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From a Spotsylvania County student's struggle comes an effort to bring a special school for students with autism to the Fredericksburg area Date published: 11/9/2008
BY SHAYNA JACOBS
On a snowy afternoon, a Spotsylvania County school bus pulled off Interstate 95 and aides called for help to restrain a biting, kicking and punching student. Michael Payne, a 15-year-old with autism, had slipped out of his harness and let out a desperate cry. Bus attendants struggled to control Michael while they waited for his father to arrive. "By the time I got to the bus, Michael was surrounded by police and fire personnel," recalled his dad, Mark Payne. "We call him Houdini because he can get out of just about any restraint. He has no concept of danger." The snowfall had overly excited Michael, but he's nonverbal and can't explain. Such outbursts happened too often on the two-hour, twice-daily bus ride to Matthew's Center in Manassas, a nonprofit, private special-education school. Mark Payne had been called to the yellow school bus many times before because of Michael's behavior. The incident in March 2007 led to a meeting with Spotsylvania school officials to discuss other options for Michael, his father said. But from Michael's worst meltdown on the bus came the seeds of the idea to bring a Matthew's Center school to the Fredericksburg area. Ni River Community Church plans to build a campus in Spotsylvania, partnering with nonprofit groups, the county and social services agencies to house a variety of community support services, said Ken Wood, executive administrator of the church. The church has agreed to donate space there for a second site of Matthew's Center. Ni River Church, which meets on Sundays at Courtland High School, already has a 28-acre site on Smith Station Road for its campus. Still, it could take a year or more to come to fruition as church officials seek county permits and money to build. The addition of a Matthew's Center here would be life-changing for some local families whose children have autism. Michael continued at the Manassas center until September, when he was placed in a residential school in New Kent County. Because Michael's strength makes it difficult to control him when he's agitated, Mark Payne, a single father of three, said he had no choice but to move his son. AUTISM INCREASING
Date published: 11/9/2008
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