Keep those wheels on that bus

by Kristina Chew, PhD on March 25th, 2006

A schoolbus with six special needs children got into an accident in Piscataway, New Jersey, en route to The Children’s Center last week, according the Newark Star-Ledger (March 24, 2006). The bus went off the road and would have fallen down an embankment, except it crashed into a tree. Apparently the bus aide was trying to help one of the children and fell onto the bus driver, who is 72 years old; both women had to be hospitalized. All of the children sustained minor injuries. The Children’s Center is a school in Monmouth County in New Jersey for children with many disabilities, including autism.

I know I’m going to be thinking about that schoolbus every morning after I put Charlie on his bus. While his driver and aide have been kind and always on-time, they do not have much (if any) training in taking care of an autistic child. (Moreover, both driver and aide do not appear to have a strong command of English.)

What might happen if Charlie’s bus gets into an accident? If the driver or aide gets hurt? If Charlie does?