NUTTER FORT, W.Va. — “Why would she do that?”
That’s the question one mom can be heard asking in a video after a teacher in West Virginia snatched the microphone just before a six-year-old boy with autism was about to deliver his closing line at a school Thanksgiving play, WDTV reports.
Now plenty of people online are asking the same question, as the video showing the little boy’s heartbreak has gone viral.
Children in Thanksgiving costumes approach the microphone one-by-one to thank the audience for coming at the end of the school play. When it was six-year-old Caleb’s turn, a teacher grabs the microphone from the stand.
Caleb exclaims, “Oh no!” as he sees his moment in the spotlight snatched, left to stand in his turkey costume on the stage as he breaks into tears.
Caleb’s mom, Amanda, was filming the play, and found herself brought to tears by the incident. She posted the video to social media.
“I left in tears because one teacher Mrs. Linsey I think her name is grabbed the microphone from Caleb and in a mean way,” Amanda’s post reads. “My son is a little different I know this but his heart is so big and he loves everyone. What does it matter if he wanted to say gobble gobble he was the turkey after all. I’m sick of kids that are not considered “normal” be treated the way they are.”
Comments on the post have been supportive of Caleb, who Amanda says has a mild form of autism. The online community’s response to the teacher’s behavior was swift condemnation.
The public outcry has prompted the superintendent of schools to look into the incident.
“It’s a mistake that was made. There was no malice,” Harrison County Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin explained. “This teacher, as all of our teachers, truly care about these young boys and girls. The program was over, at least as I understand, and the teacher had taken the microphone.”
Caleb’s mom later shared a video of Caleb, finally getting to deliver his closing line, “Gobble, gobble gobble!”
