Autistic kids 'being penned' at school

[Phlexor]

Autistic kids 'being penned' at school

A Sydney primary school that pens autistic children in a fenced area at lunchtimes should be investigated for human rights violations, the NSW opposition says.

Parents with children at Seven Hills West Public School are angry that pupils with special needs are placed inside a fenced enclosure that has one tree, a bench and a dirt floor.

But the NSW Department of Education has defended the enclosure, saying it is used for new students with disabilities if they require more intense supervision while they adjust to school.

The school has 52 students with special needs.

But coalition disability spokesman Andrew Constance said the treatment of autistic children at the school was inhumane and called for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to investigate.

"To see the type of facility which autistic children are being penned in is outrageous," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

"I've seen cattle yards in better condition.

"You cannot treat children with autism in this way.

"I think it is in breach of every anti-discrimination act in the country."

The Department of Education said in a statement the enclosure was set up after parents raised safety issues.

"The school is located on a busy road. Without this area, the students may leave the school grounds and could potentially be injured," the department said.

"Some of these children have no sense of boundaries and do not respond to staff asking them to stop.

"Once the school is satisfied a student will listen to directions from staff members and is also aware of playground boundaries, the child can use the playground."

The department said any student in the school could use this area if they chose.

"The area is never locked and students are supervised by a school learning support officer at all times," it added.

"Students are actively engaged in play and can leave the area to use other school facilities like the library."

In 2008, a number of parents of the students with disabilities raised safety issues with the school about their children leaving the school grounds.
"This fenced off area was created as a result of these concerns," the department said.

 

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

I tell ya, things get more fucked up every day.

[Al Swearegen]

Nice. Hope they get fucking nailed

[Parts]

Why not just put the remote shock collars on them instead

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

I probably should add that I probably would have destroyed that fence. I was a hyperactive Autistic child and if I wanted out, I would have smashed my way out.

[Phlexor]

Why not just put the remote shock collars on them instead

If they won't let me put them on my kids, then they're not getting them either. It's just not fair.








_(kidding)

['andersom']

Damn, they probably feel safe to use it all, under the assumption that autistics don't feel anyway. UGH!

[Parts]

Maybe they could a lock and bars on the teachers lounge with a guard to keep the teachers in too

My wife works at a school just for special ed high school kids most are Autistic and they would never do that

[Eclair]

In theory I don't agree with the concept at all. I've just heard on the news they are going to grass the area and upgrade it by next week.

As an aside, there is a part of me that would have loved to have had a little haven like that seperate from the mayhem. Especially in the very early years in school....then I discovered the library and it kind of gave me time out if I needed it.

[Callaway]

In theory I don't agree with the concept at all. I've just heard on the news they are going to grass the area and upgrade it by next week.

As an aside, there is a part of me that would have loved to have had a little haven like that seperate from the mayhem. Especially in the very early years in school....then I discovered the library and it kind of gave me time out if I needed it.

So they intend to keep the cage for their autistic children, but make it a little more comfortable?

I wonder why they don't just fence in the whole playground for all the kids, then they wouldn't be discriminating against anyone and their so-called "safety" concerns would be addressed, especially if the staff watch their special needs children more closely instead of hovering at the edge of the playground in a gaggle, gossiping with one another.

My daughter was essentially locked in a room the size of a closet most of the day at her original elementary school close to our home, which is part of the reason she doesn't attend that school anymore.

Her current school, which is for autistic children, does have the entire playground fenced with a six foot tall sturdy wooden fence, but there are a few children who have bounded over the fence and "eloped" as the staff call it, and they had to chase them down the street and catch them. 

[Eclair]

I've just heard on the news they are going to grass the area and upgrade it by next week.

So they intend to keep the cage for their autistic children, but make it a little more comfortable?

It's a reasonably small area with a tree in the middle, ALL dirt on the ground. It's fenced with pool fencing. One of the mothers interviewed on TV said other kids call it the 'pig pen'....disgraceful.

There are no swings, nothing. Just dirt and a wooden seat the runs around the circumference of the tree.

