Mount Vernon, Missouri, mother is speaking out after her five-year-old daughter, who is autistic, was reportedly laughed at and stared at by two other children while playing at the local library.
Emma Conway shared her experience on the Mount Vernon Mo Online Bulletin Board, a local Facebook group, explaining that her daughter was quietly playing with toys when a boy and girl, believed to be between eight and ten years old, began staring at her and laughing.
Conway noted that the children’s mother was seated nearby but had AirPods in and did not appear to notice what was happening.
Conway wrote that while her daughter can sometimes be loud and the family is used to getting occasional stares in public, laughing at a child is a different matter entirely.
She pointed out that her daughter is only five years old and said parents need to do a better job teaching their children not to bully others, especially kids with special needs.
Community Reacts With Mixed Advice
The post quickly drew dozens of comments, with many community members expressing sympathy while also offering advice on how the situation could have been handled differently.
Grace Lambert commented that Conway should have approached the mother directly in the moment, saying that posting on Facebook afterward would not resolve anything and that speaking up shows a child what it means to be protected.
Amy N Ken echoed a similar sentiment, saying the situation could have been solved by simply talking to the mother right away rather than sharing it online.
Janet Wilkewitz suggested that if the mother had been paying attention, she could have used the moment as a teaching opportunity for her children.
Not everyone focused on what Conway should have done differently. Carol Bagwell Roll pointed a finger at the mother’s use of AirPods, joking that she needed to take them out and pay attention to her kids’ behavior.
A Second Incident Involving a Special Needs Child
This is not the first time a similar situation has been shared in the group. Heidi Tesch commented that she was the one who made a post a few days earlier about another child with special needs being mocked, this time at a local Dollar Tree.
She said her heart breaks every time a child is bullied and offered Conway support, saying she understands what it feels like at that age.
Meanwhile, Serena Lee Anderson used the moment to reflect more broadly on how communities have changed over the years, saying people used to talk things out face to face instead of turning to social media, and that conflict resolution seems harder to come by these days.
