Mother of child with autism battles with the HWBSD

A mother of a child with Autism is fighting for her son after several incidents with the Hamilton Wentworth District school board. Twelve-year-old Ivan Hooper, a grade 7 student at Queen Victoria Elementary school, has been suspended for five days after an aggressive outburst that he says was triggered by his educational assistant.

Last Wednesday Ivan’s lunch box fell on the floor at school, it made a loud noise and his classmates all turned to look. For autistic children, simple situations can be very unsettling. The stares from his classmates triggered Ivan and he ran out of his classroom.

Ivan’s mother, Julie says in situations like this, staff are supposed to try to calm Ivan down. That could mean going for a walk, or talking it through with him. But both Ivan and his mom say that did not happen. Ivan says when he ran out of his classroom, his educational assistant told him to return to class and she used a vulgarity in doing so. He says after hearing her say a swear word he became even more agitated and he slapped her. Because of that, Ivan was suspended for five days.

His mom held a protest in front of the school today to raise awareness about the mistreatment autistic children face within the school system. The Hamilton Wentworth District school board is not characterizing the suspension as punishment.

“We want to use this opportunity to regroup and better plan for Ivan’s return in order to meet his needs.” Todd White, HWBSD.

Julie says her son goes from school to school, with no chance at success because the board does not know how to handle autistic children. At each school there are problems. The board says they teach staff to use appropriate restraining methods. They would not comment on what exactly happened between school staff and Ivan on Wednesday.

The board says if there are allegations against a staff member, they will follow up immediately.