Autistic boy goes to hospital after school cafeteria beating

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Autistic boy goes to hospital after school cafeteria beating
| February 24, 2015 | Updated: February 24, 2015 7:40pm

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri sixth-grader with Asperger's syndrome has suffered complications from a severe beating he took in the lunchroom from another student, his parents say.

Twelve-year-old Blake Kitchen, of Liberty, has a cracked skull, a fractured jaw and damage to his ear that may require surgery, his mother said.

"It makes me sad and angry to see him have that moment of terror," Destiny Kitchen told WDAF-TV. "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."

The Liberty School District said in a written statement that the incident is being reviewed and school leaders are cooperating with police.

Blake has Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, and likes to sit at the same spot each day in the Liberty Middle School cafeteria. His parents say that turned troublesome last Thursday, when a boy moved Blake's belongings from his seat. When Blake asked the boy to move, another boy began hitting him until he blacked out.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Autistic-boy-goes-to-hospital-after-school-6099531.php

[Warpy]

1. I sincerely hope there will be charges filed

and the bully boys who did this get marched off to mandatory intervention.

No one deserves a fractured skull, especially at the hands of some bully.

Middle school is pure hell for any kid who can't conform.

[magical thyme]

7. life is pure hell for any person who doesn't conform

the harassment and abuse never stops. It may abate temporarily. but as soon as the "normals" have excess time and energy at their disposal, they make it their mission to harass, assault, steal from and in any way possible make innocent people's lives living hell. and our society tacitly condones it, usually blaming the victim, until it is too late.

[btrflykng9]

10. +1

[heaven05]

13. +10

mean and vicious culture kids are learning from and living in.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. Sue the bastards!

[LittleGirl]

3. grade school monsters

my gawd!

[sakabatou]

4. I know!

[SheilaT]

5. My oldest son, now 32 has Asperger's.

He wasn't diagnosed until he was 18, and halfway through his senior year in high school.

At his public grade school, through 4th grade, the rule in the cafeteria was that kids sat down at a table until it was full, then started filling up the next table. In fifth grade, other kids didn't want to sit with my son. It got so bad he wound up eating his lunch with the school counselor.

We were able to move him after 6th grade to a local secular private school, where his being different (oh, I should also tell you he has had alopecia areata since age 4, which means he has been totally bald since that age, making him look different from other kids) didn't matter. Indeed, because this new school very much emphasized academics, his being very smart no longer set him apart. He developed a good group of friends, did science bowl and knowledge bowl from this point on. And his science bowl team went to Nationals his junior and senior years.

So I know what this kid has gone to, to a small extent. I'm just so grateful we had a solution long before it got to the point this child has now gone through.

[greymattermom]

6. lunchroom thing is horrible

My daughter had the same lunchroom problem, and she's not autistic, just an artist. When I was in school we had very long tables, so no small group could claim a whole table, but in her middle school they had smaller round tables that were all "owned" by specific groups. She would sit on the stage or on the floor. There is no way that any of my children would consider living in the area where we lived, now that they're grown up and have a choice.

[Android3.14]

8. Same with us

We discovered our son was on the autism spectrum after years of bullies victimizing him. When he was a sophomore, we were able to send him to a science and math magnet school and the change has been overwhelming. It's a boarding school, but the change when he comes home for breaks is so positive.

In pictures from school, he always had such a sad expression on his face and he never understood why no one would be his friend. In the new school, he has found others who like him, understand his social awkwardness, and he faces rigorous academic challenges rather than sacrificing real learning on the altar of self-esteem.

At his previous school, and at some schools for which I taught, the administrative response to bullying was an unending process of delay, ineffective meetings, lack of consequence and district cronyism for bullies from wealthy families.

[vankuria]

19. Glad to hear things worked out so well for your son

[marshall]

9. The attacker had previously targeted the older brother

the attacker is reported to be over 200 pounds and was on multiple precious instances it's the older brother of this victim, who is not reported as having autism.

[Hoppy]

11. Sue the parents for uncovered medical expenses.

Money may get their attention.

File a police report regardless what the school does.

[raccoon]

12. That's a shame. I hope those bullies face serious consequences. And the boy's parents sue the

parents of the bullies.

