Tragic moment autistic boy bursts into tears when teacher grabs microphone from him before he can say line in school play

THIS IS the heart-breaking moment a six-year-old boy was reduced to tears during his school’s Thanksgiving play after a teacher grabbed the microphone from him before he could say his line.

Footage of the incident filmed by devastated parents Kent Squires and Amanda Riddle shows their son, Caleb, looking distraught after the microphone was taken off him to stop him speaking to the crowd.

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Dad Kent has called out the teacher from Nutter Fort Primary School in Harrison County, West Virginia, on a post to Facebook.

Explaining his son Caleb has “level one autism”, Kent said he was ready to say “gobble gobble”, when the teacher blocked him and grabbed the microphone.

At this point in the clip, Caleb can be seen screaming, “Oh no”, before bursting into tears.

Kent said he is now “reaching out to see if something can be done” about the incident.

Local parents and other teachers at the school have described the behaviour as “outrageous”.

Sharing the video on Facebook, the dad also wrote: “This is my little boy in his Thanksgiving play.

“He is the last kid and has level one high functioning autism.

“He has the biggest heart and [is] always happy.

“Now watch it and see what a teacher of kids does to him.

“He has [come] home from school and said he gets to say ‘gobble gobble’ cause he was playing the turkey.

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“I am reaching out to see if something can be done.”

Caleb’s mum also posted a clip from the same night.

Painting a very different picture, the video depicts six-year-old Caleb joyously singing along with the other students in the moments leading up to the incident.

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Captioning the clip, mum Amanda said she was also left “in tears” after the teacher, who she believes is called “Mrs Linsey” took the microphone from her son.

She wrote: “I was all excited to go to Caleb's play everyone did a good job.

“I left in tears because one teacher grabbed the microphone from Caleb and in a mean way.

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“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.”

Hundreds of outraged parents have banded together to support the family, with a number sharing supportive comments on the two videos shared by Caleb’s parents.

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It is not yet clear whether the teacher took the microphone from the six-year-old on purpose, or removed it accidentally without realising he planned to speak.

The Board of Education is reportedly investigating the incident.

In an interview with , Mark Manchin, Superintendent of Harrison County Schools, said: “It's a mistake that was made. There was no malice.

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“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.”

According to the Superintendent, the teacher grabbed the microphone once the play had ended.

Caleb is believed to have had several other lines throughout the production, and it has also been suggested he was improvising the “gobble gobble” line.

It is not clear if the teacher – who is yet to be identified – will face disciplinary actions over the incident.

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