School Bus Special Needs Worker Chokes Autistic Boy

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10 Nov 2012, 8:23 pm

Here's a video of a special needs worker on a school bus in Florida "dealing" with a 13 year old Autistic boy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j40vVZZrIx4[/youtube]

From the comments:

Quote:

The chilling cries of an autistic boy writhing in pain as a school bus attendant allegedly choked the special needs student, can be heard in surveillance footage released on Friday - sending shock waves through the community in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

'You're hurting, you're hurting me,' the unidentified 13-year-old repeatedly yelled out over the course of the 40 minute bus ride, when a special needs assistant, Darryl Blue, 48, tugged on the straps of the boy's restraining harness after the child wet himself on the bus on October 9.

Blue can be seen yanking the harness around the boy's neck, which caused him severe pain and despite his cries for help, Blue refused to ease up the hold which left the boy with neck pain and bruising for days.

In a police report on the October incident, it appears Blue became annoyed after the child wet himself on the bus and then the student tried to reach out and touch the adult.

Grainy footage shows that Blue starts to choke the child with a belt attached to his safety harness, as the boy cries out 'You're hurting me,' which he continued to scream throughout the bus ride.

Blue did not stop his actions and at one point on the tape is heard joking to the bus driver, Chelsi Edwards, 'He won't be this color when he gets home, he will be raspberry.'

Edwards, though her face is not seen in the footage, can be heard laughing at his comment.

Blue, 48, has been arrested and charged with one count of aggravated child abuse.

The bus driver has not yet been charged.

Blue and the bus driver have not been fired by the school district but have been reassigned to 'a position away from students,' Broward school district spokeswoman Marsy Smith told The Miami Herald.

The school is conducting an internal investigation but the shocked mother, Bertin Paulino, alleges the school district has been dragging their feet.

She said she alerted the school's transportation supervisor about the incident and nothing was done. The supervisor allegedly told her that what was on the surveillance video was 'nothing of concern.'

Meanwhile, Paulino has said that her son's demeanor has changed after the traumatic incident.

The 13-year-old no longer wants to attend school at Parkland's Glades Middle School and is living in a constant state of fear, putting his hands up in self-defense. He is also asking to sleep in his mother's bed every night.

'He's even afraid of me,' Paulino said. 'I can't function right now. I'm in so much pain that I'm numb.'

She also said the boy is showing signs of destructive behavior - breaking his laptop computer, igniting a fire in a trash can and even telling his mother she needs to 'kill the man who hurt his neck.'

'I feel guilty because I feel like I let him down,' Paulino said. 'I'm supposed to protect him.'

Here's a CBS news story about the incident:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fehDfgJhUSA[/youtube]

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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10 Nov 2012, 8:35 pm

authority for the sake of authority,

and treating autistic behavior as 'bad'

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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10 Nov 2012, 8:52 pm

and the mother said the choking [and probably near choking with implied threat of immediate choking at any given instant]

went on for almost an hour. Jesus.

noxnocturne
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10 Nov 2012, 9:35 pm

He should have been fired on the spot, no questions asked. There is no excuse for this behavior. I hope this poor boy's mother sues everyone involved in this incident. :evil:

nostromo
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11 Nov 2012, 2:15 am

Utter bastards. Torturing helpless children is funny??

I really hope that his Mum and other people can work with the boy so that he understands that they were bad people, and that he sees justice being served, so he can move on. He will be fearful and will not understand what happened or why.

Its can be challenging working with SN children, thats why you are supposed to have people that understand and like children, but it seems its often those that can't get any other kind of work.

I'm just glad that at least there was a camera.

Ann2011
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11 Nov 2012, 10:18 am

These two monsters must have known that they were being videotaped and they did it anyway. Is it possible that they actually thought this behaviour to be acceptable!? Very scary. Choking a child for almost an hour and laughing about it. Sometimes I can't believe the depravity that people will sink to.
Makes me wonder what's going on when there are no cameras.

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11 Nov 2012, 12:30 pm

What kind of F-ED up world do we live in?!

