A Wisconsin mother is speaking out after discovering her special needs son was physically assaulted on his school bus eight days before anyone from the district bothered to tell her.
Kristina Honeycutt shared her story in the Autism Mom Support and Awareness Group on Facebook, and the post quickly drew hundreds of reactions from parents who were equally outraged by what she described.
Her son, a special education student, was riding the bus home on Tuesday, April 28, when another child walked past him to exit at his stop, turned around, and kicked the boy in the groin.
The bus video captured the moment clearly. Her son’s mouth visibly changed shape, his eyes went wide, and his hands dropped to cover himself.
He was not bothering anyone. He was sitting alone, visibly in one of his hallucinations, talking to an imaginary friend.
The bus driver filed an incident report immediately after finishing the route that same evening.
The following morning, April 29, someone at the school received the report and forwarded it to the appropriate staff. That was seven days before Kristina found out.
She was not notified until Wednesday, May 6, and only then because the school had finally reviewed the bus video the day before. The school district’s own policy states that parents must be notified as soon as possible.
In the days between the assault and the phone call, Kristina had been watching her son struggle without understanding why. He was lying on the floor instead of sitting in his chair. He was carefully and slowly pulling his pull-up up and down.
He was having trouble urinating. He was in pain and had no way to verbally explain it to her. Her son is nonverbal and could not tell her what had happened.
“If I don’t speak up for him, who will?” she wrote.
After filing a CPS report against the school, as advised by a protection and advocacy organization, Kristina took her son to the doctor.
She noted that the vice principal who called her was unusually warm and concerned, completely unlike every previous interaction they had shared all year. She called that her first red flag.
The other student has been suspended, and the matter has been referred to juvenile court. The school confirmed the child is mentally capable and was aware of his actions.
Commenters on the post did not hold back.
Terry Beckett asked directly, “Do you have legal counsel?”
Lisa Supik put it bluntly, writing, “She was nice cuz you can sue her butt off.”
A retired educator, going by 985 Muse, wrote,
“I know they are trying to control the narrative. If the other student is able mind and body he’s on that bus because of behaviors. Press charges, file a FOIA for a copy of the video.”
Melanie Mairs encouraged Kristina to connect with autism advocacy groups and reminded her that organizations like Autism Speaks can help families navigate situations exactly like this one.
Jody Smith shared a resource list of legal and disability advocacy organizations for families who need support.
As of her post, Kristina was still waiting on the results of her son’s medical evaluation and asking for prayers that no permanent damage had been done.
