LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The mother of a 9-year old special needs child is demanding answers after her special needs son was left on a school bus, asleep and alone.

Jaidyn Balser was on his way to school in Lafayette Tuesday when he apparently fell asleep and didn’t get off the bus when the other students arrived at school, 6News' Dan Spehler reported.

“There is no excuse,” said Jaidyn’s mother, Karianne Balser. “It’s neglect. It’s negligence on their part. It should not have happened like this.”

Jaidyn woke up on the bus alone, outside the bus driver’s home, authorities said. He managed to call for help by using the onboard radio system.

“Nobody answered,” Balser said. “So he got off the bus to see if he could walk home, but he didn’t see anybody. So, he decided to get back on the bus and radio again.”

Around the same time, Jaidyn’s mother got a call from school.

“They said, ‘He’s not at school. None of the teachers have seen him,’” she said. “That’s when I started freaking out.”

Lafayette School Corp. officials are trying to determine why the driver apparently didn’t follow state-mandated procedures that require the driver to check the bus for any remaining students.

“According to the driver, he did a check, but not a complete check,” said LSC Deputy Superintendent Bob Foreman. “We feel for the parents, and we feel for the bus driver.”

Balser said she thinks the driver should have been fired.

“There should not have been a suspension,” she said. “He should have been fired on the spot.”

Foreman said the driver may be fired, and that a decision could be made next week.