Assistant Principal Gets Down on the Ground To Help Student with Autism

By Kayla Kunkel September 10, 2019 at 12:50pm

The ups and downs of each day can be trying on anyone’s patience, but for a third grader with autism in Ohio, his late bus was the last straw.

Thankfully, the assistant principal was there for LJ even after his patience had run out.

Eight-year-old LJ is a student at Garfield Elementary in Marion, Ohio. He has been diagnosed with both down syndrome and autism and has an infectious, outgoing personality.

His mother, Steph Compton, wrote in a Facebook post that she continues to take her son to Garfield even though they live across the city because of the overwhelming support she and LJ have received from the teachers and staff there.

A recent interaction between LJ and his assistant principal, Mr. Smith, displays how willing the school’s staff is to rally behind their students, even on bad days.

Compton told WCMH that her son is a generally happy child and that it is very rare for him to not be smiling.

So when Amber Mckinniss, a student aide at Garfield, sent her a photo of LJ lying on the ground outside of school, she knew that his patience had run out.

However, the mother was extremely encouraged to see that the school’s new assistant principal went out of his way to make her son feel supported.

“I absolutely LOVE this,” Compton wrote. “Apparently LJ was having a ‘moment’ and he got down on his level to help him out.”

McKinniss, who took the photo, commented on the mother’s post saying that she “had” to take the picture.

“It was the most amazing thing I’ve seen!” she wrote. “Our hearts melted and LJ enjoyed it.”

For Compton, this captured moment only further proves that Garfield Elementary is the best environment for her son to learn.

“It’s really awesome to know from a parent’s standpoint,” she told WCMH, “that there are people that care that much about your child. To get down on the ground, and lay on the ground with them to make sure they’re alright.”

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