special needs,” since he posted a YouTube video with excerpts of the recording. The video has drawn more than 3.7 million viewers in the past week.

Chaifetz said he hid the recording device in his son’s pocket after the school reported uncharacteristic outbursts by the child.

Cherry Hill officials say all staffers heard speaking inappropriately on the video are no longer with the district.

Gannett News Service