Autistic boy's parents claim school bus aid beat him

Edwin Gonzales (ABC 4 News)

Reported by: Barbara Smith

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Eladio Gonzalez and his wife are looking for answers. They want to know what happened on a special needs school bus last Wednesday. They believe an aid on the school bus hit the little boy.

Eladio says his five year old son, who is autistic, was being dropped off in front of their home when he noticed something was wrong. “She actually go outside the bus an point my kid with finger in the face. Saying that he’s so fussy guy, a crazy guy, talking with him like a normal adult person.”

But his son Edwin is far from being an adult. He’s in a special pre-school for autistic children. Gonzalez says he can be fussy, and he can get a little crazy at times, but he’s just a boy. “They are special kids you know; they have to be careful with them.” Gonzalez says what the bus aid said next was more offensive. “He don’t follow the rules, and stuff. That’s when she called my son a retard.”

Gonzalez says he took his son into the house. That’s when he noticed the red marks on his Edwin’s face. “I ask my son why were you being mean on the bus? What happened? So the first thing my kid told me was she punched me. She punched me.” Gonzalez took pictures of the red marks with his cell phone camera. Then, he took action. He called the Salt Lake City School District traffic safety coordinator. He also filed a police report, but he says so far, nothing has changed. “I actually have seen the lady riding on the bus still with the kids.”

Salt Lake School District Spokesperson, Jason Olsen, says the investigation continues, but so far no evidence has been found to support the family’s claims. “Allegations such as these, any behavior like that, is not tolerated. That is why we welcome that police investigation. If something happened we really want to know and make sure that student feels safe on that bus again.” Olsen says another aid will be added to the bus as a precaution until the investigation is completed.

Gonzalez says, it might take awhile for his son to feel safe again.” He used to get excited when he saw the bus outside because he is excited to go to school. Right now he saw the bus and he was crying. He doesn’t want to go on the bus anymore.”

Source: http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/stor...SBypyfTqw.cspx

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