When I see headlines like my post above I cringe. Abuse of any kind should not be happening in the very institutions that are there to protect and educate our children, but it seems that if your child has a disability they are more likely to be bullied and abused the most due to the very fact that they are different.
It happened to my son, when he was in kindergarten and what makes this especially bitter-sweet is that even after 6 years has passed and he is older, the emotional scars have never went away. We all thought his kindergarten years were going well…or so we thought. He would come home, especially after I picked him up, and would cry uncontrollably and tantrum and I could not understand for the life of me what was going on, especially when we would drop him off and he would point to a particular para or teacher saying ‘bad teacher’ or ‘bad lady’. We would ask the teachers and paraeducators how everyting was going but would always get the same answer, ‘oh, things are going fine’. It was only years later that we would learn that our son was called stupid on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis from the very paraeducators and special education teachers. Our son was also bullied by the kids in class as well. He did not have a voice; therefore, this went on for quite a while.
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Thankfully my gut instinct was to pull him and I ended up home schooling our autistic son for about 6 years. It has only been recently that he has gone back into the public school system. He still has his good days and bad days, but now he is more vocal than ever so teachers are not able to get away with a lot of things.
As a parent, I know that I will not always be there, especially at school but the best I can do is to make sure bullying is not tolerated in any school environment and that parents stand up and fight for their special needs children and whomever else is silenced because of a school system or bully in general. Believe it or not, bullies span way beyond a peer anymore, now teachers and student teachers have become involved in this as well.
Stand up and Fight for those that are the most vulnerable, especially when it comes to you and your child; whether they have special needs or not.
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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Mandu Usoro, US Army Veteran, Experienced Homeschooler, Parent Advocate and is the founder of Homeschool Special Needs Tidbits, a website/weblog about homeschooling, public school education, special needs children, personal bookstore, and articles about educating special needs children and the tools needed for success.
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Mandu Usoro is a lifestyle blogger, freelance writer, experienced homeschooler and US Army Veteran with a BS Degree in Social Work and AA Degrees in Psychology as well as Health Care Administration. She enjoys spending time with her family, advocating for her special needs son and writing for fun and inspiration. You can get in touch with her on Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and at https://www.homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/contact-us
