Psychic almost ruins woman's life
Mon, 2008-06-16 18:41
#1
Psychic almost ruins woman's life
Mon, 2008-06-16 18:41
#2
quote:
Colleen Leduc already had a lot going against her. The Barrie woman was holding down a job while struggling to raise her autistic 11-year-old daughter. She couldn't afford to give the child the intensive therapy she needed, and was forced to send her to a public school in the area.So she was completely unprepared for what happened to her and the youngster, an almost unbelievable tale of red tape involving a strange claim from a teaching assistant, a bizarre decision by a school board, a visit from the Children's Aid Society (CAS) and most improbably of all, the incorrect pronouncements of a psychic.
Leduc's weird tale began on May 30, when she dropped young Victoria off for class at Terry Fox Elementary and headed in to work, only to receive a frantic phone call from the school telling her it was urgent she come back right away.
The frightened mother rushed back to the campus and was stunned by what she heard - the principal, vice-principal and her daughter's teacher were all waiting for her in the office, telling her they'd received allegations that Victoria had been the victim of sexual abuse - and that the CAS had been notified.
How did they come by such startling knowledge? Leduc was incredulous as they poured out their story.
"The teacher looked and me and said: 'We have to tell you something. The educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular time if she works with a little girl by the name of "V." And she said 'yes, I do.' And she said, 'well, you need to know that that child is being sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.'"
Victoria, who is non-verbal, had also been exhibiting sexualized behaviour in class, actions which are known to be typical of autistic behavior. (See other typical actions here) That lead authorities to suspect she had a bladder infection that may have somehow been related to the 'attack.'
Leduc was shaken by the idea. "It's actually your worst nightmare your child being violated," she admits. "So for them to even suggest that, and that be my worst nightmare, it was horrific."
But things got worse when school officials used the "evidence" and accepted the completely unsubstantiated word of the seer by reporting the case to Children's Aid, which promptly opened a file on the family.
Read it [url=http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_23845.aspx]here.[/url]
Fri, 2008-06-20 11:05
#3
Ontario teachers must report suspected abuse by law so I'm not surprised by this. They must report it promptly to various authorigites including the Ontario College of Teachers.
Teachers can be charged under the law if they delay reporting suspected abuse.
Fri, 2008-06-20 11:11
#4
quote:
Originally posted by scooter:
[b]Ontario teachers must report suspected abuse by law so I'm not surprised by this. They must report it promptly to various authorigites including the Ontario College of Teachers.Teachers can be charged under the law if they delay reporting suspected abuse.[/b]
Yes, but there was no reason to suspect abuse in this case, beyond the suggestions of the psychic. The child was exhibiting behaviour common to autistic children of her age. Indeed, other children in her class behaved similarly, yet suspected abuse was not reported in their cases. The sole differentiating feature was the psychic.
[url=http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=597195]National Post article:[/url]
quote:
"I challenged them and asked if the other children in the class with autism exhibited these behaviours. They said, 'Oh yes, all the time.' But they were not reported to the CAS because they didn't have the psychic's tip."
[ 20 June 2008: Message edited by: RosaL ]
Fri, 2008-06-20 11:42
#5
At least the CAS acted quickly and responsibly.
What I find ironic is the mother is now overreacting by keeping the daughter out of school and demanding the school board pay for IBI treatment.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Divisional Court ruled a few years ago that IBI treatment was not the responsibility of the school board to finance.
[url=http://www.emondharnden.com/publications/oct05/CloughvSimcoeCountyBoard.... v. Ontario vs Clough v. Simcoe Country District School Board (discussion paper)[/url]
I feel sorry for the poor girl with everyone around her overreacting.
Fri, 2008-06-20 12:32
#6
I wouldn't send my kid back to such a school either, and I'd sue those fuckers into oblivion. How on earth can you think that the mother is overreacting? The idiots at that school sicced the CAS on her and accused her of allowing her daughter to be sexually abused, based on a PSYCHIC READING.
You are supposed to report REASONABLE suspicions of abuse to the CAS, not some thing that some psychic fraud pulled out of her ass.
Her child is clearly not safe at that school, with teachers and educational assistants who have actually LOST the child on several occasions, forcing the mother to pay for a GPS system for her daughter, and now calling the CAS on her with trumped up sexual abuse allegations. OF COURSE she can't send her kid back to that school.
And since the school has made it impossible for the child to attend, then they damn well SHOULD have to pay for the therapy that the mother will be forced to provide for the child privately instead.
I would also love to see those idiot teachers who called the CAS on that mother be disciplined by their regulatory college. If I were that kid's mother, I'd be on a damned rampage.
[ 20 June 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]
Fri, 2008-06-20 13:07
#7
I'm a little surprised that no one has spoken up on behalf of the poor maligned psychic here. I mean, clearly some people derive great benefit and spiritual relief from psychic intervention.
Shouldn't the onus be on those who want to simply dismiss this field of knowledge?
[img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Fri, 2008-06-20 13:12
#8
quote:
Originally posted by Michelle:
[b]Her child is clearly not safe at that school, with teachers and educational assistants who have actually LOST the child on several occasions...[/b]
And the mother did not take her daughter out of the school.
quote:
[b]And since the school has made it impossible for the child to attend, then they damn well SHOULD have to pay for the therapy..
[/b]
The daughter was not receive IBI treatment in school. Why would the daughter not attending be reason for the school board to pay? At least in Ontario, IBI has been ruled by the courts to be a medical treatment not an educational program.
quote:
[b]I would also love to see those idiot teachers who called the CAS on that mother be disciplined by their regulatory college.[/b]
Me too, but do you seriously think the teachers union and the school board would let that happen?
