When we leave the children in school we think they will receive the best possible treatment, that they will be aware of their needs and will be respected as people. But unfortunately it is not the case of Eduardo, an eight year old boy with autism who attended the Ramón y Cajal de Getafe Special Education College for three months (Madrid) and was victim of vexatious treatment by those who were supposed to take care of him.
Your tutor, the support teacher and a nursing assistant at the center have been charged by the Court of Instruction number 1 of Getafe, after the recordings recorded on a recording device that the parents hid in their clothes were discovered.
Vexatious deals
The parents noticed a change in behavior in Eduardo. Although he had never shown violent behavior, shortly after starting in the new school, the boy began to show impulsivity and aggressiveness: "The anxiety she suffered, we saw her within weeks of starting classes," says Montse, her mother.
On suspicion that something was happening at school, they decided to place a hidden tape recorder inside their clothes. The recordings contributed to the summary and made known by Cadena Ser, reveal how the people of the center they immobilized him, threatened to throw water over him or to prick him in the ass, they made fun of him and his autism and they punished him alone in the hallway even though they knew he had a tendency to escapism.
Edward stopped attending classThe school absenteeism protocol was activated and a disciplinary file was opened until, weeks later, the parents informed the center that they might be suffering harassment. The Community of Madrid referred the case to its Bullying Unit, but the process was halted when the parents initiated a judicial proceeding on January 10.
A psychiatrist at the General University Hospital Gregorio Marañón certified that Eduardo suffered for several weeks “recurrent recurring episodes without clear trigger of behavioral disturbances ... with marked restlessness and self-harm"After leaving school, the boy was 15 days admitted to the Hospital Niño Jesús and until today follow with medication.
A judicial investigation
The parents denounced the facts by judicial means and the judge called to testify three center workers charged who said in their statement that there has been no intention of mistreating the child and that they acted at all times following the techniques indicated in a protocol developed by the school.
The school on the other hand, says that it does not know the measures that were taken with the child and that are "outside our intervention", and the family denounces that "they were told that he was not paying attention, that he was getting up, that he was misbehaving, but not how they intervened, "as the mother has declared Cadena Ser.
"We have felt alone and abandoned, my son has not been protected," says Montse, the child's mother.Since February Eduardo goes to another special education school, where it has already passed the adaptation period, although it is still afraid of separating from its parents.
Those who should take care of him mistreated him
What would have happened if the parents had not decided to hide a tape recorder in their child's clothes? Most likely, the abuse had extended over time with all the damage they were causing in Eduardo.
When trying to break down barriers so that children with autism can live in a more accessible and inclusive society, it is outrageous that precisely the people who should have taken care of and protected it, would have (allegedly) become their own executioners.
