Schools need to be better at handling autistic kids…

I have written about it before, but the story is worth repeating.

I went to primary school in the 80s, and looking back it almost sounds victorian. There was a kid in my class who had autism. Back then ‘isms’ did not exist and so he was just labelled ‘stupid’ and ‘bad’. When we were in P2 when he was ‘naughty’ the teacher used to put him in a big black bin. I can’t imagine being told you are literally rubbish did much for his self-esteem. Of note, it was a female teacher, we are told are females are meant to be more caring. The same teacher also made him count the curls in her hair as a punishment.

This story came to mind when I was reading about the case of Harry Shakespeare. From the BBC:

The mother of a young boy “restrained unnecessarily” in a chair in school has said she feels vindicated by a watchdog’s report into the case.

Deirdre Shakespeare’s son Harry, who is autistic and non-verbal, was restrained in a chair at his special school without her knowledge.

The Public Services Ombudsman, external has investigated Mrs Shakespeare’s complaint about Harry’s treatment.

The watchdog said Harry was “restrained unnecessarily” and “the failures in this case caused the child’s parents a huge amount of distress”.

At the time of the incident Harry was five years old.

The ombudsman also criticised the Western Health Trust for failing to monitor his seating in school.

He can walk unaided but used a special chair at school mealtimes.

But according to the ombudsman’s report, when the school claimed it was having difficulty moving him to the dining room, the trust added a wheeled base to the chair.

The ombudsman said that an assessment of Harry’s needs should have been carried out and that “in approving and fitting the wheeled base to the chair the trust did not fully consider the child’s human rights”.

“The child’s mother also said the lap belt on the chair was much too tight,” the ombudsman’s report said.

“When she raised this with the trust she was told that the chair was also used by others in the school, and that her son could use another chair if she wished.”

But that chair was “more restrictive and had foot straps, a lap strap, and a wheeled base,” the ombudsman said.

The ombudsman’s report concluded that “the chair was an over prescription and caused him to be restrained unnecessarily”.

In a statement, the deputy ombudsman Sean Martin said: “The trust should have given guidance to the school on how to use the specialist chairs so that the child was only restrained when it was absolutely necessary.

“The principle of using the least restraint possible should be an imperative for everyone, regardless of the setting.”

Harry is now 13 and Mrs Shakespeare told BBC News NI that it had been “quite a lengthy investigation”.

“We feel vindicated after all this time,” she said.

“It brings us some sort of closure that this issue – as long-winded as it has been – has now been investigated thoroughly.

“Harry can’t speak, he has no voice so this is an opportunity for this report to be his voice.”

Reading it, I immediately got an image of that trolley they wheeled Hanibal Lector around in. I am sure it was not that bad, but it still does not sound great. It is also astonishing that it has taken 8 years for the parent’s concerns to be addressed.

Northern Ireland seems to have one of the highest autism rates in the world. From Autism NI:

In Northern Ireland, 1 in 20 children have a diagnosis of autism (2023, Prevalence of Autism in School aged children, DHSSPS). Figures from the NI Census 2021 has recorded that there are 35,367 adults and children with an autism diagnosis in Northern Ireland. The statistics show that there could be a huge number of undiagnosed adults, as there are many adults who do not yet have a formal diagnosis of autism. The Census figures recorded 5.25% of 0-14 year olds have a diagnosis of autism, compared to 0.32% of 40-64 year olds (2022, Census 2021 main statistics for Northern Ireland phase 2, NISRA).

Statistics show that there are approximately three males diagnosed with autism for every one female diagnosed. However, we know that it is sometimes harder to diagnose females with autism and therefore this statistic can hide the true number of autistic females. Approximately 20 – 25% of autistic people will have an accompanying learning disability.

With assessment wait times running into several years, they estimate the actual figures of autistic kids could be 1 in 10 or even higher. I have no idea why Autism rates are so high here; if anyone can point me to any research, please do.

Autism is a vast spectrum. Personally, I can’t get my head around the fact that the most successful people in the world like Elon Musk have the same condition as the non-verbal kid rocking in the corner. Many autistic people lead extremely successful lives and they either never realise they are autistic or if they do it does not seem to affect them much day by day. I know a lot of parents with high-needs autistic kids get offended by the ‘autism is a superpower’ narrative and they feel they don’t get all the support they need.

My own take is that autistic people have extremely sensitive nervous systems. The trauma of the troubles combined with issues like our high poverty rates and high levels of addiction means that stress levels are higher here, and this is leading to more distressed kids. This is only my hot take; it would be good to research these questions properly.

The environment of a typical school can be hellish for autistic kids. Harsh fluorescent lights in classrooms, loud bells, cacophonous dinner halls, rigid uniforms etc. Schools try there best but they need the proper funding and skills to enable to do more to support kids of all abilities.

If you have an autistic child or suspect you do, the work of Dr Naomi Fisher and Dr Luke Beardon is worth checking out.

If you are an adult who suspects they may be autistic or you have an autistic friend or relative Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things?: A Comedian’s Guide to Autism by Pierre Novellie is a great read. Strong Female Character by Fern Brady is also a good book but pretty dark humour. If you have Spotify Premium, the audiobooks are there, and you can listen to them free as part of your subscription.

I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily politics, preferring to write about big ideas in society. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.