Teacher Sprayed Autistic Student With Lysol Disinfectant, Mother Says

An Atlanta mother claimed that a teacher repeatedly sprayed her Autistic son with Lysol disinfectant spray during class. The instructor denied the incident but later resigned, according to reports.

Kimberly Risby said she noticed her son, J.R., who attends L.O. Kimberly Elementary School in Georgia had been acting strange and refused to return to class. She claimed her son was disturbed after his teacher, Dorcas Noland, allegedly sprayed him with a disinfectant spray, ABC-affiliate WSBTV reported Tuesday.

"He said, 'It hurts, Mommy. It hurts my eyes. It hurts my nose. It hurts my throat and I can’t breathe,'" Risby told WSBTV.

Risby said J.R. is on the autism spectrum and that he started acting differently. Initially, she couldn’t determine why her son’s behavior changed until J.R. claimed his teacher had sprayed him with Lysol disinfectant.

Noland denied the accusations. She said she never directly sprayed the child. Instead, Noland claimed she sprayed the disinfectant upward in the air and on herself after J.R. apparently sneezed near her face.

Atlanta Public Schools issued a statement that confirmed Nolan resigned shortly after the school found her guilty.

"Ms. Noland resigned in lieu of termination as the result of an investigation that confirmed she sprayed Lysol on students," the school wrote, according to WSBTV.

Risby then raised concern regarding Noland’s resignation. She said that Noland was not reprimanded by the school, which wouldn’t prevent her from working at another institution.

"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," Risby said.

Noland was hired by the DeKalb County School system in June but resigned in September for reasons unknown. However, she did not work with special needs students during her tenure, according to WSBTV.

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