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Schools Not Standing Up For Autism!

The story of the kid that fought back...

By Kelli CartrettePublished 7 years ago 7 min read
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T. Chance S.

This article is about a Father and his autistic son and the schools in Statesville NC. The boy's name is T. Chance. He was diagnosed at age five. His father naturally loves his son very much. His father knew that a horrible fact exists; that kids with disabilities, such as his sons were often bullied at school...

Chance entered the second grade; and of course, the inevitable began to happen. Chance would come home from school upset because he was getting pushed around at school. Chance's father felt horrible inside for his boy. So over Chance's 2nd-grade summer, his father begins to teach him some things that would help him defend himself. Chance's father, as a kid, was a "high-ranking belt in Martial Arts." So they had all the tools necessary. Along with Chance's daily training, his father would tell him all about how standing up for himself was a very important thing in life. That he had to do so in order for people to respect him. His father had told Chance that kids were gonna be more apt to pick on him probably because of his Autism; that it was a sad fact of life. Needless to say that when he started the 3rd grade, the very first day, Chance came home with a fight story to tell his father. The details aren't really necessary, but his son stood up to another kid, and even better, he came out on top. Chance's father could not have been more proud. Throughout the first 2 or 3 weeks of school, Chance would come home at least 2-3 out of 5 days with another fight story. After a few weeks of fighting almost on a daily basis, it died down. Most everyone became friends. It was a big relief to his father, as well as Chance too. It wasn't til' around the end of grade school that his father realized or found out that all of the fights throughout grade school except for one or two, wasn't really because of his son's Autism. More so, of just young kids being kids. It wasn't until the 6th grade that the attempted "bullying" because of his Autism came into play...

In middle school, the children are bigger; so naturally, the fights are bigger and more violent. A group of kids in (West Iredell Middle School) in the small town of Statesville NC, had the hobby of trying to pick on the disabled children. The point of this article is to report on the school's actions. Chance again had been coming home with more fight stories; His father always asked, "Where were the teachers?" Chance told him that they were always distracted. His father didn't understand how or why the teachers could "always be distracted" from such seriousness. There was one week when Chance came home three different days in one week with stories of fighting. The next Monday; he comes home telling a story about one of those kids trying to steal his coat. Of course, it led to a fight. Tuesday he came home with another fight story. So Wednesday his father called and spoke with the officer that worked at the school. He told the cop what was going on. The officer told Chance's father that he would check into it and call him back. He never called back. The very next day, Thursday Chance came in crying. His father asked what had happened. Chance handed his father a paper to show where he had been suspended.

The teacher tried to pair Chance and another student up to do a project. The other child said that he didn't want to work with an "Autistic dumbass." He used his hand to push Chance's face back. Chance ended up hurting the other child badly. The next day Chance and his Father went to the school. The officer and the Vice Principal said we had to hurry because Chance, being a suspended student, wasn't even allowed on school grounds. His Father explained how that on numerous occasions, that his boy had to fight because kids from this group kept messing with him. He told them that Chance had a hard enough time learning in school and that he sure didn't need the setback of being suspended for 3 days. The Father explained that his son was constantly being harassed by these kids. It didn't matter. They told him that since Chance struck the boy back, that he had to be suspended too, and that it would be possible that he could have criminal charges if it happened again. His father replied that everyone knows kids with disabilities, such as Autism are picked on. One finally stands up and defends himself, and then gets punished! His Father asked the question,"So if my son doesn't just sit and take a beating by anyone who wants to give him one, without striking back, he will be suspended? "Yes, he will, and he may go to jail," they replied.

Terrible Tale from a Small Town.

West Iredell Middle School/Statesville NC

There wasn't much Chance or his Father could say or do, nothing at all. The following Tuesday Chance returned to school, from being suspended. He came home that day, and the next morning his Father got up with Chance to get him off to school. Chance was telling his Father that he was nervous about going to school. His Father knew why he was saying this; at least he thought he did. He told his son that he had to go to school and, just deal with things the best he could. He went on to school. His Father, really bothered by this, and all the other things that had happened already. He called to talk to Principal Ivey. He had to leave a message. Finally, the Principal called back and Chance's Father told him about what Chance was saying and how he was acting that morning. He also told the Principal about the incidents before that last fight; Ivey told Chance's Father that there was no need to worry about Chance and the other boy having any more confrontations because the other boy was put on a different schedule, to where he and Chance would not ever see each other. The Father was glad to hear that but wondered to himself, "How could such a strong action already have taken place just because of two kids having a regular fight?" Ivey right off attempted to "debunk" everything that Chance had been telling his Father. The Principal said, "concerning the jacket incident," that there were witnesses that all said that the other child wasn't trying to steal his jacket. That the boy mistakingly thought he was picking his own jacket up instead of Chance's, and that it was an innocent mistake on the other boy's part. Ivey then continued to talk about Chance saying that he was "Nervous about going to school." He said that kids do that sometimes. They wake up and just don't feel like going to school. Chance's father now was very angry because Ivey was saying/implying that his son was just being deceitful and lying about everything.

The Faculty at West Iredell Middle School.

Principal Ivey can be seen here on the right in dark blue.

Later that day when Chance got home, his Father told him what Ivey said about the boy only picking up his jacket by mistake. Chance responded with great surprise. He said to his Father that he doesn't know how the boy thought it was his coat because he already had his own coat on! He said that the boy quickly snatched up the coat and said that "This was his shit now!" Later that day Chance told his Father that the boy he fought with on the previous Thursday got ISS, "In school suspension" for bringing a knife to school on Tuesday. The father was furious and said it was obvious that was the reason his son was nervous about going to school that day was because the boy had been caught with the knife, on his first day back from suspension. Chance was afraid for his life. It then registered in the Father's head that, that was the reason for the drastic action of them keeping the other boy and his son completely away from each other. Mr. Ivey didn't mention that part to Chance's Father. He only said that "Chance just didn't feel like going to school that day." Still, the boy and his father sadly were helpless to do anything about this travesty.

T. Chance is now enjoying his summer, looking forward to go on to the seventh grade next school year. Let's wish him our best!

Bullies beware...

humanitymental healthpsychology
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About the Creator

Kelli Cartrette

"Southern Bell"

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