Mother says son with autism was sprayed with Lysol by teacher

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)


ATLANTA - A mother told Channel 2 Action News that a teacher sprayed her autistic son with Lysol multiple times and was never reprimanded for assaulting her special-needs child.

Kimberly Risby told Channel 2’s Carl Willis that she was sickened by this. The teacher denies it ever happened, but she's already resigned from her position.

Risby said her son J.R. is slowly returning to the happy 8-year-old he was earlier this year, before the teacher allegedly sprayed him in the face with Lysol at L.O. Kimberly Elementary School.

"He said, ‘It hurts, Mommy. It hurts my eyes. It hurts my nose. It hurts my throat and I can’t breathe,’” Risby said.

Kimberly said J.R. is on the autism spectrum. She said her son became clingy and refused to go back to school.

At first no one seemed to know why until J.R. talked to his mother, claiming that teacher Dorcas Noland sprayed him in class.

Risby said she was surprised by the response she got from a school leader.

"He said, ‘I'm so sorry. I thought it stopped,'" Risby said.

“We trust these individuals, these educators, to protect our kids,” father Antonio Risby told Willis.

Willis spoke with Noland over the phone Tuesday night.

She said she never sprayed any child, only sprayed in the air and sprayed herself after J.R. sneezed in her face.

Willis also contacted Atlanta Public Schools over the allegations. In a statement, they confirmed that “Ms. Noland resigned in lieu of termination as the result of an investigation that confirmed she sprayed Lysol on students."

But the mother said allowing teachers involved in incidents like these to resign allows them to just start over in another district.

"Why is she able to go to another school system? Why is she able to continuously teach without being reprimanded for anything that she did?" Kimberly Risby said.

According to DeKalb County Schools, Noland was hired there in June, but resigned from her position in September for unknown reasons.

DeKalb schools told Willis she did not work with special-needs students there.

"It's a huge concern and one of the things I was wary about sending him to school. I'm hurt, I’m bothered, I’m outraged," Kimberly said.

A records search shows Noland may already be back in another school in Fulton County. She declined to comment on her current employment when Willis asked her.


Source: Mother says son with autism was sprayed with Lysol by teacher

 

[Mr Allen]

If this happened in the UK, the Education Department would be in meltdown from the negative publicity.

 

[tree]

I have known people who sprayed the air with Lysol type products
when their children were sick. They were of the impression that doing
so would prevent the rest of the family from getting sick.

They sprayed this stuff in the air any time a kid puked, too.
Same reasoning.

They didn't spray it on their skin though.
They did spray inanimate objects: furniture, toilet seat, etc.

 

[dragoncat16]

Doesn't spraying someone in the face with a chemical count as assault? Why hasn't this woman been charged criminally?

 

[fairy_girl]

Why not wait till the kids are out of the room and then spray it since it's an airborne product?

 

[pjcnet]

Doesn't spraying someone in the face with a chemical count as assault? Why hasn't this woman been charged criminally?

Exactly if I was her mother I'd insist on making a criminal complaint and then the police are obliged to investigate it and since the teacher resigned to avoid dismissal without a major fight it makes her look more guilty. Surely an innocent woman would have refused to resign and then if dismissed anyway would have fought against unfair dismissal protesting her innocence? Also the investigation obviously concluded that there was enough evidence to warrant dismissal and this decision wouldn't have been taken lightly.

Of course it's possible her mother doesn't want to drag her autistic daughter through the stress of maybe being forced to give evidence in court or at least being questioned by the police, also the mother would be questioned and would probably have to give evidence too. I can understand this, but sadly unless something is done this teacher could re-offend again if she is guilty and next time it could even be much worse. To be fair to the teacher I don't know all the facts of the case and I can't be absolutely certain without a shadow of doubt that the teacher is in fact guilty even though from the information given it does look more likely, but that's the job of the police and the criminal justice system to find out and then to impose the relevant punishment if she is found guilty which would also prevent her from working with children ever again.

 

[dragoncat16]

Willis also contacted Atlanta Public Schools over the allegations. In a statement, they confirmed that “Ms. Noland resigned in lieu of termination as the result of an investigation that confirmed she sprayed Lysol on students."

It says in the article that the investigation confirmed that she sprayed the Lysol on students. Not one student, but multiple students.

 

[Karen S.]

If you're a Germophobe, teaching in an Elementary School is not the best career choice!