The neglect that Kyle faces at school

Its been a tough week for me. First, Marissa, Brook and Jenae all have exams. Imagine the tension in this house lol Their all stressed about their exams, wanting the house to be quiet to study (good luck with that one) and Braden's hockey tournament from Friday to Sunday. Our team hosted the tournament, which means that we also have to do all the work for 50/50 draws, silent auction, ticket sales, running the time keeping, finding ref's for the games PLUS make sure that our kids are fed, refreshed and ready for their games. NOT an easy task!! But, in the end, it was totally worth it!!! Braden's team finished of with the Bronze medal!!! Last tournament they were in they came home with the gold!!

When Braden first started hockey this year, he couldn't even stand up on his skates. He had some VERY dedicated coaches that have coached him in Baseball so they know about him and his Autism. Because they really wanted him to feel a part of a team, they gave him so much 2-1 attention on the ice :) These coaches worked so hard just to get him to skate forward and the hardest thing to teach him was to skate backwards!! But, as the season has gone on, Braden has become an amazing hockey player!!! He plays right wing and is as good as the rest of the kids that have been playing for years. He makes me sooo proud!!! Braden will get home from school, pack up his hockey stick, puck and helmet and head to the outdoor rink across the street and spend HOURS just practising everything :) I would say that hockey has become his new obsession!! For years, Braden only cared about coins. It started out with a coin from every province, then it was a coin from every state and then coins and paper money from all over the world!! He has a beautiful collection and still really enjoys looking at them all..but Hockey has taken over his very unique and hard to understand mind. I just love to watch him play and he enjoys being around the other kids on his team :) Us Autism mom's understand how hard it is to watch our kids struggle to have just one single friend, but now Braden has 11 friends and they all have 1 thing in common..Braden's obsession..HOCKEY!!!

ok..mommy brag time is done ...LOL

But now on to the real reason I was writing this blog...

I have been having a LOT of trouble with the school and getting Kyle the help and funding for an EA since last year. Well, he has been denied funding AGAIN.
Now remember that Kyle is diagnosed with Autism and multiple other disabilities. He has global developmental delay which means that he is delayed is ALL aspects of daily living. Because of these 2 disabilities combined, Kyle (6yrs old) has just learnt to dress himself and can now put on his own boots :) With reminders he will sometimes look both ways when crossing the street and will sometimes go to the bathroom at home with reminders and rewards..he IS making progress thanks to Bella, his Autism service dog who helps him with simple things like reminding him to close the fridge door :)

But my real problem is with his school and how their taking care of him..or how their NOT taking care of him. Kyle is not even close to being toilet trained and this is very normal with Autism. on Kyle's very first day of school, I picked him up for lunch and when I arrived to get him; he was sitting in class with a diaper that was soaked with urine and feces so bad that it had soaked through his pants. He had been sitting in this for so long that his bottom and thigh's were blistered down to his knee's. I took him home to clean him up, but the pain was so bad that I couldn't clean him. I put him into a shower/bath to try to clean him and he sat/ stood there screaming and crying from the pain. I was sooo mad that I didn't know what to do!!! By the end of lunch time I had made the very tough decision to send him back to school so I could make the call's and emails to address this situation. I picked him up 1.5 hours later and he didn't go back to school until a full meeting was called and a solution was made to address his toileting needs. Well, his needs STILL are NOT being met!!

There has been many times between then and now that this same situation has come up but, this week, I have had enough!! Just one too many time's that this has happened. I picked Kyle up at 12:15 for his EEG on Friday to find him sitting in class with another poopy diaper that no adult had noticed!! I approached the resource teacher about this problem AGAIN and the response I go was "the person that normally takes him on his bathroom break has been away this week" I said ok, but is there not someone else that is taking him on his breaks? She responds with "Yes, but he won't go to the bathroom for them, so there's not much we can do about that" I wasn't ready to have a personal argument with her in the hallway, so I said "ok" (with a little bit of attitude) I knew I was going to get the same line that I always get from them and I knew it wasn't worth it.

I did contact my lawyer that is handling the legal case with them about denying Bella into the school, just to make notes of what happened. I tried my CSS worker, but she is away till Monday and tried our CFS worker but she left early on Friday. So, what could I do on the weekend?? well, I called a friend who is also an Autism mommy/warrior to give me some advice and an ear to listen to me. She is an AMAZING woman that has a beautiful heart that is willing to help anyone who is in need :)

Thank you ;) you know who you are!!

Not only did I talk to her but I also sent out an email to try to have my concerns heard. And here it is

Dear Mr. Greg Selinger. I am coming to you about my 6yr old son who has Autism. The reason I come to you is because my son has been denied funding, AGAIN. The reason he has been denied is because there is no more FUNDING for our school division. So, because of this; my son, who is just learning to hold a pencil, has no help in school. Now, this is a very big problem cause he is entitled to an education in this country, but its not my biggest problem. Because our government will NOT provide the funding he very desperately needs, my son has been picked up from class while he is sitting in his own feces on many occasions, one time he sat in it for so long that it blistered his bottom and all down his legs (I have the medical documents to prove it) Where is the dignity for my boy who has special needs?! Does he not deserve to have someone change his diaper?! I have paediatric specialists, neurodevelopmental specialists, speech therapists and occupational therapist ALL stating that he needs 1-1 care in school (I have the documents to prove this too) THEN, because the school could not provide him with the services he needs, we got him an Autism service/seizure detection dog that is no longer allowed to go to school with him. Why you ask? The reason I was given by the principal is.."We have a no dog policy" Where is my son's human rights?! How is our government going to help him? Who will be the one to stand up and fight for our citizens who have special needs? I have taken ALL the right steps to have my concerns heard by the school division and they don't listen! Who is going to listen?? will you hear me?

Sincerely,

Dusti and Earl Richardson

Parents of Kyle Richardson

dusti28@hotmail.com

204-344-6017

I will fight to the ends of the earth for all my kids, especially Kyle. They wear me down so bad that by the end of last year I couldn't fight anymore. I believe this is what they try to do. I again have been in this same fight since the beginning of this year and again, and again, its breaking me down. I know they say to keep fighting..but how long can you fight against the school, school division and the board of education?? I am just one single person that is fighting for a child that is slipping through the cracks!!

What do I do?! 

Who do I turn to now??

who will fight WITH me??

who is strong enough to stand up for my son's human rights?

Will I still have to do this alone??

These are questions I ask myself every single day!!!

Kyle NEEDS help and Kyle needs Bella!!!

and this is what has been happening this past week!!

Dusti <3