Mum says teacher attacked autistic son like angry bouncer kicking someone out of club

Sunday World

19-05-2025

'She told my son he was disgusting – She grabbed his hand behind his back'
The mother of an autistic child assaulted by preschool worker Tanya Shortt has told how the teacher twisted her young son's arm behind his back and called him disgusting.
The distraught mother described the assault as looking like something an angry bouncer kicking someone out of a nightclub would do - rather than a preschool teacher. She is now calling for CCTV to be installed in all facilities for vulnerable kids.
The Sunday World revealed last week how Shortt (36), from Esmondale, Kilcullen Road, Naas, Co Kildare, was given two two-month suspended sentences at Blanchardstown District Court last month after pleading guilty to assaulting two children at Play and Language Support (PALS) preschool for autistic children in Finglas, Dublin in January 2023.
Shortt was caught after other staff members reported her worrying behaviour around children and alerted bosses, who reviewed CCTV, suspended her and contacted gardai.
We spoke to families last week who were devastated after learning about Shortt's violent behaviour.
Our story last week
More details have now emerged as other parents came forward this week to tell their stories.
The mother of a six-year-old boy assaulted by Shortt said she was shocked when she sat in court just metres from the former teacher as CCTV of the incident was played.
'It was very difficult. I was shocked by what I had seen on the camera. I wasn't the better of it at all,' she said.
'His nose was running and she was telling him he was disgusting. She grabbed his hand behind his back and brought him over to the sink. It was like he was being taken out of a pub. The child started bursting out crying.
'All she had to do was say would you go over here; she didn't even need to put her hands on the child.'
Another mother, who was also present in court to see the video, said: 'She completely twisted his arm and held it in that twisted position behind his back.'
Our reporter Alan Sherry confronts Tanya Shortt
The boy's mother said after Shortt assaulted him he no longer wanted to go to school, would hit himself and became overly cautious of new people he would meet.
She said Shortt took his 'innocence, his trust and happy spirit.'
She also told how he would mimic what Shortt did to him and would call his siblings 'disgusting' and try to restrain them.
The mum said her ability to trust services available to her children has been greatly impacted since the assault.
Tanya Shortt
News in 90 Seconds - May 19th
'I have refused respite services that I desperately need because I no longer believe my children are safe in the care of those employed to mind them,' she said.
She said, unlike PALS, the respite service did not have CCTV so she wasn't taking any chances.
'I hope for a change in the law in the future so that CCTV can be mandatory in all special needs schools and any place where there are vulnerable or non-verbal people being cared for.'
She said without CCTV, Shortt may have never been brought to justice.
'CCTV is absolutely fantastic because it's black and white and there's no hearsay and she's bang to rights. But you need a human to raise concerns and a human to look at the CCTV and a human to make the calls to the guards and that's what they done,' she said.
'PALS did completely the right thing.'
Another mother was shown CCTV of her daughter being pulled by one arm from a play pool but was later told the DPP decided not to prosecute over that incident.
She sat in court during the recent case and watched all of the CCTV of the various incidents.
She described other incidents, including pinching of children, and said Shortt always appeared to hide what she was doing from other staff.
'She was bending down leaning over some of the kids, like as if she was trying to help them, I suppose, but as she was leaning down she'd be pinching their arms. Everything was really sneaky so other staff couldn't see.'
She said in the incident where Shortt grabbed her daughter by one arm that once other staff turned around she grabbed her by two arms.
'You could see in the videos she was waiting for the right opportunity. It was very sly and she knew she shouldn't have been doing it.
'There were other people in the room but obviously when they're busy with other kids and turned their back for a second, that seemed to be when she did things.'
She said the CCTV only covered a short amount of time and parents fear there could have been other incidents.
'It was like only like a day or two before Christmas and there was a Christmas break and then there was like a day after so we got very, very little footage.'
Both mothers praised how PALS handled the situation.
The mother of the six-year-old said: 'They were as stressed as we were. They were very attached to my children.
'They've always been very kind. They have always been very good from my experience with them. There is nothing I can really fault them with.
'They could have said we're not going to pursue this we're a charity and rely on people's opinions and donations but instead they pursued it I think the school should be commended on it. They should be praised.'