Doctors fear a support worker is suffering post traumatic stress disorder after an 18-month ordeal of violence and abuse in a Highland school.
The case was highlighted by the GMB ahead of an emergency meeting to chart the surging violence endured by school support staff and to call for action to protect them.
The woman was repeatedly punched, kicked, slapped and verbally abused by a pupil whose violent outbursts made him too disruptive to be taught in class.
The boy, who has been diagnosed with autism, is in a mainstream primary school but prone to sudden rages when he can lash out verbally and physically.
She was asked to help the boy with school work in a separate room away from his class but said virtually every day he would become enraged, kicking, punching, slapping, trashing the room, breaking windows, throwing chairs and overturning desks.