News From Kansas: Boy With Asperger's Severely Beaten In School

[Grumpy Cat]

Boy with autism severely beaten at Liberty Middle School | fox4kc.com

 

[Tia Maria]

POOR boy. He seems so sweet too.

I think this event is more a reflection of a public school's lack of pro-active intervention & control of a known school bully, versus a systemic targeted bullying of an autie kid. IMO the school should have taken action against this bully & his parents before this attack happened. And why were there no adult monitors in the cafeteria? The bully is currently being held in juvie detention.

*********************************************************************
LIBERTY, Mo. — The parents of a 12-year-old boy with autism say their son is lucky to be alive after an older boy severely beat him in the school cafeteria. The boy’s parents say they warned the principal at Liberty Middle School about their son’s attacker a month ago.

Destiny Kitchen mailed a certified letter to the principal last month, detailing bullying that was happening to her older son by this same boy, and asking the school to protect her kids.

She says nothing happened. Blake Kitchen, 12, has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. He likes routines and eats in the same spot every day. But when he arrived at school Thursday for breakfast, another boy moved his belongings from his seat. When Blake asked him to move, the boy who had been bullying his brother stepped in and started beating Blake until he blacked out.

“It makes me sad and angry to see him have that moment of terror,” said Destiny Kitchen, Blake’s mother. “Is your son going to make it? To listen to him cry and say, ‘Mommy I’m going to die. Please don’t let me die I’m not ready.’ It could have been avoided.”

Blake spent four days at Children’s Mercy Hospital, and is heading back to the hospital after starting to bleed again Tuesday. He has a jawline fracture, fractured skull and damage to his ear that may require surgery.

“My ear hurts, my jaw hurts, my back hurts and that’s all,” the boy told FOX 4 News.

Destiny says the 8th grader who attacked Blake weighs more than 200 pounds and has a history of in-school suspensions. That boy is in juvenile detention while Liberty police investigate the crime.

In a written statement the Liberty School District says the incident involving Blake is being reviewed and school leaders are cooperating with police in their investigation.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

POOR boy. He seems so sweet too.

I think this event is more a reflection of a public school's lack of pro-active intervention & control of a known school bully, versus a systemic targeted bullying of an autie kid. IMO the school should have taken action against this bully & his parents before this attack happened. And why were there no adult monitors in the cafeteria? The bully is currently being held in juvie detention.

*********************************************************************
LIBERTY, Mo. — The parents of a 12-year-old boy with autism say their son is lucky to be alive after an older boy severely beat him in the school cafeteria. The boy’s parents say they warned the principal at Liberty Middle School about their son’s attacker a month ago.

Destiny Kitchen mailed a certified letter to the principal last month, detailing bullying that was happening to her older son by this same boy, and asking the school to protect her kids.

She says nothing happened. Blake Kitchen, 12, has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. He likes routines and eats in the same spot every day. But when he arrived at school Thursday for breakfast, another boy moved his belongings from his seat. When Blake asked him to move, the boy who had been bullying his brother stepped in and started beating Blake until he blacked out.

“It makes me sad and angry to see him have that moment of terror,” said Destiny Kitchen, Blake’s mother. “Is your son going to make it? To listen to him cry and say, ‘Mommy I’m going to die. Please don’t let me die I’m not ready.’ It could have been avoided.”

Blake spent four days at Children’s Mercy Hospital, and is heading back to the hospital after starting to bleed again Tuesday. He has a jawline fracture, fractured skull and damage to his ear that may require surgery.

“My ear hurts, my jaw hurts, my back hurts and that’s all,” the boy told FOX 4 News.

Destiny says the 8th grader who attacked Blake weighs more than 200 pounds and has a history of in-school suspensions. That boy is in juvenile detention while Liberty police investigate the crime.

In a written statement the Liberty School District says the incident involving Blake is being reviewed and school leaders are cooperating with police in their investigation.

I didn't write anything cause I never know what to say with stories like this so I let the story speak for itself. I watched the video and cried.