Pretty disgraceful.

Yep, teachers on duty don't seem to do much. I'm sorry your daughter was treated so badly also. You must have been enraged on a pretty regular basis.

["couldbecousin"]

In theory I don't agree with the concept at all. I've just heard on the news they are going to grass the area and upgrade it by next week.

As an aside, there is a part of me that would have loved to have had a little haven like that seperate from the mayhem. Especially in the very early years in school....then I discovered the library and it kind of gave me time out if I needed it.

So they intend to keep the cage for their autistic children, but make it a little more comfortable?

I wonder why they don't just fence in the whole playground for all the kids, then they wouldn't be discriminating against anyone and their so-called "safety" concerns would be addressed, especially if the staff watch their special needs children more closely instead of hovering at the edge of the playground in a gaggle, gossiping with one another.

My daughter was essentially locked in a room the size of a closet most of the day at her original elementary school close to our home, which is part of the reason she doesn't attend that school anymore.

Her current school, which is for autistic children, does have the entire playground fenced with a six foot tall sturdy wooden fence, but there are a few children who have bounded over the fence and "eloped" as the staff call it, and they had to chase them down the street and catch them. 

Exactly...I'm surprised the main playground is open to the street.

[Eclair]

In theory I don't agree with the concept at all. I've just heard on the news they are going to grass the area and upgrade it by next week.

As an aside, there is a part of me that would have loved to have had a little haven like that seperate from the mayhem. Especially in the very early years in school....then I discovered the library and it kind of gave me time out if I needed it.

So they intend to keep the cage for their autistic children, but make it a little more comfortable?

I wonder why they don't just fence in the whole playground for all the kids, then they wouldn't be discriminating against anyone and their so-called "safety" concerns would be addressed, especially if the staff watch their special needs children more closely instead of hovering at the edge of the playground in a gaggle, gossiping with one another.

My daughter was essentially locked in a room the size of a closet most of the day at her original elementary school close to our home, which is part of the reason she doesn't attend that school anymore.

Her current school, which is for autistic children, does have the entire playground fenced with a six foot tall sturdy wooden fence, but there are a few children who have bounded over the fence and "eloped" as the staff call it, and they had to chase them down the street and catch them. 

Exactly...I'm surprised the main playground is open to the street.

Most playgrounds are? Aren't they like that over there?

Mostly private schools have their playgrounds to the back of the buildings. But off the top of my head, a lot (not all) playgrounds / ovals here are just normal fencing and face the street.

["couldbecousin"]

In theory I don't agree with the concept at all. I've just heard on the news they are going to grass the area and upgrade it by next week.

As an aside, there is a part of me that would have loved to have had a little haven like that seperate from the mayhem. Especially in the very early years in school....then I discovered the library and it kind of gave me time out if I needed it.

So they intend to keep the cage for their autistic children, but make it a little more comfortable?

I wonder why they don't just fence in the whole playground for all the kids, then they wouldn't be discriminating against anyone and their so-called "safety" concerns would be addressed, especially if the staff watch their special needs children more closely instead of hovering at the edge of the playground in a gaggle, gossiping with one another.

My daughter was essentially locked in a room the size of a closet most of the day at her original elementary school close to our home, which is part of the reason she doesn't attend that school anymore.

Her current school, which is for autistic children, does have the entire playground fenced with a six foot tall sturdy wooden fence, but there are a few children who have bounded over the fence and "eloped" as the staff call it, and they had to chase them down the street and catch them. 

Exactly...I'm surprised the main playground is open to the street.

Most playgrounds are? Aren't they like that over there?

Mostly private schools have their playgrounds to the back of the buildings. But off the top of my head, a lot (not all) playgrounds / ovals here are just normal fencing and face the street.

*thinks about it* Well, my elementary school playground (on a quiet street) wasn't fenced in, but my middle-school playground (in the middle of town) was. I'm not sure what the norm is really. It's been a lot of years! 

[Osensitive1]

Can't recall ever seeing a school playground without a fence.