Katharina Buczek
Satellite Beach, Florida. As Covid-19 vaccination rates climbed and life-threatening virus cases began to drop this summer, most children returned back to in-person schooling this fall. Many parents anticipated that keeping their children masked would be a tall order.
The Steel family, though, saw the rights of their special needs daughter violated first-hand when she returned home from school after being forcibly masked.
Sofia Steel is a seven-year-old student who attends Ocean Breeze Elementary School in Brevard County, Florida. Sofia also has Downs Syndrome and is nonverbal.
Her father, Jeffrey Steel, described the horror he felt when his little girl arrived home from school with a nylon rope tied around her head.
“Sofia stepped off of the school bus with a mask tied to her face using nylon rope. Due to her conditions, her tongue is enlarged,” Jeffrey said.
GiveSendGo; pictured above is Sofia
“With the mask tied to her face, she was unable to breathe properly and unable to express her distress.”
Sofia’s mother immediately saw the panic on her face and removed the mask. “The mask was totally wet from her saliva,” Jeffrey added.
Under the Florida Parents’ Bill of Rights, Sofia’s health concerns are supposed to be heard and abided by.
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