By Joe Fitzgerald
Boston Herald Columnist
Monday, November 24, 2008
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1134420&srvc=home&position=emailed
The pain in her voice-mail message was palpable.
“My grandson has a name,” she said. “It’s Martin. He’s 5 years old. He likes baseball, loves to draw and is a whiz with the computer. He’s a happy little kid, except on the bus where he’s bullied because he is different. It’s been horrible. Would you please call me back?”
Her name is Catherine. Martin was the first of her three grandchildren and lives with her and his mother in Roxbury.
“When he was 2,” Catherine recalled, “we began to notice different things. Then one day we heard a nurse say, ‘It looks like he might have autism.’
“Because he was my first grandchild, we had that bond. Finding out he had autism only made that bond stronger. As I told my daughter, we’ll be advocating for him all of his life because there’ll be situations he won’t be able to handle.”
The situation now confronting Martin involves other passengers on the school bus he boards every morning en route to his kindergarten class.
“The teasing and tormenting started in September,” Catherine said. “Because he doesn’t speak, or makes sounds when speaking to imaginary friends, they imitate him and make fun of him.
“When I brought this to the attention of the principal in September, I was told the school had a policy of zero tolerance, yet nothing was done.
“Then one day he came home with scratches all over his shoulder. I took pictures, and sent them to the principal with a note. The answer we got was that Martin sometimes plays with bigger kids and ‘maybe he was wrestling with them.’ But when he got off the bus that afternoon I could see he was trying to adjust his coat and shirt as if something had just happened.”
Last week was the final straw. “Two girls, fourth- and fifth-graders, pulled off his hat, threw it to the back of the bus, and hit him on the head,” Catherine said. “The principal told my daughter that unless the driver files a report, she must assume it never happened.
“Then the assistant principal told her if she wasn’t happy with the bus service, she could always call a lawyer.
“I said, ‘No, we are going to call the Herald.’
“And that’s why I called you. Enough is enough.
“We aren’t looking for trouble, but I want them to know how serious we are. So let’s see if this helps. If it doesn’t, I’ll be calling you again and this time I’ll be naming names.”
Boston Herald Columnist
Monday, November 24, 2008
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1134420&srvc=home&position=emailed
The pain in her voice-mail message was palpable.
“My grandson has a name,” she said. “It’s Martin. He’s 5 years old. He likes baseball, loves to draw and is a whiz with the computer. He’s a happy little kid, except on the bus where he’s bullied because he is different. It’s been horrible. Would you please call me back?”
Her name is Catherine. Martin was the first of her three grandchildren and lives with her and his mother in Roxbury.
“When he was 2,” Catherine recalled, “we began to notice different things. Then one day we heard a nurse say, ‘It looks like he might have autism.’
“Because he was my first grandchild, we had that bond. Finding out he had autism only made that bond stronger. As I told my daughter, we’ll be advocating for him all of his life because there’ll be situations he won’t be able to handle.”
The situation now confronting Martin involves other passengers on the school bus he boards every morning en route to his kindergarten class.
“The teasing and tormenting started in September,” Catherine said. “Because he doesn’t speak, or makes sounds when speaking to imaginary friends, they imitate him and make fun of him.
“When I brought this to the attention of the principal in September, I was told the school had a policy of zero tolerance, yet nothing was done.
“Then one day he came home with scratches all over his shoulder. I took pictures, and sent them to the principal with a note. The answer we got was that Martin sometimes plays with bigger kids and ‘maybe he was wrestling with them.’ But when he got off the bus that afternoon I could see he was trying to adjust his coat and shirt as if something had just happened.”
Last week was the final straw. “Two girls, fourth- and fifth-graders, pulled off his hat, threw it to the back of the bus, and hit him on the head,” Catherine said. “The principal told my daughter that unless the driver files a report, she must assume it never happened.
“Then the assistant principal told her if she wasn’t happy with the bus service, she could always call a lawyer.
“I said, ‘No, we are going to call the Herald.’
“And that’s why I called you. Enough is enough.
“We aren’t looking for trouble, but I want them to know how serious we are. So let’s see if this helps. If it doesn’t, I’ll be calling you again and this time I’ll be naming names.”
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