Last year, people were horrified to hear of a young boy with autism being kept in a cage at a Canberra school. It wasn’t an isolated incident. Other parents from around Australia have come forward to say their children with disabilities have been locked in rooms and pens, as well as held down and dragged by teachers.
Two mothers, one from Queensland and one from NSW, share their stories with Mamamia.
Melissa’s story
Oliver, my youngest child, is on the autism spectrum. He’s also been diagnosed with ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] and high anxiety.
We always had problems with Oliver not fitting into the school system, but in Year Two, things really started to fall apart. I had him on medication, but it was having horrific side effects. Plus, we suspected he might possibly have a heart condition. So we had to stop medication immediately.
The school wanted Oliver on medication and compliant. To try to get him to comply, they locked him in a room with a concrete floor and cage walls. They said it was for his own safety, but we’re talking about a child that’s going to smash his head on a concrete floor. I had discussions with the school, but they continued to lock him in this room.
In Year Three, his teacher gave him a wedgie – apparently, in order to stop him from running away. She pulled his underwear up through his butt cheeks. The teacher said to me that this was protocol for restraining a child. I was like, ‘Are you serious? That’s physical assault.’
They see him as defiant, basically. They don’t understand that he’s experiencing sensory overload.
A week into Year Four, a parent came up to the school and said that my child had hit his child. The school didn’t question anything and punished Oliver by taking away his reward time. Despite him asking what he’d done wrong, they didn’t tell him. At the end of the day, he had a huge meltdown. The teacher grabbed him on his arms and actually left bruises. I still have photos of the bruises.
Oliver's arm following the incident. "My son was a very small child and the teacher a large man and there was absolutely no way the teacher needed to use such force to restrain a very small child," Melissa says. Photo supplied.
After the incident with the teacher, Oliver would literally vomit at the thought of going to school. The school refused to move him into a class with a more suitable teacher that understood about ASD [autism spectrum disorder]. I was given no choice but to pull my child out and keep him home.
I rang the education department and tried to make an official complaint. They told me, ‘Sometimes, these children need to be handled like this.’ The police were very interested, right up till the point that I mentioned he was special needs. Then the officer I was speaking to said, ‘Oh yes, sorry, but sometimes it’s a bit of a grey area with special needs children.’
I didn’t want to home educate Oliver. I still don’t. I’m a struggling single mother and I have no life of my own because my whole life revolves around educating my 12-year-old. This is our fourth year into home schooling. Not every parent is cut out to do this. I would rather be at work.
Every year I have tried to get him into some kind of educational facility because he’s lacking social interaction. But all the alternative schools have huge waiting lists or don’t get back to us.
It’s extremely hard and extremely draining. I’m trapped in this situation I don’t want to be in and it’s drowning us both.
After the incident, Oliver would vomit at the thought of going to school. He is currently home-schooled. Photo via iStock.
Sarah’s story
I’ve got a little boy, Fred, who’s eight years old. He’s been diagnosed with autism.
One Friday afternoon last June I got a call from the school telling me Fred had had a really bad day. When I went to pick him up he was very clingy, very emotional. He kept telling me that his arms and his armpits were sore. I told him I was going to put him in the shower soon and the warm water would help take away the pain.
When I took his shirt off to put him in the shower, I burst out crying. He was bruised on the sides of his arms and his armpits. I rang the school but it was too late in the day and no one answered.
I was so distraught I rang the police. They told me it was my word against the teacher’s word.
Fred started to open up about it. He told me that he was on a bike, and they didn’t like that he was standing up to make the wheels turn, so they told him to sit down, and if he couldn’t sit down, then to get off the bike. He proceeded to have a meltdown.
I’ve taught him to go into a quiet corner to self-regulate. He chose under the trampoline. One of the teachers told him he had a certain time to come out of the meltdown and gave him a timer. Another teacher came over and said, ‘If you don’t get out from underneath the trampoline once that buzzer goes off, I’m dragging you out.’ When the buzzer went off, she dragged him out. She dragged him up to the front office. His brother and sister saw him being dragged. He was so upset, he was screaming, ‘Let me go! You’re hurting me!’ She wouldn’t let him go. He tried to flop himself down on the ground and she picked him up and continued to drag him.
On the Monday I marched into the school. The principal took a statement from me and asked to have a look at the bruising on my son. Fred was very, very scared to be there. The principal told me he would deal with the situation. That wasn’t the case.
A couple of days later, Fred’s teacher made him go into the classroom where this other teacher was and made him apologise to her for his bad behaviour.
We’ve never had an apology. We’ve never had anything. Nothing happened to the teacher.
After what happened to Fred, Sarah lodged a complaint with the Department of Education. Photo via iStock.
I kept asking for an incident report from the school. The report didn’t get done till October.
I lodged a complaint with the Department of Education. The department found the school was not at fault for anything they did, except for not doing an incident report sooner.
