A Parent’s Worst Nightmare

Today I’m going to fast forward twenty years to address a topic that has come to the forefront in recent local news. It’s the story of the continued abuse of an autistic boy at the hands of two Bedford County Virginia school system employees. This incident brings to light the concerns parents of children who are non-verbal have when they are forced to trust others with their care. I can’t stress enough how careful parents need to be when they hand their children over to others, even for a short bus ride to school. Most of us can’t imagine how anyone would treat another human being, much less a child, with such cruelty. Unfortunately there are cruel people in the world. This is why we must be vigilant in our efforts to retain good people in the school system to care for and educate our children with special needs. This is not an easy job, and it takes people with an abundance of patience and love (not to mention training to deal with a situation like this) to do it well. These two women on the bus were convicted of misdemeanors and served very little time for their crimes. This incident happened three years ago and the tape which showed this parent’s worst nightmare came to light after months of “stonewalling” by the county. I feel lucky that during Ben’s days in the public school system and now in his day support program we have been and are blessed with very good people who care for him. That’s not to say there hasn’t been more than a few times we have had our frustrations with the school systems. My recommendation to all parents of children who can’t report to you what is going on at school or on the bus; if something doesn’t seem right it probably isn’t. Our children try to let us know what is wrong in ways other than with words. We must always be looking for those signs

. This video makes me nauseous every time I view it. I warn you it is not for the faint of heart.

**video from joshpnw2**