Orc
diagnosed autist
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on my first day in a special education program, I was taken to a private room with a woman who was introduced as a doctor, I'm not sure she was actually licensed, because what happened felt completely unethical and wrong, she told me to undress completely for an "inspection" (this school conducted these on everyone by the way, I am still in contact with some people that I went to school with) I was extremely uncomfortable and started crying, I didn't want to do it, but my grandmother, who was present, encouraged me to comply, so I eventually did, even though I felt humiliated.
I was born with an intersex condition and had undergone surgery in early childhood (recently learned the operation was supposed to only take 2 hours, but ended up lasting for 8+), so my body looks different from what people expect, after looking at me, the woman called me ''deformed'' that word has stuck with me ever since.
this was my introduction to school.
during one of our weekly school events, where we were supposed to play sports under the supervision of a particularly strange externally hired teacher with no formal training in special ed (who was a pedophile that regularly made comments about 13 year old girls and seemed to have a mental deficit) we were left unsupervised with a known problem child that was in the 'interne afdeling' (the school both has kids arriving with taxis daily, but other kids lived at the school, these were usually those that were the most fucked up)
during this time, a boy who was significantly larger than the rest of us (he was an adult with a mental deficit and placed in classes with kids that were much younger) and armed with a knife took us hostage, for roughly two hours, he threatened to kill us.
the particular event this time was just dragging some sort of milk can to a disclosed location, the 'sports' never made any sense, it was just therapy to keep us busy, we didn't actually learn anything in school, or were practically unable to, since special ED only carries books from the lowest grade of education here, and outdated ones at that, you also can't graduate, you just get a certification that isn't actually recognized anywhere.
When we arrived, the teacher was already there, apparently waiting for us.
instead of responding appropriately, the teacher tried to manipulate us into staying silent, telling us not to report the incident to the police, we refused and ran away from school in an attempt to prompt school staff to alert the authorities and ensure police intervention.
we attempted to make a police report afterward, however, the school shared the private home addresses of two of the students involved with the perpetrator, who then used that information to intimidate them into withdrawing their statements, following that, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, my parents also decided not to pursue the case any further.
In the netherlands, where I grew up, pain based physical interventions are still used on children in special education, especially in programs that overlap with youth behavioral institutions, these practices are rarely acknowledged publicly, but they are real, widespread, and traumatic.
when I was in special education, I was regularly subjected to these methods, staff would throw children to the ground, pin us with a knee on the neck, or twist arms behind backs, one commonly used technique involved forcing the thumb backward toward the elbow to cause intense pain, these weren’t isolated incidents, they happened often, and to many of us.
I personally experienced this kind of restraint multiple times, it was done under the guise of ''behavioral control'' but it felt like punishment and domination. The adults responsible were not deescalating, they were asserting physical power over children who often couldn't advocate for themselves, often it was 3-4 teachers at once doing this
this isn’t just something from the past. It’s still happening today
www.defenceforchildren.nl
the school also regularly lied to the police, to downplay events, and we had police at school pretty much every week.
after we were effectively kicked out of the school, the administration failed to report our departure, as a result, they continued to receive government funding for our education, even though we were no longer enrolled.
because they didn’t officially report that we had left, the leerplichtambtenaar (compulsory education officer) wasn’t notified, that meant no one followed up on the fact that we weren’t attending school.
I was born with an intersex condition and had undergone surgery in early childhood (recently learned the operation was supposed to only take 2 hours, but ended up lasting for 8+), so my body looks different from what people expect, after looking at me, the woman called me ''deformed'' that word has stuck with me ever since.
this was my introduction to school.
during one of our weekly school events, where we were supposed to play sports under the supervision of a particularly strange externally hired teacher with no formal training in special ed (who was a pedophile that regularly made comments about 13 year old girls and seemed to have a mental deficit) we were left unsupervised with a known problem child that was in the 'interne afdeling' (the school both has kids arriving with taxis daily, but other kids lived at the school, these were usually those that were the most fucked up)
during this time, a boy who was significantly larger than the rest of us (he was an adult with a mental deficit and placed in classes with kids that were much younger) and armed with a knife took us hostage, for roughly two hours, he threatened to kill us.
the particular event this time was just dragging some sort of milk can to a disclosed location, the 'sports' never made any sense, it was just therapy to keep us busy, we didn't actually learn anything in school, or were practically unable to, since special ED only carries books from the lowest grade of education here, and outdated ones at that, you also can't graduate, you just get a certification that isn't actually recognized anywhere.
When we arrived, the teacher was already there, apparently waiting for us.
instead of responding appropriately, the teacher tried to manipulate us into staying silent, telling us not to report the incident to the police, we refused and ran away from school in an attempt to prompt school staff to alert the authorities and ensure police intervention.
we attempted to make a police report afterward, however, the school shared the private home addresses of two of the students involved with the perpetrator, who then used that information to intimidate them into withdrawing their statements, following that, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, my parents also decided not to pursue the case any further.
In the netherlands, where I grew up, pain based physical interventions are still used on children in special education, especially in programs that overlap with youth behavioral institutions, these practices are rarely acknowledged publicly, but they are real, widespread, and traumatic.
when I was in special education, I was regularly subjected to these methods, staff would throw children to the ground, pin us with a knee on the neck, or twist arms behind backs, one commonly used technique involved forcing the thumb backward toward the elbow to cause intense pain, these weren’t isolated incidents, they happened often, and to many of us.
I personally experienced this kind of restraint multiple times, it was done under the guise of ''behavioral control'' but it felt like punishment and domination. The adults responsible were not deescalating, they were asserting physical power over children who often couldn't advocate for themselves, often it was 3-4 teachers at once doing this
this isn’t just something from the past. It’s still happening today
Pijn en geweld in Nederlandse jeugdinstellingen
Een speciaal team van experts (CPT) bezocht recent drie Nederlandse jeugdinstellingen om de veiligheid en behandeling van kinderen te onderzoeken. VVD-kamerlid Van den Hil diende recent Kamervragen in over het gebruik geweld in Nederlandse jeugdinstellingen.
the school also regularly lied to the police, to downplay events, and we had police at school pretty much every week.
after we were effectively kicked out of the school, the administration failed to report our departure, as a result, they continued to receive government funding for our education, even though we were no longer enrolled.
because they didn’t officially report that we had left, the leerplichtambtenaar (compulsory education officer) wasn’t notified, that meant no one followed up on the fact that we weren’t attending school.
