Chapter 13 — Special needs schools and residential services

Neglect

Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.7 This section summarises witness accounts of general neglect. Descriptions of neglect refer to all aspects of the physical, social and emotional care and welfare of the witnesses. It also describes other forms of neglect that are regarded as having a negative impact on the individual’s emotional health and development, for example failure to protect from harm, to educate and to adequately supervise.

There were 25 reports of neglect heard by the Committee from 13 male and 12 female witnesses in relation to 11 special needs schools; three of the schools were the subject of reports by both male and female witnesses. Sixteen (16) reports were related to witnesses’ experiences in schools for children with sensory impairments. Six (6) schools were the subject of between two and seven reports, totalling 20 reports. Five (5) schools were each the subject of single reports.

The forms of neglect reported to the Committee included inadequate education and training, poor and insufficient food, poor hygiene, lack of recreational activities and inadequate supervision.

Eleven (11) witnesses identified poor supervision as a source of neglect in the schools where they were placed. One witness described being sexually abused by a member of religious staff at night in his bed although a Brother had supervisory duties in the dormitory and ‘was there in a flash if you whispered to another boy’. Nine (9) witnesses, both male and female, reported being physically and sexually abused by staff and co-residents in circumstances where there was no effective supervision. Witnesses also reported being abused by groups of co-residents in circumstances where there was no available protection and where older residents had unsupervised access to younger, vulnerable residents.

Witnesses described making various attempts to protect themselves or seek protection from others. One witness who was sexually abused by a co-resident was separated from the abusive co-resident by care staff to whom he had disclosed the abuse. This resulted in an improvement in his situation until the following year when there was a change of staff and he was once again placed in proximity to the person who had previously abused him. He was once again abused on a regular basis for some time by that person. Another witness reported being repeatedly sent to a holiday family where she was sexually abused, despite her protests that she did not want to return there. She believed that staff should have responded to her indications that she was unhappy although she felt unable to articulate that she was being sexually abused.

Fourteen (14) witnesses reported inadequate education as their main form of neglect. They gave examples of educational disadvantage caused by being made to work instead of attending school. Witnesses reported that in schools for children with sensory impairments classwork was primarily focussed on using disability aids, such as hearing aids, speech and vocalisation aids and touch text for those with sight impairments. Most of the 14 witnesses reported that their education was impeded by fear of physical abuse in the classroom. The inspectors would come in, but they ...(teachers)... generally knew when they were coming. ... Everything was lovely, the stick would be put away, out of sight.

Three (3) witnesses reported that their sensory impairment was not recognised and they were inappropriately placed in schools for learning disabled children where their educational needs were neglected.

Witnesses with sensory, physical and intellectual disabilities commented on the accompanying communication difficulties they experienced. Deaf witnesses described the distress they endured when forced to communicate through speech instead of sign language and the considerable time and effort that was devoted to teaching them Oralism while forbidding any other form of communication: They were treating me like a stupid ...child... because I didn’t learn properly. I was very intelligent when I was small, I was very quick at picking up things through sign but I couldn’t learn through oralism, I was very, very low, my confidence was gone, my self-esteem was gone. I was very, very disappointed with myself, because I couldn’t learn through oralism, and then they would hit you if you didn’t understand and so we pretended to understand to avoid being hit all the time.

Witnesses with intellectual disabilities repeatedly commented on the fact that ‘nobody explained anything’ as a result of which they did not understand what they were supposed to do and at times why they were being punished or abused. Witnesses with sight and physical disabilities commented that they were treated as if they were deaf, that staff frequently spoke about them as if they were not there and that nobody ever asked them for their opinion.

In addition to the reports of inadequate classroom education five witnesses reported that the education and training offered in the workshops attached to the schools did not prepare them for independent living following their discharge. The lack of preparation for independent living was reported as abusive. They commented on the traumatic impact of being discharged from the shelter of residential settings without any aftercare or follow up: (Discharge preparation)...didn’t give us a great start, the best of us got through, if you had a strong character and if you came from a strong family home, that would support you but if you didn’t have that going for you, you kind of fell into a survival method.

Four (4) particular special needs schools were reported more often than others as providing a poor standard of physical care. Witnesses from those facilities consistently described cold, hunger, inadequate clothing and poor hygiene facilities. Ten (10) witnesses from those schools reported being frequently hungry or being forced to eat unpalatable food, three of whom also reported being forced to eat regurgitated food.

Poor hygiene and management of menstruation was cited by four female witnesses as an aspect of their neglect. They described being given little or no information about menstruation and were not provided with sanitary protection or the necessary facilities to maintain appropriate personal hygiene. Four (4) other witnesses described not having their own clothes and having to wear clothes from a communal supply that was infrequently changed and laundered.

Female witnesses reported being expected to undertake domestic work within the schools and two described being exploited as unpaid domestic staff. In addition to work tasks being described as an alternative to classroom education in the special needs facilities, witnesses also remarked on the absence of recreational activities. Witnesses with restricted mobility commented on the boredom associated with institutional living where it was reported that no effort was made to occupy or provide age-appropriate activities to children who were bed-bound.

Witnesses also reported being subjected to inappropriate daily routines that they believed were maintained for expedience. One example provided was of being awakened at 6:00 every morning to be washed and dressed by the night staff before they finished their shift. She reported being then left sitting in a cold room, waiting for breakfast that was not served until approximately two hours later.

Emotional abuse

Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.8 This section describes witness evidence of emotional abuse by deprivation of affection, family contact and approval, loss of identity, and a lack of safety and protection. It refers to both what was done by religious and lay staff and others who had responsibility for the residents in their care and what they failed to provide. These deprivations impaired the social, emotional, physical functioning and development of witnesses and were identified by them as generally disturbing both at the time and in the subsequent course of their lives.