Parents protest over autistic boy

More than 20 parents protested outside a Chaoyang district primary school Thursday morning, alleging that a 10-year-old autistic boy is disrupting their children's classes and poses a danger to himself and other pupils.

The parents demonstrated outside Shiji Primary School, affiliated to Beijing Fangcaodi International School Thursday, with banners and notices on their cars, which read "give me back class order" and "give me back personal safety," according to a photo provided by a parent.

They are calling for the boy, surnamed Song, to be removed from his grade four class, and have kept some 30 students home from school since Wednesday.

The boy's mother, Liu Dong, told the Global Times Thursday that as her son is not seriously autistic, she hopes he could stay in mainstream school.

Since the start of the new semester, Song has disturbed class order by crying loudly, and has twice thrown chairs across the classroom, said the father of one of the other pupils Thursday, who asked that his name not be used.

About 30 parents attended a meeting held by the school Wednesday to discuss how to deal with the autistic boy, he said.

The mother of a 9-year-old boy, who also did not want to be named, said they have sympathy for Song and his parents, and do not want to deprive him of his right to education.

"We just hope the boy could leave the class, and the school could run a special class for him," she said.

According to the mother, school management admitted at the meeting that the class has security risks and are willing to listen to any suggestions from parents; however, management also said any measures taken need agreement from Song's parents.

"Song's father refused to remove his son from the school, therefore, no agreement was reached," she claimed, adding that the one-hour protest this morning aims to push the school to give a quick response.

The anonymous father alleged that as Song had attempted to jump from the building several times, the school had placed iron bars on the windows.

"Sometimes my daughter will say after school 'oh, today was rare, Song didn't disturb the class.' Every time he gets upset, the teacher has to spend 10 minutes to comfort him," he said.

Liu denied her son would hurt his classmates on purpose.

"It must be that some others pick on him before he gets in a temper," she said.

Doctors at Peking University Sixth Hospital, Haidian district, have diagnosed Song as having slight autistic tendencies, saying that it is better to let him study in a collective environment, which will help him get well gradually, Liu said.

"I also considered sending him to an institution for autistic children, but I found that only those who have serious autism stay there," she said.

Liu said she hopes the other parents could be more inclusive, as her son has improved over the past three years.

"He has friends among his classmates," she said.

"He has begun to talk to me about what happened at school, which he didn't before," Liu remarked.

Rika Ishihara, a member of the Beijing Association for Rehabilitation of Autistic Children, said that as long as their condition is not serious, it is better for children who display symptoms of autism to attend regular classes.

"Extreme actions, such as trying to jump from a building, are just aimed at drawing attention. Autistic children often have obstacles in expressing what they want to say," she said.

In some foreign countries, autistic children are often accommodated in mainstream schools. They attend most regular classes and some special ones for autistic children, noted Ishihara.

On September 14, an autistic child in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, who was expelled from school after biting other students, died after he jumped off the balcony of his home.

Calls to the school went unanswered Thursday.