Update: In response to TISG’s queries, Rainbow Centre said: “We are looking into the situation and have been engaging Mr Loh and MOE on this matter. Until the investigation is concluded, we politely decline to comment further and seek your understanding. Thank you”.
TISG has not received a response from MOE or from Mr Loh yet.
The father of an 11-year-old autistic boy called out his school and teachers for possibly mishandling and mistreating the child.
In a Facebook post on Saturday (Mar 26), the father, Mr Michael Loh, wrote that when he went to pick up his son from school on Mar 10 at about 5:10 pm, he saw the boy’s teacher holding his son’s wrist instead of his hand.
“The teacher handed my son to me and I had noticed that his hands were dirty which what seems to look like paint as art and craft was done on that day. The teacher merely said that they had art class that day”, Mr Loh wrote, adding that he noticed that the hands of other students were clean.
After getting seated in the car, Mr Loh wrote that when he wiped his son’s hands with wet tissue, the paint came off easily.
“Then I realized that my son’s hand was not washed up after the art class and the teacher straight away brought him to me with his dirty hand. Previously, there were some other incidents happened with the principal and the senior teacher and their attitude were not good. Then I suspected the teacher might have purposely did that to my son”, Mr Loh wrote.
Mr Loh asked a number of questions in his post, pertaining to why his son’s hands were not washed, especially when he was an autistic child. “What if he rubs his eye or put his dirty finger into his mouth before reaching home, especially an autistic child?”, he asked.
Mr Loh also questioned why the teacher did not inform him that his son’s hands were not washed, and why his son was held by the wrist and brought to the car.
He asked: “You did not hold his hand and held his wrist instead. Was it because his hand was dirty? Was that something professional to do? Was that right? Are you thinking that just because my son is an autistic child, and he is not able speak up so you can just do that to him and mistreat him?”
In his post, Mr Loh added that the school had not given them an apology or explanation, and thus they had gone to the Ministry of Education (MOE) on the matter.
“I am very concerned my son’s safety as I’m not sure whether the teacher will abuse my son where there is no one monitoring the teacher, especially my son is an autistic child and he is not able speak up. It is ridiculous that this matter happened in Singapore”, he wrote.
TISG has reached out to Mr Loh, Rainbow Centre and the Ministry of Education for comment and clarification on the matter. /TISG