"This Worked. He Listened."

Well, this would certainly rank as a memorable occasion for one little boy. A little boy who has been rather weighted with psychiatric problems, no less. Rather a heavy burden for a nine-year-old, to have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

He would, then, be rather sensitive to remarks by other children designed to degrade him, to diminish himself in their regard, and perhaps his own.

Who wouldn't lash out in anger at the unfairness of it all?

And one would have to wonder why this sensitive child would be in the company of his peers well known for cruelty to others when they sense someone being different, and picking away at the difference like a scab, revealing a sore that becomes more sensitive the more it's picked at.

Might the child-care workers at the Learning Enrichment Foundation have been completely oblivious to the situation?

Had they not been, surely they would have nipped it in the bud, firmly and kindly guided other children away from picking on the 9-year-old with Asperger-plus? It seems reasonable, after all, does it not?

The boy, understandably disagreed furiously with the other children bullying him and calling him names. Who wouldn't? And so he reacted, and according to the day-care personnel "became uncontrollable".

And then the day-care team at the Learning Enrichment Foundation demonstrated their ability to respond to the situation as responsible adults by calling in the police.

The boy, by this time had locked himself into an empty classroom, and in his rage at the unfairness of the world, began tossing about chairs, tables - and, it was claimed, paint. That might have been satisfying to his enraged condition.

Police when they arrived took stock of the situation and they also took immediate charge. Doing what police do, they ordered the child to lie prone on the floor to enable them to place him in handcuffs. That more or less calmed him down.

Police uniforms covering burly bodies of authority have that kind of effect on little kids.

Enabling them to remove the handcuffs, set the little boy upright, whereupon a steady stream of information on his preferred hobbies ensued. "When he left, he hugged the officers and the nurse. This worked. He listened", said Toronto police Const. Victor Kwong.

You betcha.