An investigation is underway into a Tasmanian high school's staff member's alleged verbal abuse of an autistic teenager, the state's acting education minister has confirmed.
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Brenton Redshaw's 13-year-old son Cyrus returned home from Latrobe High School earlier this month with a video on his phone that showed a man yelling and swearing at him on school grounds.
Mr Redshaw said his son, who has autism and struggles with social interactions, was practicing long jump when the man - who he said works at the school - began abusing him.
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Tasmania's acting education minister Michael Ferguson said an investigation was underway, but declined to comment further.
"The Government has a strong position on behaviour at schools," Mr Ferguson said.
"However, as this is an active investigation underway, it is not appropriate for government to make comment as that can potentially prejudice the process."
Mr Redshaw said his son had his phone set up to film his long jump practice, and so was already recording when the man appeared in the frame and began abusing him.
In the video the man picks up an object from the ground and accuses the teenager of breaking it before saying the words "f---ing c---".
He said he had been told by someone within the Department of Education that the staff member had been stood down from employment pending an investigation.
For someone like that to have a working with vulnerable people's card, it astounds me.
- Brenton Redshaw
In response to questions about the video, a Department of Education spokesperson said all allegations of misconduct were taken "very seriously", but that it was "not appropriate to comment on individual matters".
"With any incident of serious misconduct the employee is directed to not return to the workplace while a matter is further considered and investigations are undertaken."
Mr Redshaw uploaded the video to his Facebook account on April 9, where it was widely shared, with many commenters strongly denouncing the man's conduct.
He said that prompted the staff member to visit his home and apologise in person, but he did not accept the apology.
He said he was pleased to see the department and the school taking the matter seriously, and that a senior school staff member had told Cyrus's mother they were "disgusted" by what they saw in the video.
Mr Redshaw said his son "loves athletics", and was just doing what he loved when the abuse began.
He said Cyrus was okay, but that it was not the first time he had been on the receiving end of such abuse.
"Cyrus is still - it still breaks him down a bit," Mr Redshaw said.
"We haven't kept him out of mainstream society, so he deals with a fair bit.
"To be honest he puts with s--- all the time at school, with other kids making fun of him.
"But the worst thing is that this guy is a [staff member]."
Attempts were made to contact the staff member.
If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, please call:
- Lifeline 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue 1300 224 636