KOCHI: Many times we hear news about abuses that happen in society but those that take place in closed therapy rooms often go unnoticed. Failure in providing clear evidence often let those responsible go scot-free. Realising the seriousness of the situation, Seema Lal, a Kochi-based special educator and psychologist, along with other parents began ‘Together We Can’, an online campaign which is fighting against such abuse.
How it started
It all began in 2015 when a six year-old boy who was a non-verbal autistic child returned with a broken arm after his therapy sessions. He was rushed to the hospital and the doctor said something drastic must have occurred that has led to such severe damage. “Cases like this often occur in many private centres and the victims are mainly children below 10 years. The children with autism spectrum disorder don’t have the ability to respond back and so we don’t not know even if they are abused in therapy centres,” said Seema Lal, co-founder, ‘Together We Can’.
However, Seema made it a point to take action against the malpractice happening in therapy centres. Soon, a case was filed against the therapy centre. However, there was no response. “We then filed a petition with the Child Welfare Committee in 2015 so that parents are allowed to be with their children during the therapy sessions but this petition also failed to move the authorities,” said Seema. According to their petition, the District Medical Officer was supposed to make a committee under whom rules would be implemented strongly, but nothing worked.
Together We Can
After a continuous struggle of nearly two years in order to save the children from the abuse they face in therapy centres, Seema joined hands with other parents whose children were autistic and brought out a Whatsapp and Facebook page ‘Together We Can’. This campaign is now supported by around 2,000 people where some of them are parents whose children have gone through the same situation.
“We are getting a lot of support from parents and professionals who have started recording selfies and videos and are uploading it in our page,” said Seema. Even free classes were conducted for the parents for spreading awareness against the malpractices happening in these therapy centre against children with autism spectrum disorders and other neurological disorders.
The other active parent partners of this online campaign are Padma Pillai, an entrepreneur and a mother of a 12-year of boy with autism; Preetha Anoop Menon, lawyer and parent of an eight-year-old boy with autism; Anita Pradeep, child rights activist, baker and a parent of a 23-year-old child who is suffering with autism. This campaign has allowed many parents to open up and raise their voice against such malpractices.