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UK: 14-yo stripped and washed by staff

A mother faces legal action for removing her disabled son from a special school after staff stripped and showered him without her knowledge.

The 14-year-old who has cerebral palsy was washed by two assistants after staff said he smelled of urine.

An investigation by governors concluded staff acted correctly, despite a written apology from the head of Woodlawn Special School in Whitley Bay.

But the mother, who is not being named, refuses to send him back to the school.

The woman, who the BBC has agreed not to name, said her son was left traumatised by the incident last October.

"I sent him out to school at 0854 on that morning and by 0910 he was stripped and on a shower table.

"What was really distressing for my son was they put his wheelchair into the shower.

"Anyone else with a child with special needs will know that is just not the thing to do.

"That is his space and his world and he controls what goes on there.

"They have never showered him before.

"When he came home and I asked him what had happened he was absolutely sobbing his heart out. He said he had been humiliated."

The mother has asked for her son to be moved to another school, but North Tyneside Council has refused, saying the boy's needs are met at Woodlawn.

She has refused to send her son back to school and now faces legal action under the 1996 Education Act.

'Preserve dignity'

A spokesman said: "Woodlawn is an excellent school that has been commended by Ofsted for its good practice. Putting the needs of the children in its care first is among its many strengths.

"When the student arrived at school we are sorry to say he smelled of urine.

"Staff acted, gently and with his agreement, to protect the student from social embarrassment - and to ensure his personal hygiene and comfort.

"We understand that his mum is still anxious and we hope that she feels able to discuss her concerns with us as together we have the interests of the child at heart."

A spokeswoman for the Disability Rights Commission said: "We have never heard of a case of this kind.

"Any parent would find that outrageous and would be very concerned."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education and Skills said there were no specific guidelines on the issue of cleansing pupils with special needs.

She added: "We would want any systems of care put in place for continence treatment or management in relation to pupils with continence problems to follow a risk assessment, to preserve the dignity of the child or young person and avoid the risk of ridicule or bullying."

Governors at Woodlawn School now give parents written details of procedures to deal with the toileting and cleansing of pupils.

Posted by: SoulRiser
Source Article

Posted in: News on March 12, 2006 @ 12:00 AM

Tags: School

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