UPDATE: Parents of Axarquia girl with special needs will take her to a different school

THE parents of the girl with special needs whose classmates stopped attending lessons due to alleged problems resulting from a lack of specialised support for her, have decided she will change schools.

Parents of her classmates claimed that their children were being attacked and insulted by the girl, who has an autism-related disorder, and stopped taking their children to classes for three days, as a protest against the disruption.

However, the girl’s parent’s explained that no one had tried to contact them, as others had claimed, and that their child was not receiving the special education necessary in a case like hers.

“The most important thing in this case is her health and wellbeing. This is why her parents, following the recommendation of psychiatrists and psychologists, have decided that their daughter will not continue her education at the Gregorio Marañon school in La Cala del Moral, after coming to the conclusion that the centre is a hostile environment for her special needs,” said the spokesperson for the girl’s family, Francisco Arjona.

“The school and the Regional Education Department have already been informed of their decision. She will not come back to this centre and we are already searching for another one,” explained Mr Arjona.

Not only did the parents decide to change schools, but they stated that they would be pursuing legal action against the school, and explained: “She has been discriminated against, excluded and segregated. Several of her fundamental rights have been violated.”

“If the same situation happened to any other child, we would be talking about ‘bullying,’ but due to her disability, she is the one accused of attacking the whole class,” said Carmen Morales, Head of VIAndalucia, an association for people with disabilities.

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