AFTER reading certain comments posted by a small, ignorant minority on your website ('Stagecoach "sorry" mum and autistic son were insulted', August 30), I feel that, as my son is unable to speak up for himself in any way, I, as his father, should do so on his behalf.

My son, Jayden Webster-Cook, is not simply a naughty boy – he has profound learning difficulties, a very limited vocabulary (often repeating phrases again and again) and attends the Warren Wood Community School (a special needs school) in Gainsborough.

He has a disabled bus pass and often uses a wheelchair to travel about in (including on public transport), which would make it obvious to anyone that he is disabled.

I can also assure you that discipline has always been kept at an appropriate level with Jayden, who also has a younger brother and two step-siblings, and we have never encountered any such problems with them (that surely must tell you something).

However, giving a profoundly autistic child "a good slap" solves nothing and only encourages them to hit back – and so you end up in an endless cycle because it isn't possible for them, at their limited developmental stage, to comprehend that such behaviour is wrong.

Whereas I agree that there are elements of today's society that are money and booze obsessed, I can assure you that does not include myself.

I am university-educated, have never tried smoking, don't drink at all and have always been strongly anti-drugs in whatever form. The only addiction I have is to tea.

I also am careful with money and can say that this pretty much applies to his mother, too.

Although I wasn't present at the time of the incident on the bus, I feel it is my duty and responsibility, as his father, to speak up for him when I feel that he has been unfairly treated.

What sort of father would I be if I did not stick up for my seven-year-old child, particularly when he is so vulnerable?

It was more on my part that we complained to Stagecoach at any rate; his mother was willing to drop the matter.

However, the reported behaviour is, in my view, unacceptable.

If this driver had been abusive regarding issues of race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality or physical disability, then I'm sure there would not have been such an apparent lack of sympathy from some sectors of the community.

Members of these minorities should not be unfairly treated and nor should autistic children, either.

In conclusion, therefore, I ask people to think before they make such sweeping generalisations and accusations; particularly when they don't know the child in question; or, indeed, anything about them.

JONATHAN WEBSTER Halton Close, Lincoln.