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I need some legal advice for my younger brother in a wheelchair.?

Hello everyone,

To give everyone some background, my younger brother, John, was born with a form of muscular dystrophy called spinal muscular atrophy or SMA for short. This disease causes the muscles in the body to slowly shut down. From his lower jaw down, his muscles over the years have just given out on him, to lift a plastic fork could take as long as 5-10 minutes with both hands if indeed who can do it. He sleeps on 3-4 different machines at night to help him breathe. He also has a feeding tube in his stomach to give nourishment as he doesn't have the capability of not chocking his own saliva, let alone eating. He has been in a wheelchair since the age of 1.

Now 13, he has the muscular capability of a 2-3 month old infant. However, this hasn't stopped him from wanting to be like everyone else. After being home schooled his whole life, he decided last year that he wanted to be able to go to school with his friends. So he started school several months ago, and is excelling, when he is able to go.

From day one, a very mean, impatient, and careless bus driver has hurt him by driving carelessly, harassed him, will not listen to anything that he says. He is very fragile, and is not able to even lift his own head up if it falls to the side, let alone try to make himself safe with this woman driving. She hits curbs and takes the turns so fast that his head is constantly falling from one side to the other. This has been going on for awhile now, but the school staff with the exception of several staff members who work closely with these kids with the special needs take the drivers side. When it was brought to their attention that there were problems, the supervisor called in the driver, who denied everything and said my brother was lying. The staff members who work with the special needs children have heard the same report from other kids of being yelled at, harassed, and physically injured from other children, and have at times witnessed it. Yet the school will not assign another driver to the route, and defend this woman by saying she is one of their best drivers.

We have been taking him every morning since then when we can in our wheel chair van, but the transmission recently has gone out and his only option is to ride the bus.

My mother was called to the school today because my brother was in tears after again being mistreated by this woman. It was raining this morning, so to protect his electric wheelchair, my mother covered him up so everything would stay dry, as the slightest bit of water will cause his chair to malfunction. Once on the bus, the driver removed the cover against my brother's wishes, and hit the button to turn off his chair accidentally. When he asked her turn it back on, she remarked "It was probably you that did it, I know nothing about this wheelchair." When my mother got the school my brother was in tears, he was soaking wet from the rain, as was his chair, and they could not get him off the bus.

Again, she has hurt other students, both verbally and physically. Once we get the new van we will start taking him again, but this could be months. I understand that all the buses have cameras on them, but they have no audio, and many times the cameras are not even on.

We have pleaded with the transportation supervisor, and nothing has been done. My family wants to take legal action against the driver and the school. What kind of lawyer would we seek? Also, what sort of charges can be brought up on them? Something needs to be done before my brother, or someone else's child gets seriously injured.

Thank you in advance for your help.