Family Commences Civil Action Against First Student for Assault of Autistic Child

Managing Editor's Note:  The law suit below stems from the assault(s) against my youngest daughter Isabella on the special ed bus in 2010.  Her case elicited concern and kindness from all of the autism community - I appreciated and was encouraged by the unity and support. That photo is from 2006, and is one of my favorites. (We were on a trampoline, not auditioning for a Breck commercial.) Our children with autism are not acceptable targets for bullies and abusers.  None of them. Whether born with autism, regressed into autism, 3 years old, 43 years old. NONE OF THEM. The timing of this lawsuit, just before Good Friday and Passover, while unintentional, is appropriate, I think.  The press release from our attorney follows below. Thanks, everyone. Kim

Attorney Michael T. Meehan of Meehan, Meehan and Gavin, LLP has commenced a civil action against First Student, Inc. on behalf of Isabella Stagliano, a minor child with severe autism.  The lawsuit stems from a series of acts of physical abuse committed by Jennifer Davila, who was employed by First Student Inc. as an "aid" for special needs students traveling on a First Student, Inc. school bus.  The minor child was a nine year old special needs student diagnosed with autism. She was not able to speak.   First Student, Inc. contracted with the Trumbull Board of Education to provide transportation for all students, including special needs students enrolled in the Trumbull school system.  Additionally, the operator of the First Student school bus at the time of these incidents was Evelyn Guzman; the mother of Jennifer Davila. and Guzman was arrested and charged with the felony offense of risk of injury to a minor for texting and driving said school bus.  Guzman is currently on  probation.

As a result of the acts of physical abuse, Jennifer Davila was arrested and convicted for her conduct.  First Student, Inc has been named in the lawsuit for failure to properly train, supervise, inspect, or investigate its employees for unreasonable risk of harm to the minor child.  As a direct result of the conduct of First Student, Inc. and its employees the minor child suffered permanent personal injuries and damages.  In particular, the conduct of First Student, Inc.'s employee has had an emotional and educational impact on the minor child.

April is autism awareness month.  According to National Autism Association, "Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social impairments, cognitive impairments, communication difficulties, and repetitive behaviors. It can range from very mild to very severe and occur in all ethnic, socioeconomic and age groups."

Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 88 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years."

This lawsuit is brought on behalf of this minor child as a voiceless victim and all the other special needs children who  may become victims of physical and emotional abuse as a result of of their disability. ###

Comments

[Tamie Hopp]

Kim,
I represent VOR, a national organization for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I applaud you for taking this abuse to court. So many families suffer in silence - even families whose loved ones reside in group homes. Their loved ones are often out of sight, out of mind. Families fear speaking up will result in the eviction of their family member. Families with the courage to speak up often wind up in a "he said, she said" scenerio *(See, http://www.vor.net/abuse-and-neglect). Lawsuits like your's give other families' the courage to fight and when you are successful, will give families the precedent to win. Thank you! Tamie Hopp, VOR.

[Elucidatus]

Hi Kim,

I am so sorry to hear that this happened to your daughter. I know what you are going through and I will pray for you and your family. Please take care.

Sincerely,

Elucidatus

[Nancy]

I'm so sorry this happened to your daughter! We are told to allow our children as much independence as they can handle but with a severely autistic child in an unkind world, exactly how much is that.

My son is 16 and this is only the second year I have allowed him to ride the bus to school. It took a bit of doing because I demanded that the school hire someone specifically for him and to have that person, a district employee, trained for two weeks by staff at his private school. Even with these "safe" guards in place I can still never be certain that he is safe.

[Louis Conte]

Kim,
I agree with John. The photograph is a killer.

We are in the midst of a human rights catastrophe and no one - outside of our community - will admit it.

Louis

[sondra]

kim this still causes of me such internal emotional chaos over knowing any one could and would cause such harm to a child. it is of below humanness for any to think this is of an okay things to do to anyone, let of alone a child who cannot speak.... it still stirs of the tears to cause of me face to soak quickly for her. I to be of lived in much trauma and had endured it silently too for years so can so much relate to the fears and pains Bella feels still maybe to this day... so sorry this happened to her. i did and still do want to come and scratchand kick them both for doing that but know that will too cause of me to go to jail, so i to work hard in regulating that emotional surging in me. hope of to see you in the real in april at the ARI conference.

[linwessels]

Holding you close in thought and prayers. There are not words to describe the sorrow this gives me. Please know how much we care.

[Harry T]

Good Luck Stagliano family ...may you get the justice you deserve!

[Ronda]

Kim,

I first learned of what your daughter went through when you spoke last summer at a conference I attended. It brought me to tears. It still does. What good news for all of us that this was brought to justice. I hear stories in the media about other incidents on the school bus that have kept me from putting my non verbal son on the bus. I spoke to a mother last year whose son with aspegers who was only in kindergarten was being bullied on the school bus by kids that were his age and although he could speak, he was told by the kids not to tell so he did not. The mother found bruises on her son. He was sure not being protected by those in a position whose priorities should be to transport our kids to and from school safely. I hope there is a stop to these incidents that happen to others who can't protect themselves and all responsible be held accountable. Much healing to you and your beautiful daughter.

