I Deserve To Go To School Too

This year something unbearable happened. It’s the kind of nightmare that a parent should never have to face when trusting their child to the care of a teacher.

My son had gone from a happy child to an angry child when he began the Autism program at Kellogg Polytechnic Elementary. He began to hit aggressively and scream for every frustration. He protested his days at school by screaming when I dropped him off, and he clawed at the gate screaming to come home every day when I picked him up. Every day I spoke with his teacher about what could be affecting his behavior.

I continued to bring him, day after day, for a year. Hoping he would adjust. The problem, however, was not adjustment. The problem became clear on September 9th when he came home with scratches around his neck, bruising to his arms, and dirt all over his body. An adult sized hand print was formed from the broken capillaries in his little arm.

I pulled him out, I called the police, I took him to the doctor, I called DCFS, and I filed a lawsuit.

No one did anything.

NO ONE DID A GOD DAMNED THING!

My son has been out of school without placement. He has become extremely aggressive and I’m having a hard time keeping it all together. I work with a behaviorist to help modify his frustration, but it continues.

They took something from my son. I don’t know how long this continued in that school, but I made him go back every day…. and the guilt is overwhelming.

I miss the way he was before he enrolled at Kellogg. He was sweet. I wonder if we will ever have that kind of interaction again.

What makes me the most furious, is that these people continue to be allowed to interact with children who cannot speak and tell their parents how they are treated. My son can never tell me what happened to him. The only pieces to the story I have found suggest that his treatment there was ongoing. The aide “Tiffany” didn’t like him. When I found out, it took every ounce of me to refrain from …. Well lets just say it was a dark place….

My son is still home. No school will have him while he is hitting. I am sick with grief.

My son deserves the same quality of education that any other child deserves. Teachers who are responsible and caring. Equipment that is basic for fundamental learning. A safe environment to grow.

It should be no different because he is autistic.

I may find trouble I’m writing this, but it is the truth….