Concussion

This is what I posted to FB on Sunday:

Recently, Stow joined student council and has been very excited to help with events. He’s proud of being a good and thoughtful worker. After volunteering for one event on Friday, he eagerly asked if he could work at another event last night.

 
While he was working, another kid came and hit him hard on the head with a heavy bag full of candy. At first he thought it was an accident, but then the girl left, came back, and hit him again. The THIRD time she came back and hit him, he got dizzy and felt like he was going to pass out. He told an adult what happened and then called me panicked, saying he didn’t understand what he did wrong.

 
The PTO parents handled the situation very well. They communicated what happened to me and also tracked down the child who did this (even though he didn’t know who it was because she was in costume). They called her mom and the parents of the girl who put her up to it and made sure that the girls understood their behavior was unacceptable and that it would be reported to the school. The one who hit Stow was someone he thought of as a friend; the other one has been mean to him and has tattled on him when he has perseverated about how she treats him. Apparently the one who hit Stow 1) didn’t realize it wasn’t funny to him, and 2) didn’t realize the other girl dislikes him and was setting her up.

 
The upshot, though, is that he left what should have been a fun and confidence-building experience injured and had to spend hours in the ER last night. He has a level 2 concussion and can’t do anything today. His head still hurts and lights and noise make it worse. All he can do is stay in bed in his darkened room. He’s missing the youth group trip to the corn maze and won’t be able to game with his friends or do any physical activity for at least several days.

I used the brush tool to cover Ren's face per his request. Sorry it's a bit creepy looking!

 

And, he still doesn’t get why someone would be mean to him when he did nothing to provoke it and also didn’t react when he was hit.

I spend hours working with the school to advocate for Stow and to make sure that he is being supported. He spends hours with therapists and the school social workers trying to better understand how to interact with his neurotypical peers because he wants to be friends with them. He puts in so much work, but still this kind of crap happens. Kids who are different are disliked and even targeted for things that are part of their disability.

 
Please teach your kids to be kind to the weird kid and to stand up for them when someone is being mean or trying to trick them into getting in trouble. All the work we do as a family to support our kids isn’t enough. Teachers and counselors can’t control how other kids treat my kid, and some days it completely breaks my heart.

*****

So, it has been a hard week. I'm still working through it, both personally and as his parent and advocate. For now, I just wanted to share this. He's back at school, finally, but he isn't able to manage going to class or the cafeteria or anywhere but a quiet room, where he sits alone, and I am angry that the thoughtless actions of others had done this to him.