The Autistic Child, The School Board, and The Teacher's Assistant's Psychic...
- From: "Bo Raxo" <crimenewscenter@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:00:08 -0700
A diligent mother is told to rush to school by officials concerned about her
daughter. Because the teacher's assistant's psychic thinks the child is
being abused. I expected the story to be out of the U.S. midwest or south,
places where they think evolution is the devil's propaganda. But this is
from Canada, a place where you don't often find large clusters of people
this stupid.
Oh, and don't give me blather about how they must "investigate every
allegation", because there are reasonable allegations, and then there are
ridiculous ones. Unless you're one of the whack jobs who believes in
psychics or angels or leprechauns, in which case, well, did I mention the
clusters of stupidity?
Bo Raxo
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_23845.aspx
Colleen Leduc already had a lot going against her. The Barrie woman was
holding down a job while struggling to raise her autistic 11-year-old
daughter. She couldn't afford to give the child the intensive therapy she
needed, and was forced to send her to a public school in the area.
So she was completely unprepared for what happened to her and the youngster,
an almost unbelievable tale of red tape involving a strange claim from a
teaching assistant, a bizarre decision by a school board, a visit from the
Children's Aid Society (CAS) and most improbably of all, the incorrect
pronouncements of a psychic.
Leduc's weird tale began on May 30, when she dropped young Victoria off for
class at Terry Fox Elementary and headed in to work, only to receive a
frantic phone call from the school telling her it was urgent she come back
right away.
The frightened mother rushed back to the campus and was stunned by what she
heard - the principal, vice-principal and her daughter's teacher were all
waiting for her in the office, telling her they'd received allegations that
Victoria had been the victim of sexual abuse - and that the CAS had been
notified.
How did they come by such startling knowledge? Leduc was incredulous as they
poured out their story.
"The teacher looked and me and said: 'We have to tell you something. The
educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last
night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular
time if she works with a little girl by the name of "V." And she said 'yes,
I do.' And she said, 'well, you need to know that that child is being
sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.'"
Victoria, who is non-verbal, had also been exhibiting sexualized behaviour
in class, actions which are known to be typical of autistic behavior. (See
other typical actions here) That lead authorities to suspect she had a
bladder infection that may have somehow been related to the 'attack.'
Leduc was shaken by the idea. "It's actually your worst nightmare your child
being violated," she admits. "So for them to even suggest that, and that be
my worst nightmare, it was horrific."
But things got worse when school officials used the "evidence" and accepted
the completely unsubstantiated word of the seer by reporting the case to
Children's Aid, which promptly opened a file on the family.
"They reported me to Children's Aid," Leduc declares, still disbelieving.
"Based on a psychic!"
The mom, who is divorced and has a new fiancé, adamantly denied the charges,
noting her daughter was never exposed to anyone of that age. And fortunately
she had proof. The mother was long dissatisfied with the treatment her
daughter had received at the school, after they had allegedly lost her on
several occasions.
As a result, the already cash strapped mom had spent a considerable sum of
money to not only have her child equipped with a GPS unit, but one that
provided audio records of everything that was going on around her.
So she had non-stop taped proof that nothing untoward had ever happened to
her daughter, and was aghast that the situation had gone this far. But under
the Child and Family Services Act, anyone who works with children and has
reasonable grounds to suspect a youngster is being harmed, must report it
immediately - and the CAS has an obligation to follow up.
And so a case worker came to the Leduc home to discuss the allegations of
sexual misconduct, only to admit there wasn't a shred of evidence that
anything had ever happened at all. They labelled Leduc a "diligent" mother
doing the best she could for her child under difficult circumstances, closed
the file and left, calling the report "ridiculous."
"It is highly unusual, I will admit, to have a case called in based upon
what a psychic might say," concedes Sue Dale of the Simcoe County CAS.
And what does the admittedly red-faced school board have to say about all
this? "I don't have the information yet, but when we proceed with our own
investigation we'll know more about that," is all Dr. Lindy Zaretsky, the
Simcoe County Superintendent, was willing to allow.
And what does the local board have to say about all this? "I don't have the
information yet, but when we proceed with our own investigation we'll know
more about that," is all Dr. Lindy Zaretsky, the Simcoe County
Superintendent, was willing to allow.
But that wasn't the end of the story.
While the board agrees it may have overreacted, accepted a rather dubious
source and misinterpreted the signs of the so-called abuse, Leduc is now
more convinced than ever that her daughter isn't safe at the campus and that
she needs more intensive therapy.
As a result, she's refused to send Victoria back to class - or to the
educational assistant who allegedly started the entire chain of events in
the first place.
As a result of her stress and the need to stay home with her daughter, Leduc
is now unable to work, has no place to send her child for the rest of the
year, isn't sure where she'll go when school begins in September and is
seeking legal advice.
Her goal: get the board to pay for the IBI therapy she believes her child
should have had in the first place. She wants them to foot the bill for the
expensive treatment - it can cost more than $50,000 annually - at least for
the rest of the semester.
But school officials have refused.
Asked if she feels whether her entire support system has been yanked away,
her answer is succinct and simple. "Yep," she nods.
And you don't need a psychic to know what that answer means.
.
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