Posted: Thursday, October 13, 2011 8:41 am | Updated: 3:41 pm, Fri Oct 14, 2011. By: Christine Bolaños Staff Writer of Hill Country News * Editor's Note: The name of the victim has been changed to protect his identity.  CEDAR PARK — It's been several months since he has stepped foot in a public school, but Robert Mercer, is still haunted by memories of what happened to him in the boys restroom at Mason Elementary.Parents of the autistic boy said he suffered severe bullying and sexual harassment from four other elementary-aged boys he went to school with.Robert was pulled from Leander ISD after his parents discovered the severity of the situation last school year following an incident and investigation reported on Dec. 15, 2010. Worried that he would get behind in school, his parents enrolled him in Harbor Leadership Academy, a private school in Leander offering an individualized curriculum to students with attention deficit disorders and neurological learning challenges.He started attending a few hours each day, in May and eventually progressed to full time in August.His mother, Elizabeth Loe, said she hopes the fact that the majority of students at HLA are autistic like Robert, will make it easier for him to relate to them and vice versa. While the process has been long and difficult, Loe said the educational lawsuit against Leander ISD has been settled, and they are now focusing on filing a civil rights lawsuit. She said the family could not have done it without the help of Michael Kinser, their advocate, and attorneys Keith Kleinhans and Kimberly Gruber. "These folks are incredible and have fought for justice for Robert. They did a tremendous job representing my son's educational needs under the IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] against LISD and we're very pleased with the outcome," Loe said. While LISD can't discuss specific student cases, officials said the district continues to tackle bullying, including implementing the Anti-Defamation League's No Place For Hate initiative at several campuses to ensure anti-bias and diversity education as an integral part of school curriculum."The district continues to make student safety a priority and we've made anti-bullying awareness one of our major focuses," said Veronica Sopher, executive director of school and community relations. After seeing the difference advocates can make in the lives of families going through ordeals such as hers, Loe said she would like to become an advocate herself, specializing in special education."Anti-bullying, especially over the summer, has become a huge passion and cause for me. I sent a letter to every Texas representative and senator and every U.S. senator and representative that had an anti-bullying bill on the floor," Loe said. She met and spoke with U.S. Rep John Carter during a ribbon cutting at her son's new school earlier this year, and she said he was very responsive to her concerns for addressing bullying at the school district level.She also said she was both grateful and relieved that a new anti-bullying law now requires Texas schools to adopt anti-bullying policies. One of the major personal wins for her, with passage of the law, is that now instead of the victim in a bullying case being transferred or removed to another class or school, it's the bully or bullies who could be moved instead. A second win for her is that school staff would be required to be trained in proper handling and care of bullying situations.The law was too late to keep her son from moving, but Loe said the new school is a "wonderful" place that "really listens" to each child. Classes at HLA are structured by the level the student is at, she said."He just started taking Spanish and he remembers everything. He names off animal names in Spanish. For some reason, problem-solving, where he has to work it out with his hands, gets him," she explained. In the public school system, Loe said her son was possibly on track toward a career at a grocery store or perhaps making it to trade school, but at his new school, every student is expected to go to college."They are extremely special and let people know that they are very intelligent, they just need to be able to teach and learn differently," Loe said. By the time students graduate HLA, Loe said, they will know Spanish, French and Latin. And by the time students reach their 11th grade year, they start filing out scholarship and financial aid forms. "If a student chooses not to go to college, it's their personal decision, not because "they weren't smart enough to do it," she said.Robert continues to deal with his autism and was recently diagnosed with osteoporosis. He also requires occasional confirmation that the bullies won't be coming to his school. Because of other medical conditions, Robert has been through 19 surgeries in his ten years of life, most of them on the brain. He will be undergoing his 20th surgery in his jaw soon. But his parents said they are confident that he'll come out of all of it stronger, just as he has every time. . |
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CategoriesBullying Against Children with DisabilitiesFamily Law Personal Injury |
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