Father’s fury as Autistic son abandoned
The Autism News | English
A DISTRAUGHT father has revealed how his autistic son has been left traumatised after wandering the streets for hours when ‘bungling care staff’ dropped him off from school – without checking an adult was waiting to collect him.
Sebastian Arnold, 14, was supposed to attend an after-school club at Arbour Vale school and his parents had arranged for him to be picked up by a family friend later that evening, on Wednesday, October 5.
However father Tim, 50, of Burroway Road, Langley, was alerted by a worried school teacher that his son was not at the class – sparking terror over the whereabouts of the vulnerable teen.
Mother Julie, a teacher at Wexham Park school, also rushed home to join family and friends as they frantically combed the streets before Sebastian turned up two hours later.
Mr Arnold said: “Sebastian has no concept of personal danger or responsibility. It is only by the grace of God that we averted a tragedy. He could have died – there is absolutely no doubt about that.
“You cannot imagine the terror it caused our family – we thought he had been abducted. Sebastian couldn’t go to school the next day because he was so traumatised.”
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Comments
Petra Rovere says: This is just not right! Why people are so ignorant every time when the child with autism is involved. What do they think?
Luckly this has not happend to us yet as Patrik is too young to be left ‘alone’, nevetheless, I’m horrified that something like that might happen to us to. Next year he will go to school to different town we are living in and what then?
Vince Steele says: Petra, the only solution we found was for my partner to get her drivers licence, then we got a bank loan for a decent second hand car. We now take care of the transport ourselves. Up until then transport was a nightmare for us.
