ABOVE: A heartbroken mother’s desperate appeal for compassion and understanding has touched a chord with thousands. Global’s Elton Hobson has more.
TORONTO – An act of brutality against a teen with Asperger’s has turned into an incredible teaching moment after a mother’s heartbreaking message went viral.
New Baden, Illinois resident Cortnie Stone took to Facebook on June 30 after her teenage son, Gavin Joseph, a recent graduate of Wesclin Sr. High School, was assaulted by a group of teens.
According to Stone, Gavin was attacked because a group of teens misinterpreted – and in turn, violently overreacted – to her son’s Asperger’s Syndrome.
“You can’t ‘see’ Asperger’s since it’s not a visible disability, it’s a social/emotional one that makes relationships difficult to attain,” Stone wrote. “He can appear rude, impatient, ‘weird’, detached, or uninterested, but this is not intentional.”
In the post, Stone describes the difficulty of raising a child with mental disabilities after Gavin was diagnosed with Asperger’s and ADHD at the age of three. This includes a “tendency to isolate himself” as a result of feeling awkward in social situations.
“On Thursday night, some kids were talking about how ‘it’s weird’ that he is always by himself, attending events alone and watching people, and it was “creepy” how he wanted to be friends with people he didn’t know,” Stone wrote. She says another child overheard that conversation and decided to “take matters into his own hands.”
The following night, June 27, the unthinkable happened.
“[Gavin] was called to meet someone, surrounded by people he didn’t know, choked, punched, and left laying on the pavement so he would ‘learn his lesson’,” Stone said in her message.
According to Stone, Gavin suffered a concussion, a bruised esophagus, a broken nose, and a swollen right eye. Along with this description came two photos of Gavin posted by his mother showing his face bruised and puffy from the attack.
A spokesperson for the New Baden, Illinois police department confirmed to Global News the details of the incident involving Joseph, however the family has asked police not to disclose where the assault took place.
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Yet the most remarkable part of this story may be how Gavin chose to react to his unprovoked assault.
While her original post was well received by family and friends, it wasn’t until it was shared by family friend Susan Moffatt that it exploded into a viral sensation.
“As the mother of a son with disabilities too my heart was broken for Gavin and his mom,” Moffatt posted. “I have always said ‘NOT ALL DISABLILITIES ARE PHYSICAL’.”
“Both boys have never asked for anything but to be accepted for who they are–great guys.”
The post provoked quite a reaction on social media and significant news coverage, with many commenting on both the callousness of the attack, and the incredible decision by Joseph to try to help his attackers better understand his condition.
But as Stone says in her post, another intended target of that education and compassion is you, the reader.
“I hope you talk to your teens, tell them about disabilities you can’t see, teach them to be tolerant of people that are different, teach them that if they continuously see someone alone that maybe it is not their choice to be alone, remind them to ask questions first and get to know one another.”
Global News reached out to Cortnie Stone for comment but was unable to speak with her as of this writing.
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