Lestia Nelson knows what her daughter Saniyah Reese — a nonverbal 19-year-old girl with severe disabilities — sounds like when she gets excited. It’s a loud, bright laughter that rings in the air.
When Saniyah is sad, the sounds are different. She cries like a child, a wail trapped at the back of the throat at first, then it hurls out seconds later.
Those are the kinds of sounds that unfolded in Saniyah’s Plano ISD classroom, where her family alleges she experienced physical mistreatment by a special education caretaker. After Nelson snuck a recording device in her daughter’s book bag in January, she heard whimpering and howls caught on an audiotape. Months later, her family is pushing to hold the school district and city accountable for harmful and unsafe handling of students with disabilities.
“Saniyah doesn’t cry. She’s crying only when she’s hurt, because she’s a pretty happy child,” Nelson said in an interview. “They’re doing something to her.”
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Saniyah, who gets around on a wheelchair, has a rare gene mutation called GRIN1. She can’t speak, and uses an eye-tracking communication device to control a computer to communicate. She relies on family members and caretakers to help with daily tasks, like eating, changing, and using the restroom.
She’s the pride and joy of her mother, who lovingly calls her her “box of chocolates.” Sometimes, her mother will catch Saniyah awake at night, laughing and playing. When Saniyah is not in the classroom, she loves to play “Ring Around the Rosie” and lounge in the backyard.
When Saniyah started coming home with bloody diaper rashes in 2023, Nelson felt something was wrong, she said. Then, Saniyah’s weight started dropping.
Saniyah usually weighs 90 to 95 pounds, but she lost 15 pounds in 2024, after classroom staff put her on a liquid diet, her mother alleges. She is usually spoon-fed her favorite foods — pasta, potatoes and vegetables during mealtime, ice cream and pudding for dessert, her mother said.
Nelson reached out to the school about her concerns, but when things weren’t getting better, she decided to take further action. She put a recording device in her daughter’s book bag in January. After hearing cries, she requested video footage of the special needs classroom.
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In an eight-minute long video Nelson shared with The Dallas Morning News, a staff member is seen bending Saniyah’s fingers backward and hoisting her up by her neck, as they check Saniyah’s pants for bowel movements.
“Stop all of that,” the staff member said, as Saniyah whimpered.
“Still now, I get choked up, just thinking about it,” Nelson said. “I have to turn the volume down, because just hearing her cry … it makes me want to vomit.”
Plano ISD responded to a request for comment, saying they were closed in observance of Thanksgiving and would try to respond next week. The school district told WFAA in April that the staff member is no longer employed with the district and was reported to the State Board for Educator Certification and Adult Protective Services.
A Plano Police Department spokesperson said in an email that two charges were filed against the staffer: injury to a disabled individual and endangering a disabled individual. The investigation was filed with the Collin County District Attorney’s Office on Nov. 19.
The District Attorney’s Office confirmed they received the case, which will be reviewed and presented to a grand jury, which will decide whether to indict. The grand jury is expected to act next year, according to the office.
Saniyah has not returned to Plano ISD since her mother listened to the audio tapes. For now, she’s staying at home, as the family searches for a private school care program, her mother said.
Nelson has been advocating for increased protections for students with disabilities and faster responses. Plano ISD served about 7,600 students with special needs in the 2024-25 school year, according to state data. Across North Texas, there have been other documented reports of classroom caretakers allegedly engaging in rough behavior with students with special needs.
In March, two Millsap ISD teachers were accused of abuse, after a video surfaced of an educator allegedly slapping a student with special needs, though it’s unclear if contact was made. Another employee yelled “Quit chewing on things” and threw a toy at the student. Afterward, the teachers were arrested and charged, according to multiple news reports.
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“They can’t talk, they may be nonverbal or unable to communicate like me and you,” Nelson said. “You can’t take advantage of their weaknesses.”
At Plano Municipal Center, she and her husband Alvin Nelson addressed the Plano City Council on Monday night during public comment, calling for greater accountability for the alleged mistreatment of her daughter and for all children who have special needs.
Alvin Nelson addresses a Plano City Council meeting in support of his daughter Saniyah Reese on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, in Plano. Nelson spoke during public comment, calling for greater accountability for the alleged mistreatment of his daughter, a non-verbal 19-year-old girl with severe disabilities, and for all children who have special needs.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Nelson felt nervous and jittery before heading up to the microphone, noting she isn’t used to public speaking. Sitting between her daughter and husband, Nelson clutched a folded-up piece of paper, and gently rubbed her hand against her daughter’s cheek to soothe her.
When her moment finally came, Nelson faced the city council members. Behind them, a mantra was memorialized in big silver letters: “Plano, City of Excellence.”
“Plano calls itself the city of excellence. Excellence means protecting your most vulnerable residents,” Nelson said.
The Nelsons had spoken at a school board meeting before, but this was the first time they addressed the city council. Their daughter can’t speak, but they want to ensure her voice is heard in every possible way, the Nelsons said in the lobby outside the board room afterward. A man walked by, saying he was moved by the Nelsons’ speeches and quickly complimented Saniyah’s multi-colored eye frames.
Around 7:30 p.m., the Nelsons rolled Saniyah, who was seated on her wheelchair, out of the building and into the parking lot. Under the night sky, with the pavement still damp from rain, they loaded her into their big red truck to head home.
They plan to return again and again until they feel accountability has been achieved.
Alvin Nelson (left) pushes his daughter Saniyah Reese, a non-verbal 19-year-old girl with severe disabilities, in her wheelchair as they depart with his wife Lestia Nelson after addressing a Plano City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, in Plano.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.