Video: Parents of autistic boy sue Tukwila School District

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John and Peggy say they watched their son John turn from a happy boy into a scared and suicidal pre-teen.

John has autism and Asperger's syndrome, and when he moved up to Tukwila's Showater Middle School, his parents say he became an easy target for a group of bullies.

"He was hit with books, he was spit on, he was punched,” said Peggy.

Peggy works at Showater, but says John was banned from contacting her at school since it didn't teach him coping mechanisms.

But the bullying didn't stop.

"He came up to me at school one day and he said to me, he said mom, he said I'm gonna, I want to commit suicide,” said Peggy.

John was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and transferred outside the district, but that school only went to 10th grade.

When John graduated, the Tukwila School District insisted he enroll at Foster High School - alongside his former tormentors.

When his parents refused to send him, the district filed a truancy action and hauled John into court.

"I don't think they could have harmed this child more had they tried to do it intentionally. This is reckless indifference. This is callousness. And it’s a total abdication of their duty to protect children,” said attorney Yvonne Kinoshita Ward.

The school district says they cannot comment on this case because of the lawsuit, but they insist that they always have the best interest of their students in mind.

"We feel that we've got the best safeguards here for all of our students K-12,” said Jan Lande, Tukwila School District Spokesperson.

After years of wrangling, and the advice of numerous health officials, John finished his education outside the Tukwila School District, but his parents say the ordeal has taken a toll.

"That little boy that we had, the innocence was taken away, and it breaks my heart,” said Peggy.

John is now 20 years old. He graduated from a Bellevue school this past June, and is now taking classes at a community college.