A few days after the incident, Fred’s behaviour changed dramatically. He is now showing signs of post-traumatic stress syndrome, and he’s been diagnosed with ADHD, ODD [oppositional defiant disorder], SAD [separation anxiety disorder] and severe anxiety.
I had a little boy that was loving and would do anything for anybody. Now I have a little boy who has such aggression and hates everybody. He’s medicated now.
At school, he was taken off the playground and not allowed to play with his brother at recess or lunch. He was locked in the office.
He’s been suspended twice. At the moment, we’re sitting at eight weeks of no school.
I think, if it didn’t happen, would this be the little boy I have today?
Disability advocates around Australia are gathering reports of abuse of disabled children at schools. The information will be sent to the United Nations, who will raise it with the Australian Government. If you’re a parent and would like to report abuse of your disabled child, go to tinyurl.com/SchoolRights.
*Names have been changed.
Top Comments
Have these women stopped to think that maybe the teachers were just trying to do what the mothers have failed to do - discipline the children. When I read all these "my child has _____ disorder", "my child has _____" disorder, it really saddens me. It saddens me because these obviously lazy mothers would rather label their children and damage their schooling that discipline them and have them fit into society. Before you all jump on the spectrum train and tell me I'm wrong, I'm not talking about genuinely autistic children (my niece is on the spectrum), I'm talking about the mothers who will throw any label at their child to make an excuse for them just being a badly behaved little shit. It makes it really hard for the genuine kids who really do need help to get assistance when mothers like these two just want to make excuses. Sarah's story with her child suffering pstd is just a lawsuit waiting to happen. Poor Fred, what hope in life does he have, he's eight years old and suffers from more afflictions that most adults. Can't his mother see what she has done to him? I feel so sorry for this child, his mother in her obvious bad parenting and her own need for attention has passed on traits to her son that will make it almost impossible for him to function in life. Can't we stop diagnosing every naughty child with some disorder and concentrate on the children who genuinely need our help. Cut out the preservatives, cut out the take away, discipline your child and get your own head together - bet they'll be an improvement straight away.
You rude Arigant Asshole. .go and bury your head in the sand along with the shit that comes out of your mouth..Obviously With The Way You Talk Dumb As YOU Were Parented REALLY WELL. .I pity if your sperms or your eggs produce a child..karma has a way to deal with you..man up and show your name..I pity your niece to have an uncle or aunt like you..do you speak like that about her?
Oh Joan, your reply is hilarious. Are you seriously questioning the way I was "parented" - look at your response. Obviously you couldn't think of anything constructive to say, so you have bought out the old "karma will get you". Have you ever actually looked into the true meaning of karma, it is not meant as a tool of revenge. I speak about my niece very well and am very sympathetic and empathetic to her difficulties in life. However, I'm not sympathetic to mothers (and some fathers) who would rather label their child with random letters of the alphabet than deal with their parenting problems. I am truly concerned about children who are really on the spectrum, genuine cases, not parents who are lazy. Oh and your concern for my sperms (hahahaha the grammer is fantastic in your letter), is not needed thank you, my eggs have produced four wonderful children thank you, who are all productive members of society. I feel Joan that you really need to get a grip on your attitude and not be so arigant (actually it's spelt arrogant). Have a wonderful day and I hope your eggs and sperms are all healthy and happy.
Frank sharp what Joan has said is pretty much describes what you have wrote. You haven't even read all of the article probably.. Sarah said that Fred behavior had change you don't even know the full story and history of fred. It's not about labeling a kid with more letter then the alphabet it about understanding there needs and if that leads them to have more letters then there name will so be it. At the end of the day if fred got PTSD it is better finding it out now then later on in life when it is to late to help.. anyway what don't you think an incident like this could change could children behavior. You say that have 4 kids will then act like a parnet and show them that if you see anything like this to speak up. It probably took a lot of guts and balls to stand up for these kids and as for you bagging out her parenting skills. Do you know this sarah?? Do you know what she like??? Will if you don't I thing you need to pull you sock up and grow up and realize that this type of stuff is happening in the world today.... and anyway if she was such a bad parent why did she speak up about what is going on in the school that Fred was at??? Why did she tech him to self regularly???? I say go on them both for standing up and finial speaking out you children will be proud of yous both and lady's keep you head high and don't stop telling you story. Cause the world need to know what is going on in school those day and what is happening to these amazing children
There is never as exception for a child to be man handled, it is a mute point to make excuses about circumstances or setting. Autistic children have a right to be in mainstream schools as much as neurotypical children. Just for the sake of argument to the commenter stating that if diagnosed a child has access to a specialist setting, this is not true. They still have to score below a certain number on other tests, in our region there is only 10 prep places for the autism school, so if you are not first 10 on the list you don't get a place. The research states that they thrive in supported mainstream settings as do the children around them.