LAFAYEETTE, La. (KLFY) -- A Lafayette Parish grandmother is voicing concerns about her autistic granddaughter’s safety, saying the child has to walk too far each morning to reach her school bus stop.

Marion Leopold said her 11-year-old granddaughter, Alyria Smith-Woodside, faces dark roads, traffic and animals during the early-morning walk.

“My worry about this walk would be the animals that’s out here, the drivers that’s out here,” Leopold said. “Yesterday morning, a truck almost hit us because there’s no streetlights. It’s just dangerous for a child to be walking that far at five in the morning.”

Smith-Woodside said the distance and heat make the walk difficult.

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“It was really too hot, and we almost passed out,” she

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