Five-year-old Christyn Date speaks in broken phrases and garbled words, fighting through a speech disability.
So when her mother saw that the tiny girl had tied a long hair scarf around her doll Shiloh’s waist and she asked her why, Christyn said simply, “Shiloh’s bad.”
The mother realized Christyn was playing out on her doll what a Queens kindergarten aide had done to her. It was her way of communicating her distress to her parents, said the girl’s mom, Marissa Chunisingh.
Before Christyn had started tying up her dolls, someone from her school, PS 123 in Ozone Park, told Chunisingh that a school aide had restrained the special-ed kindergartner by binding her to a cafeteria bench with her own sweater.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. Chunisingh was told that the girl was strapped down after she was found locked in a classroom by herself – screaming at the top of her lungs.
Apparently, the staff did not notice that the girl had been missing from an assembly for 15 minutes, left behind.
She was later strapped to the bench so someone could keep track of her, the mother said.
“For a long time, she thought that’s how kids who do the wrong thing are punished,” Chunisingh said.
“What made this person think they could do this, especially to a child with a speech delay? It’s like the ultimate betrayal.”
Christyn’s language problems have prevented the child from being able to give her mom details about how long she was tied up or whether it happened more than once.
The school has not provided her with any answers, either. No one from PS 123 has explained what happened or apologized or answered her questions as to whether the incident was being investigated. She believes the aide allegedly at fault has been reassigned within the school, but she can’t be sure.
Chunisingh said she felt she had “a moral obligation” to file a $6 million notice of claim against the city in June. The filing reserves her right to sue over the incident.
“I just wanted an answer, and I didn’t get one,” said Chunisingh, who said her request for a written description of the incident was ignored. “The school hasn’t done anything about it.”
The incident has shaken the once-low-key child.
“She used to be a lot more calm and cool, more collected. She used to be happy,” Chunisingh said. “Now she whines a lot, she’s antsy, always looking for attention or an affirmation. She is such an easy kid to get along with – that someone would do this is outrageous.”
A Department of Education spokesman told The Post that the incident is under investigation. Meanwhile, Christyn will transfer to another school this fall.
kboniello@nypost.com