Exclusive: Mom says nonverbal son with autism left school unsupervised
April Vinson says her son is now going to be moved to another school in light of this incident.
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A New Rochelle mom is calling for reform after she says her young son with autism left school unsupervised last week.
April Vinson says her 5-year-old son, who has autism and is nonverbal, wandered off of his school campus unsupervised on Wednesday.
"I was in tears. Just tears. I was distraught," Vinson says.
Vinson says the incident happened around 12:47 p.m. at Jefferson Elementary School.
She says she really only found out about it because of a tracking app that she uses.
"I saw his tracker moving around, so in my mind, I'm thinking the app is just going crazy. 'Like maybe it's me but let me just call the school just in case.' And they said, 'no everything is fine.'" Vinson says.
However, nearly three hours later, Vinson says she got a call from administrators admitting her son had actually been missing for two minutes.
"To get the call, and he's already home on the bus, is just so inconsiderate to me as a parent. When any incident happens with your child, like let's say your child falls, or scrapes their knee, or has a fever or something, parents are called to come pick up your child," Vinson says.
Vinson says school officials told her that her son left through a cafeteria door and made it to a sidewalk near Weyman Avenue.
"Down one end of Weyman Avenue, there's a Home Depot. Down another end of Weyman Avenue, there's Glen Island. So, all of the 'what could have happened to him at 5 years old, being autistic and nonverbal,' just flashed through my mind," Vinson says.
The school district issued a statement saying they can't discuss student-specific incidents but added that they "are committed to continuous improvement in securing all our learning environments."
The terrified mom says her son is now going to be moved to another school in light of this incident.
In the meantime, Vinson is encouraging other parents to use tracking devices and trust their instincts.
"If your gut tells you that there's a problem like with your child... trust your gut and go to the school," Vinson says.
