Dec 19, 2018, Dunstable Today: Police inquiry at Dunstable’s Ardley Hill Academy after parents slam school’s autism unit https://www.dunstabletoday.co.uk/news/police-inquiry-at-dunstable-s-ardley-hill-academy-after-parents-slam-school-s-autism-unit-1-8744951 A Dunstable school’s autism unit has been slammed by parents, who claim a child was “thrown” to the floor by a member of staff. Ardley Hill Academy, Lowther Road, has come under fire from parents, who have written to Andrew Selous MP with a number of safeguarding concerns about the school. Some of the parents have children who attend its unit, a class which caters for children with autistic spectrum disorder, and say that over the last few weeks things have “come to a head”, with the council recently conducting a safeguarding investigation and Bedfordshire Police also investigating the allegation of assault. In the letter to Andrew Selous, it is claimed: “Parents of the children in the Autism Provision have had concerns about the unit for a long time, both in terms of its safety and effectiveness. “A safeguarding investigation was started when parents raised concerns about the fact that staff were shutting the children in a tiny room - known by the children as ‘the cupboard of hell’. “They were doing this when the children were having a meltdown. This action only escalated their anxiety and frankly, has probably psychologically damaged all of them. “One parent removed their son from the school on November 21, when the child had to be locked in an office all afternoon for his own safety. … The letter also alleged that worrying “incidents” happen on a daily basis; for example, it claimed that a child was “strangled and hit by another child” and that the staff were unaware until the injured child ran inside to seek help. …
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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