Parents Outraged When Their Autistic Son Is Presented With "Most Annoying Male" Student Award From School

Jun 09, 2019 by apost team

The parents of a fifth grader in a Gary, Indiana were shocked when their son's school presented him with an award at the class's end-of-the-year ceremony.

Their 11-year-old autistic son was honored with the title “Most Annoying Male” by the Bailey Preparatory Academy.

Rick Castejon, the boy’s father, reported to The Times of Northwest Indiana that the event was held at a Golden Corral restaurant with other students, parents, and the school’s principal Carlita Royal (pictured below) attending. But when his son's name was called by a special education teacher to present an award, everyone fell silent. That award bore the inscription “Bailly Preparatory Academy 2018-2019 Most Annoying Male.”

Mr. Castejon said he felt the urge to get away at once and leave the insulting “award” on the table. However, the teacher laughingly reminded the angry father to take the “trophy” home.

Understandably, Mr. Castejon did not find this amusing in the least, and clearly thought the teacher and the school were making fun of his son; this is due to the number of calls the parents received due to Castejon's son's behavior at school.

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Mr. Castejon revealed in his interview with The Times that his son is non-verbal. He also tends to rock back and forth and has loud outbursts. However, special-ed teachers should be aware that this is a part of autism.

“We were blindsided. We just weren’t expecting it. As a principal or teacher, you should never let this happen to any student.”

Mr. Castejon and his wife demanded a meeting with Peter Morikis, the school district’s emergency manager. Mr. Morikis apologized to the Castejons regarding the incident.

He also promised that the school staff involved in this incident would receive disciplinary action. Mr. Castejon noted that the teacher in question was indeed absent from the school’s graduation ceremonies.

Mr. Morikis further issued a statement to the newspaper on behalf of Gary Indiana schools:

“The Gary Community School Corporation does not condone this type of behavior and will continue to put the safety and well-being of our students first. We extend our deepest apologies to the impacted student, the family and anyone else who take offense to this unfortunate occurrence.”

The Castejon family plans to move away from Gary. Mr. Castejon furthermore stated his son will not attend school in the district the upcoming year. He hopes that as a result of this incident, other special needs children and their families won't have to tolerate this type of treatment at any school.

What are your opinions on the treatment of this autistic boy? Have you ever been involved in a similar situation? Do the teacher’s actions shock you? Tell us in the comments below.