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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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11 Nov 2012, 4:30 pm

Ann2011 wrote:

These two monsters must have known that they were being videotaped and they did it anyway. Is it possible that they actually thought this behaviour to be acceptable!? Very scary. . .

At the beginning of the first video, the female bus driver can be heard saying, Don't Ever Do It Again. As if she is scolding a child. And what had the boy done? Apparently, he had peed in his pants and then touched his face. And that justifies all this? No, of course it doesn't. But in the classic authoritarian mindset, the child is responsible for the adult's anger. If the adult punishes, then the child must have done something wrong. There is great deference paid to the adult.

Now, toward the end of the five minute video, the bus driver can be heard asking if he's okay. The large bully can be heard saying, Nah, he's fine. Then the bus driver says, The metal part of the harness is against the very center of his neck.

So, it's a mixed bag. I say, charge the female bus driver with something like accessory to child abuse, lay the facts on the table, and let a jury decide.

And, although it's not obvious in the film, apparently there were other children on this bus. It is proxy abuse for them to see this, and for it to go on so long, and instead of responsible people being present, the so-called adults are actually the perpetrators.

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11 Nov 2012, 5:36 pm

Not only do I hope that the driver and attendant are convicted, but that the mother sues them successfully in civil court.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

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11 Nov 2012, 6:52 pm

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:

Ann2011 wrote:

These two monsters must have known that they were being videotaped and they did it anyway. Is it possible that they actually thought this behaviour to be acceptable!? Very scary. . .

Very well put

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:

Now, toward the end of the five minute video, the bus driver can be heard asking if he's okay. The large bully can be heard saying, Nah, he's fine. Then the bus driver says, The metal part of the harness is against the very center of his neck.

You did well to pick all that up. Mostly all I could hear from the two adults because of the way they spoke was along the lines of "Bubba, wubba, wah wah, y'all, heh heh heh"
Whereas the boy himself was clearly spoken.

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:

So, it's a mixed bag. I say, charge the female bus driver with something like accessory to child abuse, lay the facts on the table, and let a jury decide.

In an account I read the Attendant has admitted to Police when arrested that he was "too harsh on the boy" so he knows what he did was wrong,

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:

And, although it's not obvious in the film, apparently there were other children on this bus. It is proxy abuse for them to see this, and for it to go on so long, and instead of responsible people being present, the so-called adults are actually the perpetrators.

This must have been very disturbing for them. It was disturbing for me, I cannot watch it again.

danmac
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12 Nov 2012, 9:46 am

he was charged w/ child abuse and the school dist. didn't fire him?
the system is broke, and her court case will make them broke.

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12 Nov 2012, 9:49 am

i don't like are sue crazy socity, but as a last resort it is a must. what is the mom suppose to tell him? oh, he doesn't work w/ kids anymore?

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12 Nov 2012, 9:40 pm

Most of the work for autism rights and self-advocacy will be done through our own independent media.

But at times we can engage the mainstream media. Okay, so this situation took place in Broward County schools in Florida and some local reporters have covered it. What if, those of us who feel so motivated, individually send emails to some of these reporters, 'Would you like some background information on sensory issues, meltdowns, etc?' And politely follow up with phone calls. Not hounding the reporters, not that, just politely offering information. That broad middle ground between an overture and hounding.

And hopefully, we might both elevate the discussion of autism in general and help motivate the local reporters to continue to pursue this important story.

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06 May 2019, 3:26 am

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:

authority for the sake of authority,

and treating autistic behavior as 'bad'

They need to screen workers like this as I have personally seen thugs and other low lifes work these kinds of jobs. People I wouldn't even trust to flip a fast food burger, as they most likely would hock lugies (and add other, much worse 'special ingredients') into the food.

I hope they all rot in hell, and end up in a prison cell with Bubba before they get there.

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08 May 2019, 3:58 am

People who are innocent but are falsely accused of child abuse are the ones that get imprisoned.

And then monsters like this man who actually did commit child abuse and has evidence on cameras are the ones that seem to get off lightly.

I don't get it. I really don't.

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08 May 2019, 10:38 am

Joe90 wrote:

That happens way too often.

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