Lawyers for the family say that boy is still suffering from permanent emotional damage more than two years later. Their most compelling evidence is an hour and a half worth of surveillance video from the school bus. They say it captures the autistic boy being hit, kicked and even choked by the former school employees. (You can watch the video to the right.)
As the years have passed I have found myself making changes in my home that I never imagined, but the idea of being able to sleep the few hours at night without worrying about my son Mickie getting hurt kept me making the changes that have helped regain some sense of security.
One should never underestimate people with Autism. They are very smart, no matter how it seems and will plan for days even months a way around any security measures to get to what they want.
My son used to get into everything and for a time life was very chaotic for his sisters and me, so I modified our home as soon as a new behavior arrived. This has made it possible for him to roam free around his home, even at night, without getting hurt. He still needs to be watched when he is awake, but the changes have helped.
1. All outlets covered with metal plates (he used to rip them off and try to take out the electric cables, so don't use plastic, because they will rip them off)
2. Locked Kitchen (he also has an insatiable appetite and has pica)
3. Security doors leading to the outside (he is a wanderer)
4. Pictures bolted to the walls (took everything off the walls before)
5. All cabinets locked (used to empty them and make a huge mess)
6. Zero access to heaters and air conditioner units (used to try to pull off the cables)
7 TV enclosed in a wood case with plexy glass in front (used to brake electronics)
8 Clean floors (he would otherwise pick things up and put them in his mouth)
9 Cabinets are secured to the wall (he is a climber)
10 An outside valve to turn off the water in his bathroom (likes to run the water and flooded his bathroom years ago)Etc.....
I have found that when it comes to special needs, the only people who really care and understand what we go through as parents of these special children are those who are going through the same thing. Palin's son Trig was born with down syndrome and her nephew has autism.
She knows to well the agony and the joy of raising a child with special needs. She is exactly what our community needs. "We need Sarah in the White House".
In a speech in Pittsburgh, Penn., last week, Palin pledged that a McCain-Palin administration would fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, exempt disability programs from the domestic discretionary spending freeze they plan to institute next year, and will provide school vouchers so families can send their special needs children to the school of their choice.
"Too often, even in our own day, children with special needs have been set apart and excluded," said Palin, whose infant son Trig has Down syndrome. "Too often, state and federal laws add to their challenges, instead of removing barriers and opening new paths of opportunity. Too often, they are made to feel that there is no place for them in the life of our country, that they don't count or have nothing to contribute. This attitude is a grave disservice to these beautiful children, to their families, and to our country -- and I will work to change it."
"That's more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA," she said. "And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good -- things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, or a public policy center named for the guy who got the earmark. In our administration, we're going to reform and refocus. We're going to get our federal priorities straight, and fulfill our country's commitment to give every child opportunity and hope in life."
Sarah carried her son and gave birth to him, with the knowledge that he had down syndrome. Now that to me, is what a real feminist is like. Anyone who puts her down for that is just envious, because they don't have the inner strength to do what she did.
This is why I trust her as the best choice for our kids future.
