Yet another autistic child was attacked by a trusted person, this time a teachers assistant who thankfully was caught on CCTV, but what if the prolonged 20 minute attack hadn't been filmed?
Tobie, the teen in question is non speaking and would have had no way to communicate what had taken place at his school that day.
We were contacted by Tobie's aunt and put in touch with his mum Charlotte. After hearing her views on the appalling attack on her son, and the fact that she wants to fight for the right to put CCTV into all Special Educational Needs settings, we decided to step in and work with her; as this is something we can get behind and use our platform to promote.
In our view it's imperative that visual monitoring be put in place anywhere that vulnerable young people are cared for.
Charlotte has this to say:
"There is no excuse for the abuse Tobie suffered at the hands of someone trusted to care for him. Now, 16 months later he still fears unfamiliar white males.
He cannot go to public places without crushing anxiety sending him into crisis and he cannot be without me for any length of time other than when he’s with his trusted adults at school.
Tobie is non speaking, he now feels the force of that vulnerability far more than he ever had to before. He must have been so confused and frightened during the attack it’s just heartbreaking.
It is a fact that the only way to protect non speaking children is to make CCTV compulsory in care settings, with footage retained for at least 12 months.
We do not know that incidents like this are rare, only that the child cannot tell anyone. That said, even 1 incident is 1 to many.
The protection CCTV would offer vulnerable children far outweighs any cost or privacy issues.
It is a sad fact that even the most excellent setting can and will be infiltrated by a predator seeking out vulnerable children to abuse.
These children are among the most vulnerable members of society and we must protect them more effectively."
A good point to remember is that although some autistic people can use verbal speech, it does not always mean they can communicate, that being said; there should be no 'get out' clause of schools being able to say that their pupils are less vulnerable because they use mouth words.
The person who attacked Tobie walked free with a 9 month suspended sentence, which again shows the view of the government that autistic people are not worth protecting or investing in.
This needs to stop.
Please sign the petition here:
Some information on the case:
BBC News: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe7tuRu4/
A pound from everyone who signs would really help here:
Please contact your MP's about this, speak to your schools; and lastly please share this petition.
Comments