 

[Stopheles]

My son's best friend is aspies and was bullied horribly by a certain student. He was 13. His mom went to the teachers, bus driver and the principal. No action was taken. Finally one day the bully followed this child off the school bus, had him pinned to the ground and was punching him in the face and head. My son's friend pulled out his pocket knife with a 3 inch blade and stabbed the bully in the leg. He then ran to the nearest house and asked the residents to please call an ambulance for the bully. He spent 6 months in juvenile detention and 6 months on house arrest. He was convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon. The next school he attended for 3 months, he stopped a fight between two of his friends and was expelled and charged with assault for tackling the boy who was on top of the other, and for pushing back the other kid who tried to attack the boy he was holding back. The school cited his "previous violent conviction" as reason for expulsion. No mention was ever made of this in the newspaper, or any news channel.

School officials need to be trained to take steps when an AS child is being bullied. Both schools I mentioned had "zero tolerance" clearly outlined in their student handbooks, yet absolutely nothing was done to protect the victim, until he finally had to protect himself.

My own children are NT, and were bullied repeatedly in public schools with "zero tolerance". Until anti-bullying measures are actually implemented, rather than just advertised, my children will continue to be homeschooled.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

My son's best friend is aspies and was bullied horribly by a certain student. He was 13. His mom went to the teachers, bus driver and the principal. No action was taken. Finally one day the bully followed this child off the school bus, had him pinned to the ground and was punching him in the face and head. My son's friend pulled out his pocket knife with a 3 inch blade and stabbed the bully in the leg. He then ran to the nearest house and asked the residents to please call an ambulance for the bully. He spent 6 months in juvenile detention and 6 months on house arrest. He was convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon. The next school he attended for 3 months, he stopped a fight between two of his friends and was expelled and charged with assault for tackling the boy who was on top of the other, and for pushing back the other kid who tried to attack the boy he was holding back. The school cited his "previous violent conviction" as reason for expulsion. No mention was ever made of this in the newspaper, or any news channel.

School officials need to be trained to take steps when an AS child is being bullied. Both schools I mentioned had "zero tolerance" clearly outlined in their student handbooks, yet absolutely nothing was done to protect the victim, until he finally had to protect himself.

My own children are NT, and were bullied repeatedly in public schools with "zero tolerance". Until anti-bullying measures are actually implemented, rather than just advertised, my children will continue to be homeschooled.

I totally agree with the homeschooling. I wish all kids could be homeschooled. I don't have any good memories of school and I'm NT. I went to both a private Catholic school and a public school and was never really accepted at either. If I would have been homeschooled, maybe I could have went further in my education instead of always trying to fit in where I was never accepted. You are totally doing the right thing.

 

[Stopheles]

Thank you, my own experience wasn't great. I tended to go spastic on people who bullied me and those unable to stand up for themselves. I attended through the 80's and 90's, and was an A student and very quiet. I'm sure that's the only reason I didn't get in trouble for sticking up for people.

My son was 6 the first time he was bullied, I told him to tell a teacher. He did, and lost his recess for tattling. He continued to be bullied at 3 separate schools. He was 8 when he was suspended for 2 days because another boy punched my 6 year old daughter in the stomach and he threw the boy to the ground. The other child got a 1 day suspension; less than my son for defending his little sister. It eventually got so bad, even the teachers were making negative comments to them. The principal waved me away, told me "I'm sure it was nothing, they'll be fine." Meanwhile my son was aggressive and obviously depressed, my daughter was crying on the way to school. So I withdrew them and now we do online and independent study. My daughter is much more confident and healthier, and my son has regained his sweet personality and loving nature.

Homeschool was the best decision I ever made.

 

[Randomperson]

This level of violence indicates a sever problem in the aggressor, beating a defenseless target until they have a broken jaw and skull fractures requires rage and malice, the skull is the strongest bone set in your body once it has hardened, and by 12 it certainly is not soft anymore. The target in this case is likely not relevant to the attack, he only asked to have his usual spot where his things were already set and where he sits every day. The bully on the other hand will do this again, and will likely escalate in violence when doing so.