A group of fathers and mothers of students from the Aula Enclave de Escuelas Pias in Santa Cruz de Tenerife assures that they “can’t take it anymore”. They are parents of boys and girls with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are asking for solutions to “serious deficiencies” in the educational center and the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Their complaint is personal, but far from wanting to personalize their case, as Enrique assures, they know it is a global problem: “Our situation is very delicate, but similar situations confront us from elsewhere. Has come We believe that we are being denied certain rights, both of school and ministry, which are ours”.
Desiree, Joyner and Pedro, as well as this group of Enrique’s parents, believe that what is happening to the seven- to ten-year-olds is the “neglect” situation in which the younger children find themselves in an enclave . Classroom that it is more like “a nursery”. “There is no real integration, something that has become more apparent since the pandemic. Our sons and daughters do not go on outings, there is no possibility of early reception… They tell us that it is a matter of resources but meanwhile time passes and our children do not improve. They get worse.”
They lament that reconciliation is “impossible”, especially when, from the next course onwards, the children of Aula Enclave end their program at 2:30 pm. flatter that program until 4:30 p.m., but they’ve already told us it’ll be gone by September. We are in a maze, because there is no room in other schools either. Ministry does not provide means and also there is no place for our sons and daughters in other places.
Physical integrity
Enrique is blunt: from the educational center itself, literally, he recognized that the school day had been shortened because he could not “ensure the physical integrity” of the students: “We ask that the necessary means be provided, personal and physical. both, because today, we have almost nothing, with discriminatory meal hours, without extra-curricular activities and even without that early welcome. Reconciliation is impossible, especially with the reduction in hours that They declared to us, it was because they could not ensure the physical integrity of the children.
Joyner, one of the parents affected, who wanted to condemn the situation of his son in Diario de Avisos, assures that the enclave classroom is “different”, something that seriously harms his little ones: ” Each enclave classroom has its own quirks and variations, that’s why we sent a letter to the Ministry of Education, we wanted to do it with the school, but in the end each one sent their own. was denied the possibility of
For Joyner, “to this day” his children have “neither integration nor education” in a “desperate” situation at all levels.
“The problem”, Enrique explains, is that they believe their children are “in nursery paying” for a subsidized school: “I don’t think we are parents who ask for crazy things, far from it, But we find that the only thing our kids have improved is lunch time, that part, the dining room, was well done. In our case, in the best scenario, we have three or more students in the enclave classroom. Four years are left, but in the funnel that will form into the future, when these boys and girls now have to transition into adult life, the problem is going to be very serious. Experts say diagnoses of ASD continue to rise.”
“There’s Nothing to Lose”
Desiree’s case deserves special attention. Both their children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Without space in a second center, the reduction in school hours will result in a shifting schedule that isn’t best suited for her little ones: “One of them now goes to normal class, at 5:00 p.m. and the other at 5:00 p.m. drop offs.” 2:30 pm. I asked for a solution, but they told me that ESO kids have other hours too. You cannot compare my son with an ESO student. He’s not going to understand, he’s not going to adapt, to go out, to go home, to go back to school to pick up his brother… but we have nothing, even after school. No “.
His complaint also refers to the time the children spend in class, as he assures that “they don’t skip it”, causing more problems: “The children enter at 8:30 and now, at 16:00”. By 7:00 p.m., they lock themselves in the classroom and don’t go to the dining room. What kind of inclusion can they have? Is it normal for a child to spend the whole day with another who doesn’t speak?
The integration aspect is one of its keys. They also believe that the average time taken for this integration is “15 minutes per week”. “My son, eight years old, doesn’t even know how to hold a pencil,” he complains bitterly.
“Now we have nothing to lose,” Enrique insisted, as we have “zero family cohesion, zero extra-curricular activities and bad vibes to condemn our situation because we can’t keep quiet.”
Pedro moved to Tacoronte last February and there is no room for his son in any of the classrooms adapted to the curriculum. Here’s why I have to keep up with the current educational hub: “What we feel right now is that kids are becoming more frustrated and learning less, because my classmates condemn everything.”
He explains that he is still waiting to find out the results of an evaluation that was done on his little one “without notifying him beforehand”: “In December they called me for a meeting, they told us for days. They evaluated the child but they want to go to a special school. They gave the report on Jan 24. I have asked but there is no way.
Declaring that they will continue to “fight” for a solution, not only for their children, but for “all families” who are in “a similar situation”, they acknowledge that one of the keys is to “fight together”. ” is, not like so far : “There are organizations, groups, that claim our rights, but in the end, everything is very fragmented, very divided. All children have different characteristics, but in the end we are all the same.”
