Saxon Woods Playground, Harrison/Mamaroneck, NY

Received Sunday, October 15, 2006
An autistic pre-teen boy possibly named Chase and a blond European au pair. I saw this happen about three months ago and I tried to contact the family through various avenues. A boy around 9-14 years old was in this playground off by himself. He was shoving huge handfuls of wood chips which had been sitting in stagnant water in a fountain into his mouth. I told him to stop, that he would get sick. He made a sound and walked a bit away. I asked where his parents were and he ignored me. He then started spinning then sat down and ate more dry wood chips from the ground. I looked and asked for his care-giver; no one knew who was responsible for him. I asked everyone except a blond girl sunning at the opposite end of the park, wearing a white tube top or tank top with those clear plastic bra straps showing. She was petite and tan. I found a park ranger who took the boy's arm and walked him around the park until the girl of about 19 came forward and spoke to him harshly. A bit later I had to take my little kids to the bathroom and when we came out I passed her. I spoke to her and she was so rude when I asked her what had happened and said she had looked away for a second and he was always getting into trouble. I asked her for the boy's parents number, she refused. I asked her name, the au pair agency, but she refused. I told her I would call 911 and she insisted that they wouldn't do anything to her. I was explaining that abuse and neglect was a crime, and I demanded to know her name and the boy's name. She said the boy's name was Chase. She told me her name and I have forgotten it - but it would come back. Then someone screamed - my own 4 year old had fallen off a slide and was very upset and I went running towards her and that was it (irony not lost on me). I tried to reach the family through the autism agencies and my momentum got slowed by various obstacles. I'll never get the image out of my mind.