With more details being revealed about the school play where a teacher took the microphone away from an autistic student, many are beginning the question the validity of the mother's story.

You've seen it all over the internet, our site included, and the rage that came with it. Video of a reportedly autistic student named Caleb going to the microphone to say his lines in the Thanksgiving play, only to have a teacher take the microphone from him, leaving him crying on stage and his mother, who was filming, crying in the audience. With the outpouring of support for Caleb, people have started sending Caleb Christmas presents and his parents have reportedly started a Facebook page bashing the teacher from the video, identified as Mrs. Lindsey. However, some have started looking into the situation and found that some things aren't adding up.

According to Caleb's mother, Caleb was excited to play the turkey and say his line "Gobble gobble!" at the end of the play. However, some on hand have pointed out that all of the speakers were listed in the show's program, and Caleb's name is nowhere to be found.

 

Susan Shannon of the blog Short Little Rebel looked more into the situation, probably far more than anyone who has rallied against Mrs. Lindsey, and reports that Caleb's mother didn't sign the permission slip for Caleb to participate and Caleb never attended rehearsals for the show, apparent in the video by his aimlessly walking around, which many attributed to his autism. Shannon reports that Caleb's mother insisted her son to be included in the show last minute, which the supervising teacher agreed to under the condition that he wouldn't have a line. While teachers and administrators agree the situation could have been handled differently, based on the released program and the reported arrangement that Caleb wouldn't have a line, there's enough to doubt that Mrs. Lindsey's actions were deliberate and malicious.

While petitions have been created to have Mrs. Lindsey terminated from her position as a result of the video, another petition has been created on Stand United to show support for Mrs. Lindsey. The petition, which as over 15,000 signatures at the time of this post, states,

People should sign this petition because an innocent woman has been a victim of harassment, bullying, misrepresentation and defamation of character.  Her character and morality is under attack, and it's time that other voices are heard.

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