ORLANDO, Fla. -- A lawsuit has been filed against the Orange County school district and three employees, alleging that teachers' aides choked, kicked, abused and neglected autistic children.

Attorney Mary Lytle filed the federal suit, claiming the civil rights of three children were violated.

"These children were treated by the paraprofessionals in the Orange County school system with abuse (and) neglect," Lytle said. "It's very upsetting. All children deserve to be safe in their schools."

According to the complaint, one incident of the alleged abuse took place at Lake Whitney Elementary School, where a employee's constraint of a child was "atrocious and shocking to the conscience" and included "choking around the neck."

A witness said the worker "flipped (the student) over on his stomach. She straddled him and had his arms pulled up and back behind him," according to the complaint.

Meantime, an aide at Freedom High School is accused of cursing at and severely kicking an autistic student, subjecting the student to "physical injury and severe emotional distress," the complaint said.

"I think these children, who are entitiled to a free public education under the federal laws, were discriminated against and abused," Lytle said.

The students' parents notified school officials of the alleged abuse, and two of the employees were later transferred to other schools but not fired.

"The Orange County school board had knowledge of this abuse and failed to stop it," Lytle said.

Orange County school officials refused to comment about the allegations.

There is no state certification for teachers' aides, who are trained by school employees on how to handle autistic children, school officials told Local 6 News.

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