Boy with Asperger's Syndrome Rides Subway for 11 Days

Mari Sheibley's Flickr

A 13-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome—a form of autism that often causes difficulty with social interaction—spent 11 days in the subway system last month. In a heartbreaking Times article, Francisco Hernandez Jr. tells how he took refuge in the subway for over a week because he got in trouble in class and "didn't want anyone to scream at me" at home. He says nobody spoke to him the entire time he rode the trains, and when the reporter asked him if he "saw any larger meaning in that," Hernandez replied, "Nobody really cares about the world and about people."

Hernandez subsisted on snacks bought on subway platforms and spent a lot of time sleeping, using his backpack as a pillow as he rode the trains from one end of the line to the next. "At some point I just stopped feeling anything," he tells the Times. His mother, a Mexican immigrant named Marisela García, says the police didn't make the case a priority, "Maybe because you might not understand how to manage the situation, because you don’t speak English very well, because of your legal status, they don’t pay you a lot of attention."

But the NYPD insists everything was done to find the boy, and he was eventually discovered by a transit officer who recognized him. He returned to school a week later, and though doctors recommend that Francisco be transferred to a small school for children with learning disorders, his mother says school officials told her "he was testing fine and did not need to be transferred." She says, "I don’t know, as a mother, how to get to his heart, to find out what hurts." A stack of signs she made to spread the word about his disappearance remain stacked in the corner because she's afraid she'll need them again.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on November 24, 2009 11:17 AM

Comments [rss]

carbomb

sorry, i dont care.

carbomb

Sue the city and get a movie deal.

S.K.

First of all, his family should learn English. That will make their work easier in connecting their son to the appropriate agencies and programs.

Secondly, I have a close friend with Asperger's. She is not one of those geniuses you see playing a music instrument, or solving a complex math riddle. But how many of us can?

Just the fact that she can pass a job interview and land a job is an achievement in itself.

Pachinko

The kid needs his own reality show on Telemundo.

JimKendall

FRANCISCO: It's not quite true that No-body cares, about the world, & people. It just seems that way, sometimes.

YOU care; THAT'S a Start!

And, I suggest, your story has awakened A LOT of people in the world, to the need to be Caring.

Please be Thankful, that your situation can have served to alert so many people To Share Their Care!

~~~

I suggest you be not too hard on the teacher who scolded. "everyone is entitled to having a bad day," and part of Caring can involve Forgiveness.

Be strong and Happy!

jaycjay

Sad story, but really it doesn't add up. The Times article says he had $10 with him. And that over 11 days "he subsisted on the little he could afford at subway newsstands: potato chips, croissants, jelly rolls, neatly folding the wrappers and saving them in the backpack. He drank bottled water."

What's just a bottle of water cost at a subway newsstand?

What's one bottle of water, one bag of chips, one croissant, and one jelly roll add up to?

Late in the article there's mention of a couple of reported sitings -- outside the subway system, like at a movie theater with a group of kids -- and a police suggestion that he was just hanging out at a friend's house. The parents responded that he had no friends. But obviously there's not much communication going on, would they even know?

Bottom line, 11 days on $10 just doesn't work.

Jim

I'm fairly convinced that Francisco did not endure this trial, and true economic resourcefulness, that he might hope to earn your appreciation, or beleif.

This is Francisco's story: a tale of strength and economy of character.

And not about your reactive judgment.

People with Asperger's are usually hypersensitive to criticism; it's sort of a low self esteem 'on-steroids.'

gentle approach and directed communication can often help them to re-channel their internal despair.

Joshers

"Bottom line, 11 days on $10 just doesn't work."

Because if it did, Rachael Ray would have a show about it.

NannyState

Ha!

Angelheaded Hipster

Hmmm. Should we rough him up and get the real story out of him?

Splicer

I don't know what's worst, the thought of this boy alone and lonely, riding the subways like a phantom or the fact that anyone would deign to scream or yell at this child considering his condition. I understand that it's frustrating to have a child with this sort of problem but to take that frustration out on him is disgraceful in the extreme and utterly cruel.

militza

a few special needs kids, some with Aspergers, come into my library.

Ph is right, you have to interact with them and find out what they like. to a certain extent it is the interaction that they appreciate the most and being treated like everyone else.

JacqueMehoff

if only he could memorize skylines and drew them,

then maybe someone would care.

but yeah, sorry to say, you don't matter. get used to it.

Amanda Harletsch

the more you are in the public realm, the more that phrase becomes clear, compassion is such a rare quality, not for that we should just forget about what brings to us.

babyhitler

Correction. Nobody cares about poor uneducated ugly people who procreate and aren't responsible for themselves or their children and are a burden on society. If you are a hot chick, then I care about you. This kid is ridiculous for saying something so narcissist. Does this kid care about the world or people? cause if he did then he wouldn't be worrying his mom to death by riding on the train for 11 days.

dirtydrunk

wow, you should change your name to "racist prick"

do you kiss your mom with that mouth?

Barbj8

Who said he was ugly?

Shinobi Shaw

Whether you were being sarcastic or not, you sort of proved his point with your shallow post.

chuzzlewit

he said "nobody"; not "nobody but me".

he said "about...people"; not "about...me"

ANGRYGOD11

Does this kid care about the world or people? cause if he did then he wouldn't be worrying his mom to death by riding on the train for 11 days.

THANK YOU FOR NAILING IT