A Missouri mother says her autistic son’s school failed him, and now she wants to help protect other kids. Candice Whitlow noticed something disturbing in her son’s stool on February 25, 2025, and immediately took him to the emergency room. An X-ray revealed the child had massive amounts of gravel in his intestinal tract. Whitlow claims he ingested it at Doniphan R-1 Intermediate School.
Whitlow told KAIT that her son requires constant supervision and an aide at school. The X-ray findings disturbed her and made her question what had happened at school. Whitlow said her son had gravel throughout his intestinal tract, and doctors discussed sending him 175 miles to St. Louis for treatment.
“You send your kid to school thinking they’re going to be in an environment that is nurturing, and they’re going to be in an environment where professionals are knowledgeable about autism and what their needs are,” Whitlow told the news outlet. “Needs have not been met.”
The concerned mother contacted the Doniphan R-1 School District and the Doniphan Police Department. Whitlow claimed Superintendent Mike Owen told her the school captured her son on video surveillance eating pea gravel. District officials allegedly would not let her keep the video but did let her view it.
“Watching the video from the day prior, before we took him [Whitlow’s son] to the emergency room, you could see him bend over a few times in the video and see he put rocks in his mouth,” Whitlow said. “We only caught her [her son’s aide] on the video one time right before they went inside for recess digging rocks out of his mouth.”
According to a police report obtained by KAIT, Doniphan Police Department Cpl. Kevin Vaillancourt went to the home of the aide, Goldie Hall, to talk about the incident. She allegedly told police she stayed with Whitlow’s son the entire time and never saw him eat a “significant” amount of gravel.
The aide reportedly told police she was not the usual aide and said his aide and teacher were sleeping in the classroom.
Per Vaillancourt’s report, “Hall stated she has taken pictures and reported them several times to her supervisor, Dee Burton. Hall stated it only resulted in her being removed from the class room, and her co-workers telling everyone that Hall is a tattletale.”
This upset Whitlow, who told KAIT that because her son cannot tell her what happened, she may never really know the truth.
The superintendent provided a statement about the incident to KAIT. It reads: “Although the District is prohibited from providing specific details about personnel and student matters, the individual is no longer employed by the District.
Professionalism is a core component of our mission, and the District remains keenly focused on our commitment to provide a quality education in a productive and safe environment for all of our students and staff.
As demonstrated by our Board policies and practice, the District promptly investigates complaints and takes the necessary remedial steps in response. We encourage students and families to bring any concerns to our attention so they may be addressed appropriately and in a timely manner.”
In the meantime, Whitlow’s son has a new teacher and paraprofessional, and Hall is no longer employed by the district. It is unclear whether the Ripley County prosecuting attorney will press charges against Hall.
