It was a brief protest, but it was full of heart.
Shortly before spring break, Abbotsford mom Carolyn Breen held up a hand-written sign outside her 12-year-old son’s school.
“My autistic son is being discriminated against by Howe Middle School. He’s being refused entry into the school!” it read. Her son, Liam, was sitting on a nearby bench. Shortly after he was dropped off that morning, he was told he was not supposed to be there. A staff member instructed Liam to sit there unsupervised until his mom picked him up.
An administrator texted Breen to come get him, as a previous plan was that the boy only come to school for the afternoons. It’s a plan Breen didn’t agree to, and one she says is not good enough.
At around the same time the school told Breen to come get him, Liam left the school grounds on his own and used a stranger’s cellphone to call home. So instead of picking Liam up, she came ready to fight for his right to be in a classroom.
Then she was asked to leave the school grounds, too.
The mom and son were expecting a strong reaction to him showing up to school that day — it came after a two-week period where he wasn’t allowed in the school at all. Breen was told that the current EAs would need better training to provide support for Liam, and in turn, Liam was not given any homework until the day before he was due back.
Breen knows that having a child with autism in the school requires extra resources. But the lack of proper resources is now affecting her son’s right to an education.
But it’s not that new. This has been an ongoing battle for Breen and her son, Liam. Breen is used to advocating for Liam, and has no plans to back down. He has autism and other concurrent diagnoses, and has also been dealing with trauma recently, she explains. He is verbal, but lacks emotional regulation which results in outbursts that include yelling and swearing. He normally has two full-time EAs to help him through the school day.
He also has a sensory processing disorder. So, even a noisy ceiling fan can overwhelm him. There is a sensory room in the school, but he wants to be able to use it alone. The Abbotsford School District confirmed with the News that this is against their policy of students being supervised.
Meanwhile, Breen is a registered nurse at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and a single mother with a second, neurotypical teenage son. She relies on the support provided by the school district and funding from the province to ensure Liam, who is currently in Grade 7, gets a proper education and counselling. He did have a violent episode two years ago, she said, and was expelled from his elementary school for two months. He wasn’t given any instruction opportunities during that time frame.
Liam has not been violent at school in more than a year, she said. If he had been, she would have been informed right away. Still, problems persist in him being able to access the education he is entitled to under the B.C. Human Rights Code.
This most recent issue began on the last day of school before Christmas, which is always an atypical day at school. It’s a day with a lot of sensory overload, weird schedules, excitement and different activities. It’s a day when someone with autism or a sensory disorder could easily have an episode.
Early in the day, Breen said she received a text telling her Liam had such an episode, so she went to pick him up. She arrived mentally prepared to help him regulate, only to find he was not struggling. At least not yet. In fact, he was waiting happily on a bench and excited to see her.
That’s because while his mom was told there was a problem, someone told Liam his mom had a surprise for him that day. It didn’t take much for Liam to feel like someone was lying, and that they just didn’t want him there.
Breen was heartbroken. And Liam still wants an apology months later.
“Liam has a lot of emotional regulation troubles at school,” Breen says. “He is impulsive. There is verbal aggression to the staff when things don’t go his way. He has that very black-and-white thinking, especially when things don’t go the way he thinks it should go.”
Things like being told the truth by adults he trusts, she says. That breach of trust has made it harder for Liam to settle into school again, Breen says.
A lot has happened since that day. He’s been allowed at school so little that Breen has burned through all of her available paid time off for the year, and then some. She doesn’t get child support, and has two sons to care for. She’s also sorely needed at work as an essential worker.
Right now, Liam’s still only allowed to be at school for two hours a day. That means her other son now has to do his schoolwork at home through a Google classroom.
“Sad that it has come to that,” she says. “Money is tight. I’m trying to pay the mortgage and put gas in the car.”
That day she staged her protest, one of the district assistant superintendent’s came to her car and told her that a team meeting would need to be called. She’s still waiting for a resolution. As she was finally collecting Liam and getting ready to leave, a police officer pulled up to the school. She isn’t sure if it was a coincidence or something more troubling.
She has many more questions, and several issues that are troubling her. But the overarching issue is the lack of a fulsome education for her son.
The Abbotsford School District responded to several questions on Breen’s behalf.
One of them was in regards to the use of sensory rooms. The sensory room at Gordie and Colleen Howe middle has comfort items from Breen’s home for Liam. He has told staff and his mom that he would like to sit in the room alone when he needs to calm down. He does like the room.
“No policy exists around the use of sensory rooms, but we would never leave any student unsupervised,” the district responded through their communications department. “Students who might need to use a sensory room are always supervised to ensure their ongoing safety. Specialized staff work to de-escalate situations and focus on supporting students in regulating their emotions.”
The News asked how EAs are trained and assigned.
“The school district establishes the duties and qualifications of education assistant positions, and interested and qualified individuals apply as needed,” the district answered. “In addition to the certifications they must hold for the position, we provide multiple opportunities for training, like non-violent crisis intervention and our mentorship program, to support their ongoing professional growth.”
And regarding plans for students with needs like Liam, as he is not the only child in the district with autism or other diagnoses, they said they work collaboratively.
“The Abbotsford School District must provide safe learning environments for every student and safe working environments for every employee,” they stated. “When challenging situations arise that may impact this, our district teams work collaboratively with the school, families, and community supports to build a return-to-school plan. Every plan looks different and may include a modified learning schedule or safety plan, as it considers each student’s unique needs and circumstances.”
But Breen said the solution should be simpler than that.
“If you just leave him in there and trust him he will calm himself down,” she says. “And he will come out and say, ‘I feel better now.’”
And she says she will continue to advocate for Liam’s right to an education.
“This isn’t good enough,” she said. “You’ve got a child who wants to be at school full time.”
READ MORE: B.C.’s new autism funding model a disappointment, says Autism BC
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