Orange County, CA – In a follow-up to a story Autism Daily Newscast first reported here, there is new video now available which showcases the incident where Andre Carillo and his grandfather Moises Sanchez are told to get off the bus. The video was posted NBCLA 4 of Southern California and from first frame to last it’s easy to see that Andre is not an everyday 11-year-old. Like most children with autism, he often makes awkward gestures and noises that cannot be controlled and are harmless to others. Despite this, according to Andre’s mother, he’s been a happy bus rider since age four.
But on the 30 minute ride from Laguna Hills to Mission Viejo, one that usually calms Andre, this bus driver didn’t know how to handle the noises. At the 20 minute mark he asks the pair to quite down. When that didn’t work the driver called dispatch to see how the situation should be handled. At this point Andre is seen struggling with his grandfather. Ten minutes later they were left at Saddleback college-a couple miles from home.
Ocean County Transit Authority spokesperson Joel Zlontik told NBCLA 4 of Southern California that the situation was unfortunate but that the noises were too distracting for the bus driver.
The mother has since hired an attorney and said her goal is to teach others about autism. She has not seen the video.
The original news story by Vikki Vargas on the NBC4 News website can be read here
Contributed by Audrey L. Hollingshead