Thursday, August 03, 2006

Rapist of Autistic Children Claims Civil Rights

This is the kind of thing that stops the heart of an Autistic child's parents. My son has more expressive language now, but he still believes what adults tell him as fact. So if someone said, "Don't say anything to anyone or I will kill your parents." He would believe them. And say nothing.

I am just now starting to worry less about him in school. He can't tell me what he does all day. He can't tell me if a kid hurts him on the playground. He can't tell a teacher either. So far, I've had his sister with him in and around school. At preschool, she would come home and give me reports. "John is NOT his friend mama. He's mean." My son thought the boy picking on him was his friend.

If I were a parent of one of these children, I would sue the school until it went belly up. Schools and teachers and administrators generally under-supervise these children and those who teach them. Teachers and administrators know these children can't say anything. If you think that this reality isn't taken advantage of...well, you either don't have a special needs kid or are very naive or both.

A parent can harrangue, be a nuisance and generally make his or her presence known, but they can't be there the full eight to ten hours a day. The parents have to trust the school to teach their children and care for their children and protect them. Don't you think safety is a bare minimum? Even doctors have the motto: First, do no harm.

This case scares me. It makes me sick. It makes me want to home school. But that's a topic for another day.

1 comment:

Chalmers said...

That story nearly made me vomit, then it nearly made me cry. I know that vengence belongs to God, but that story makes me want to take a trip to Ohio and mete out justice. What a tragedy.
mc