Teacher had class vote on whether Autisic boy is annoying

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A Palm Beach Gardens elementary school teacher forced a 9-year-old autistic boy to stand in front of his class twice last year while classmates voted on whether the boy was “annoying,” a federal lawsuit alleges.

When the boy began crying and turned away to hide his tears, the Marsh Pointe Elementary teacher physically forced him to face the class, compounding his humiliation, the suit claims.

The suit, filed against the school district by the boy’s mother, claims that the teacher, Julie Salvatoriello, violated federal bans on discrimination against the disabled and had a track record of complaints from parents about her previous treatment of children.

The county school district was negligent, the suit says, for allowing her to “be in a position to cause severe emotional harm to (the boy) by intentionally humiliating him in front of the other children in his class.”

School district officials declined to comment on the case. Salvatoriello did not respond to messages seeking comment.

At the time of the incidents, the boy was known to suffer a speech impairment, and his individual education plan acknowledged that he “needed assistance focusing in the classroom and following classroom rules,” the suit says.

While he had not yet been formally diagnosed with autism, the suit argues that “it was clear from the symptoms exhibited to his teachers” that he was likely on the autism spectrum.