Tongeren mother of Quinn (12) with autism writes open letter to Flemish Minister of Education Weyts: “It is almost like peddling your child”

Read Carolien’s full open letter below

Dear Mr. Ben Weyts,

My name is Carolien Groenendaels. And I am the proud mother of 2 children: Quinn and Norah. I turn to you for the sake of my son Quinn.

Quinn is a cheerful 12-year-old guy with a diagnosis of ASD with an MCDD profile. This means autism spectrum disorder with an additional need for an anchor to reality. The boundary between fantasy and reality is very fragile and threatens to disappear when there are too many stimuli or too much pressure is placed on him. Emotions are also always experienced very intensively. The heights are high, sadness is very sad and ditto for the rest of the range.

Quinn is well supported by our family, his family, his primary special school De Klimop and care providers (we have been on the waiting list for home guidance for 3 years now…). He also takes medication that strengthens the boundary between fantasy and reality and improves his ability to process stimuli.

Quinn is currently doing well and as you can read, we are working on this with a lot of people. It was also a turbulent road to get to that point. I will spare you further details, but I would be happy to explain it to you in a conversation.

But then… your child has to make the transition to special secondary school and then as a parent you can start peddling your special child (again). He should go to the special secondary type OV1… ‘would’ but the places are very limited with all the consequences that entails.

Today we received the message that our son is in 6th place on the waiting list for a class of 5 students. This means that 2 classes or more can actually be filled and that many families today have parents at their wits’ end…

Can you imagine what it’s like to tell your child with autism that you don’t know where he will go next school year and that we will have to wait and see? Just that child with a label who needs clarity and structure. I suspect my son is not alone and I am turning to you to come up with a solution. Not just for Quinn, but for all the children and parents who received a cold shower today.

Please share your position and change in practice and a solution…

Best regards
Carolien Groenendaels