ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County mother said she is worried for her 13-year-old son's safety. She said he had to take him to the hospital after a student beat him up.
She said it is not the first time her autistic son has been bullied, but she said she is determined it will be the last time.
"He slammed me against the wall." Brandon Reno said, describing an encounter with an accused bully. "I just sucked it up and tried to deal with the pain."
Reno said he's been bullied repeatedly. The latest incident left him in the emergency room with bruised organs.
Reno's mother said she simply wants to know that Gotha Middle School has a plan to stop the harassment.
"I'm tired of talking and not being heard," said Reno's mother, Christina Mueller.
Reno has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that hinders a child's social skills and can make a child an easy target for bullies.
His mother believes that after her repeated complaints about her son's problems with bullies, the school should have more closely monitored her child.
"They gave him a peer partner last year, it lasted like, a month, and fizzled away," said Mueller.
Under federal law, bullying a child who is disabled can become disability harassment, something a school is required to address.
"Students who have disabilities are often the target of bullying, and we know that the schools know that when they are informed by a parent or student that a student is being bullied the school does have the duty to resolve the situation to protect the child," said Jamison Jessup of MyChildWins.com.
"This is very serious, not just for my child, but other children with Aspergers," said Mueller.
No one from the Orange County Public School system would talk about Reno's case, but a district representative said it takes every case of bullying seriously, and investigates them completely.
WFTV