[first do no harm]

Beautiful photo, beautiful news about justice for Bella finally being in the works, but still an ugly, ugly story of abuse. I hope she (and all of you) continue to heal emotionally. Much luck moving forward with the lawsuit.

[Not an MD]

It is too upsetting to think about your beautiful Bella being hurt by an allegedly "human" adult and her bus driver mother who just stood by and watched it all without a peep. I am glad, however, that the perpetrators are being brought to justice. There is something terribly wrong with them.

What a great, happy picture of the two of you.

[jan]

Beautiful photo. It hurts my heart to think anyone would hurt this beautiful child or any child. Good for you for fighting! People need to be held accountable for this kind of crap happening

[Lanie Litwin]

This is the first I've heard of this. I am so sorry your family is having to go through this! I am at a loss of what to say.....I really am.
Hugs, well wishes, good luck, kick some ass, prayers....
Lanie

[Linda Higgins]

School staff is not exempt - consider that the LA teachers who have been arrested - were arrested. This means they are being dealt with by the legal system. The problem is that people who work in the schools protect each other for the most part. My daughter's first aide let it slip that something was happening that was abusive. She let it slip because it was so common place that the staff dragged my daughter across the parking lot as though she were a bag of garbage. I don't know what went on to make my daughter want to do anything to avoid going into the classroom, but she would not testify even though she was no longer with the district when our attorney called her. This was the response he expected - sadly, it is the normal response. I expect that once she knew that what others did was abusive, that maybe she realized she was also guilty so did not want to speak out. The bus driver who witnessed this every day never told me what was happening and was very closed mouthed about what she saw, though at least she confirmed that my daughter was lying under the seat to avoid being pulled out of the bus - but this was only after I knew and asked for confirmation, again not willing to testify in court. Lack of witnesses left the teacher and those aides to do more to other innocent children.

[Cycle3man]

School bus contracts go to the lowest bidder not the company the would do the best job. With the lowest bidder comes the lowest paid help and cutting cost where ever possible, including failure to train the aides and attendants. There is something very wrong with this picture especially when dealing with these defenseless special children.

PS That sure is a lovely photo. You daughter is beautiful!

[Maurine Meleck]

Thank you Kim for fighting for your child, family and all of us--especially those who have experienced abuse carried out on our own loved ones. Hoping for a good outcome. Love the photo although I think it's a commercial for Tom's floride free toothpaste.
Maurine

[Lisa @TACA]

Thanks Kim and family for fighting back. Maybe this case can be the example to NEVER CONSIDER THIS TYPE OF ABUSE AGAIN. Our kids may not always be able to speak but know this - we will fight for them.

[kathy blanco]

Ugh, I can only imagine all our children's futures, when their parents are gone, or any siblings, and they live in a "care setting", ugh ugh ugh.. I hate autism, I really do.

[Benedetta]

Very nice picture Kim
You are both beautiful.
There are a lot of people in this world that appears nice on the outside, but what they are comes out when they think no one is looking-- or in this case no one that matters is looking.
Some kind of psych test that shows this ???? (that would be useful) should be given before these people are let loose on our intelligent but silent kids.

[Michelle]

Just keep swimming, Kim.

[Matt]

Sadly, the School staff is exempt from being dealt with in the court of law. Staff can not be interviewed, police reports cannot be filed, video cannot be obtained for review. Therefore School is an attractive place for pedophiles and abusive caregivers to work and our non-verbal children are at great risk in the public school system. Notice that the bus service that hired these people are named in the lawsuit but not the school that hired the bus service.

[Susan Owczarzak]

My son's school transportation is also provided by First Student. In May 2010, we were horrified to learn that the driver of our son's special ed bus was caught, literally with his pants down, exposing himself to a female passenger on the bus! At this point, this man had been driving our son and his peers to school for nearly 9 months. Who knows what might have been going on during all this time?!?! Thankfully, on this occasion, a woman happened to be out walking that afternoon and saw this SOB in the act as she walked past the bus, immediately calling 911. We are still sickened to this day wondering if this ever happened on any other occasion, and/or in our son's presence, and will never have any way of knowing this. The female student was the only child on the bus at the time the driver was caught, but who knows if he had ever done this before. DISGUSTING can't even begin to describe these monsters' violation of our children.
Kim and Bella, keeping you in our thoughts and prayers as you move ahead in seeking justice for all of our children.

[Katie Wright]

Way to go Stagliano family! This should not even be a close case. In taking this action you are standing up for all the vulnerable kids with autism. Abusive behavior on the part of school staff needs to be brought to the public's attention and dealt with in a court of law. This is the only way to ensure that cruel and abusive caregivers understand that there are consequences to their actions.

What a beautiful picture!

[John Stone]

Kim,

What a lovely photograph - when I read this abuse of innocence it fills me with anger and despair.

John