Fri, 2008-06-20 13:17
#9
Sven
quote:
Originally posted by pookie:
[b]I'm a little surprised that no one has spoken up on behalf of the poor maligned psychic here. I mean, clearly some people derive great benefit and spiritual relief from psychic intervention.
Shouldn't the onus be on those who want to simply dismiss this field of knowledge?[img]wink.gif" border="0[/img] [/b]
Hmmmmm....sounds a bit like the "chiropractic thread"!!!
Fri, 2008-06-20 13:20
#10
I could have predicted you would say that!!
Fri, 2008-06-20 13:20
#11
[img]http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/carnac-756908.jpg[/img]
I knew some male between the age of 21 and 87 was going to say that. Really....no...seriously....I knew.
![http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/carnac-756908.jpg[/img]](http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/carnac-756908.jpg[/img]){kind=link}
Fri, 2008-06-20 13:24
#12
I am impressed and I think that only a perceptive woman under 50 but over 45 could make such an accurate prediction.
Fri, 2008-06-20 13:36
#13
Oh. I didn't see that one coming. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Fri, 2008-06-20 15:16
#14
Timebandit
quote:
Originally posted by scooter:
[b]At least the CAS acted quickly and responsibly.What I find ironic is the mother is now overreacting by keeping the daughter out of school and demanding the school board pay for IBI treatment.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Divisional Court ruled a few years ago that IBI treatment was not the responsibility of the school board to finance.
[url=http://www.emondharnden.com/publications/oct05/CloughvSimcoeCountyBoard.... v. Ontario vs Clough v. Simcoe Country District School Board (discussion paper)[/url]
I feel sorry for the poor girl with everyone around her overreacting.[/b]
I don't think she's overreacting. I actually think she's shown considerable restraint.
Damn right she should sue. It's bad enough that the EA was an utter dingbat, but the principal and teacher were involved -- it should have been shut down at that level.
I also seem to recall, from the article, that the mother had her child in that school because she could not afford the more beneficial programs as a single parent and had to make do with what was available to her -- a problem that parents of disabled kids, single parents or not, often have to deal with. Autistic kids in particular are badly underserved by our public educational systems.
The invasion of their family's privacy, the fear that CAS could remove her child... No, I think lawsuit is exactly the right response.
Sun, 2021-11-28 22:24
#15
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Wed, 2008-06-25 19:23
#16
Agent 204
Has anyone noticed a pattern in which MSM outfits carried the story, and, equally significantly, which ones didn't? CityNews, CTV, the [i]Toronto Sun[/i], and the [i]National Post[/i] came up early on in a Google search of the phrase "Colleen Leduc"; the [i]Star[/i] and the [i]Globe[/i] didn't make a peep. The CBC had a couple of stories that I had to use the "site:cbc.ca" command to find, and curiously they were not allowing comments on those posts. And a lot of actual left-wing sites don't seem to have touched this story either. I wonder why this is?
Wed, 2008-06-25 19:45
#17
quote:
Originally posted by Agent 204:
[b]Has anyone noticed a pattern in which MSM outfits carried the story, and, equally significantly, which ones didn't? CityNews, CTV, the [i]Toronto Sun[/i], and the [i]National Post[/i] came up early on in a Google search of the phrase "Colleen Leduc"; the [i]Star[/i] and the [i]Globe[/i] didn't make a peep. The CBC had a couple of stories that I had to use the "site:cbc.ca" command to find, and curiously they were not allowing comments on those posts. And a lot of actual left-wing sites don't seem to have touched this story either. I wonder why this is?[/b]
Two reasons:
1) The right likes to make teachers and the public educational bureucracy look bad. Whereas the organization left is allied with the teacher's unions.
2) I found out recently upon reviewing some surveys that while Christianity for example may be a religion of the right (statistically speaking), things like astrology (which culturally implies psychics) are more popular among those on the left.
Wed, 2008-06-25 22:06
#18
Scott Piatkowski
quote:
Originally posted by Agent 204:
[b]And a lot of actual left-wing sites don't seem to have touched this story either. I wonder why this is?[/b]
Alternet carried it in the U.S.
Er, babble is currently debating it. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Hope all is well in Winnipeg. Don't let the mosquitos win!
Thu, 2008-06-26 04:21
#19
Agent 204
quote:
Originally posted by 500_Apples:
[b]Two reasons:1) The right likes to make teachers and the public educational bureucracy look bad. Whereas the organization left is allied with the teacher's unions.
2) I found out recently upon reviewing some surveys that while Christianity for example may be a religion of the right (statistically speaking), things like astrology (which culturally implies psychics) are more popular among those on the left.[/b]
I mostly disagree with your first point, partly because the omission of this story has extended into centrist (though socially liberal) media like the [i]Globe[/i] and the [i]Star[/i]. The [i]Globe[/i], for instance, isn't particularly union friendly.
Your second point, though, has some merit. I don't think it's a left thing per se, but a social liberal thing; there's a greater tolerance for non-mainstream superstition, while social conservatives are more tolerant of mainstream superstition and only too glad to show up the follies of non-mainstream superstition.
Myself, I'm pretty intolerant of superstition generally, but that's just me.
quote:
Originally posted by Scott Piatkowski:
[b]Alternet carried it in the U.S.
Er, babble is currently debating it. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Hope all is well in Winnipeg. Don't let the mosquitoes win![/b]
Good catch on the Alternet thing. I've since located a thread on one of the spin-off boards from babble as well, actually, though there aren't many posts.
As regards the mosquitoes, it's far too late, though the city is unwilling to admit this, even when their efforts likely do [url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/06/25/winnipeg-fogging.html... harm than good[/url]. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Other than that, though, things are pretty good.