Preach & Teach

A voice mail message has come to light where school staff, in Matravers School in Westbury, asked a mother to keep her autistic son at home during an Ofsted inspection. The school suggested that her son took an “authorised” absence.

This happens in schools every day, this isn’t just about Autism, or Downs, or dyslexia, or anything specific – it’s about children being targeted and scarred – not just by children but by members of staff as well. How can we expect an inclusive society, an educated, compassionate world if we preach without teaching?

Another parent, said his 15-year-old son, who has dyslexia, was told by a teacher that his lessons would be swapped during the inspection “because they didn’t want any disruption in classes”.

A couple of months ago a teacher said “I was told to ignore a child’s autism to keep fees coming in”.

Two severely autistic boys’ parents threatened legal action against a school, claiming they were shut in a room for hours each day. The boys, aged 12 and 14 were pupils at Abbey Hill School in Stoke-on-Trent. They were kept in a cupboard-sized calm room; the room in the picture. The door was not locked, yet it was closed and there was no handle on the inside. We’ve talked about sensory overload or deprivation and there are certain environments that facilitate this and the use of seclusion and ‘calm rooms’ are recognised. They are positive tools to use to assist autistic children, but how does a cupboard with two sleeping bags constitute a calm room? A room with no escape? Or just a room to shove people in when you can’t be bothered to deal with them? Incident reports detail how the boys charged at the door and tried kicking the door handle until it broke. Incident reports about a child trying to get out of a room, which is supposedly designed for their benefit. The log shows him spending the majority of his school day in the room.

A Kansas community is was recently grieving the loss of a 16-year-old autistic boy. Maxwell Webb took his own life. He didn’t leave a note; he was bullied. His father said the mistreatment wasn’t addressed by the school’s administration and was the major factor out of several that led to Maxwell’s death.

An Ohio family says that their 15-year-old boy with learning disabilities was bullied and misled into stripping off and subsequently getting covered in feces and urine. The teen thought he was participating in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by his peers.

Listen. Learn. Grow. Accept.