An ACT mother has been horrified to learn that her disabled son was forced to wear a pillowcase over his head during his bus ride home from school.
Danielle McMahon, from Canberra, was alerted to the horrific event when she saw her son take something off his head before exiting the bus on his way home, reported The Canberra Times.
When questioned, her 13-year-old son, who suffers from a range of disabilities including autism, hydrocephalus, a chronic bowel disorder, eyesight and hearing problems and chronic lung disease, revealed that the bus driver order him, and other children, to wear bags over their heads and to “shut up and go to sleep”.
After immediately alerting the ACT Education Directorate, who sub-contracts their bus services to smaller companies, including their special needs services which deliver more than 470 children to and from school every day, the directorate assured her that the driver was sanctioned.
A spokesperson for the company confirmed that “the bus company was contacted and took action to ensure the issue would not reoccur”.
“The directorate takes all complaints about special needs transport seriously and works with families and transport companies to follow up on any issues brought to our attention,” the spokesman said.
And that it is now “working to ensure that all special needs transport staff have completed disability awareness training. The ACT government is responsible for ensuring its drivers and attendants are appropriately trained, and has already made training arrangements for its special needs transport staff before the commencement of the new school year”.
But for Danielle, the damage had already been done.
Alongside the ‘pillowcase’ event, her son, 13-year-old Jay, revealed that a bus aide also told him to “change your underwear because you smell like shit” and that the driver often wore headphones during the trip and could not (or would not) hear the children if they called, reported The Times.
“My son reports exactly what is said to him, he doesn’t filter it, he doesn’t lie,” said Danielle.
Since the event, Danielle has been assured by the directorate that it won’t happen again.
“I am relieved that he no longer has to ride on a bus with a bus driver who clearly has issues dealing appropriately with vulnerable children but I am concerned about what this means for the other six kids who use that bus – none of whom are verbal,” Danielle told The Canberra Times.
“I don’t fault the directorate in this, they are trying to contract out a service to get the kids to and from school, but I do think they need to make sure the drivers and aides are more sensitive to the kids’ needs.”
“I literally can’t be with Jay all day and I have to trust people to take care of him. With the bus service I really feel this trust has been broken.”