[freebrew]

14. In this 'stupid' state...

that I live, it's a wonder that the beaten child wasn't suspended. It happens here(central MO) as well, anyone involved in a fight gets suspended. Yes, even the victims. I've seen it all too often. They call it 'zero-tolerance'.
From what I see, it's just a way to keep the admins from having to answer to the rich and connected parents of these bullies. This crap needs to stop. Now.
I really hope the parents of this young man sue the district into bankruptcy. Then they can move to a better place.

[Trillo]

15. He'll probably be required to attend again.

What a hostile workplace. In loco parentis my ass.

[happyslug]

16. There is something more here then a fight in school

I bring this up for most boys in the pre teen years and early teens will end up in fights in school. No big deal in most cases. It is part of growing up. The key to these fights is there are NEVER any intention to do any real harm. Couple of punches, some pushing, some wrestling and that is about it. Next days the boys involve are often the best of friends. Sociologist notice this in all culture and dismiss it as males coming of age. Males fight, but these are positioning fights, how far can you be pushed before you push back. That is what most boys want to know on a subconscious level. These boys/young me do NOT want to harm each other, they just feeling each other out as to how far each of them can be pushed.

On the other hand, girl fights can be deadly. Girls generally do not fight, but when they do fight it is not a positioning fight like most boys fights, it is much more deadly. I bring up girl fights for this fight sounds more like a fight between girls then a fight between boys and that means it is NOT a normal pre-teen boy fight. It is NOT a positioning fight, it was something else. Boys follow rules when it comes to fights and to break those rules is a big no no. When those rules are broken, such as actually doing HARM to someone, either the boys involved are very apologetic afterward OR something else is going on.

What I mean is the boy who did the beating intended to do harm. That is NOT normal for boy fights. Moving the victim's belongings could be the start of a normal fight among boys, but then "another boy began hitting him until he blacked out". That is NOT normal. You do not get into someone's else fight, you watch instead. Other boys may break up the fight before the teachers can, but not join in (If tensions are high for other reasons that is a different situation, I went to school in a school recently integrated, racial tensions was high but controlled and NONE of the traditional boys fights ever broke out into riot. On the other hand the school did have such a riot a few years before I went to the School, but things had calmed down by the time I entered that School.

Just a comment that this does NOT sound like a typical boys fight in school. It may have started as one between the victim and another student, but then this bully intervened. Why I have no idea and thus the investigation. Something is wrong here and it is NOT with the boy with Asperger's.

[dhill926]

17. where the hell were the teachers and monitors...

this sounds like a sustained beating.

[vankuria]

20. Was wondering the same thing!

Sounds like this poor kid was beaten really bad and could have permanent damage, how could this happen in a setting where there is supposed to be supervision? I hope this boys parents sue the shit out of the district and the bullies face real punishment and not just a slap on the hand.

[herding cats]

21. This article says the women who worked in the cafeteria ran for a security guard.

There's no mention of official monitors or teachers.

Kitchen said she was told that women who work in the lunchroom ran to get a security guard. Students ran to older brother Preston, telling him that Blake had been pummeled. After the school’s initial call to Kitchen, she texted Preston, who texted back that the boy who had been bothering him had just beaten up Blake.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article11102810.html#storylink=cpy

[HughBeaumont]

18. Oh good. More assault called by the bullshit term "bullying".

I suppose adults getting their "tied hands" dirty would be too much to ask, would it?

[Blue_Tires]

22. Are they sure the bully doesn't have some mental disorder himself?

[herding cats]

23. It would appear the boy who assaulted him had a history of bullying this boys older brother

The alleged bully, a much larger eighth-grader, had since the beginning of the year smashed Preston’s cellphone and called him a “fag,” according to Preston’s mother, Destiny Kitchen, 36. She said the larger boy threatened her son in the hallways, tripped him in gym class, dumped food on him in the cafeteria and so terrorized him that Preston no longer would retrieve his violin from his locker.

“This child is threatening my son,” Kitchen said she complained to the school. Both boys got a talking-to, she said, but the harassment continued.

Preston’s grandfather last month sent a certified letter to Principal Dan Weakley, imploring school authorities to step in with “discretion” for fear of revenge.

“I am certain that you are concerned for the safety of all students…” said the letter, dated Jan. 26. “I also believe that Preston is afraid that if this particular young man is punished, Preston will be in greater danger.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article11102810.html#storylink=cpy