A US father says he's shocked after his autistic 11-year-old son was given an award for "most annoying male" by a special education teacher.
Rick Catejon, whose son attends Bailly Preparatory Academy in Gary, Indiana, said his son was given the trophy at an awards ceremony last month.
Castejon said he was blindsided and did not expect what had happened to his son, "As a principal or teacher, you should never let this happen to any student".
School personnel declined to comment on whether those involved in giving out the award were still employed, The Times of Northwest Indiana reports.
"The Gary Community School Corporation does not condone this type of behaviour and will continue to put the safety and wellbeing of our students first," emergency manager Peter Morikis said in a statement to The Times.
Castejon said he was satisfied with the way the school responded. He said he's speaking out about the incident to ensure it's not repeated.
"We just don't want any other kids to go through this," he told The Times.
Newshub.
