When Jonny was in the 6th grade he was told he had to write a letter of apology to the driver before they would let him ride the bus again.  This letter certainly opened our eyes to the abuse that many children with autism may never be able to speak of.

May 17, 2001

Dear Pat,

I am sorry for the seat, but I got angry because of Nicholas, because he’s annoying me sometimes (99.9% of the time he is) and he’s on the first bus I get on to go to school. He throws leftover chocolate Jello pudding (in a container with holes on the lid) at me when he’s getting off, and it gets my clothes dirty (mom doesn’t want me to wear dirty clothing). While he’s on, he and his friend gang up on me (and, occasionally, tell other big kids to do it) and they occasionally move from seat to seat to get at me! They move ahead, one pair of seats at a time, bonk me on the head, and rush back to their seat. Fortunately, his buddy had to move to the front seat. And sometimes, still in their seats, they throw assorted junk at me (jello pudding, paper balls, etc.) sometimes they miss. He sometimes says I live in a garbage dump, a cardboard box, and on certain times he calls me “gaylord,” gay not meaning happy. Matt told me to say “gee, thanks, I’ll remember that!” when Nicholas says I am a gaylord. He sometimes swears. The one kid I saw and liked in his family was Nicholas’s kid brother! Since I can only sit in the 4th seat or further up, I’m a supreme target. Fortunately, they have never stolen my lunch yet. The reason I made those holes was because I needed to do something to release my tension. Mrs. Lorenz and I talked about what I could do instead of damaging other people’s stuff.

Sincerely,
Jonny Sicoli