WASHINGTON — A teacher's aide in DC has been placed on leave after allegedly putting hot sauce in the mouth of a non-verbal child with autism.

The boy's mother said, her son is traumatized, and she wants justice.

"My son is so bright, so smart, he's playful, he's funny, he's caring,” said Shanice Griggs.

Griggs said her son, David, is a 9-year-old student at JC Nalle Elementary School in Southeast D.C. David has autism and is non-verbal.

“He loves his friends, and at a point in time, he loved to go to school.”

But that all changed on Sept. 11. She got home from work and noticed her son wasn’t acting like himself. Then she got a call from his school.

"The principal tells me that the aide in the classroom put gloves on and put hot sauce in my son's mouth,” Griggs said.

A witness to th

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