An Edinburgh mum has told how her disabled son was 'neglected' by staff at a special needs school in Edinburgh.
Kirsty Clapperton alleges that her son, who has autism and uses a wheelchair, was in a serious accident at Braidburn School because he was allowed to 'freely climb and run' despite requiring constant 1:1 support for his complex needs.
She told Edinburgh Live how her son had to have surgery and 'ended up with temporary leg paralysis for four days.'
She claims that this is just one example of when her son, who she wishes not to name, was 'neglected' by the school leaving him vulnerable to being harmed.
Edinburgh City Council say they are investigating the allegations made.
Kirsty said: "My son was involved in an accident in the school in March where he was allowed to climb and run across a bench resulting in him falling and breaking his nose.
"The school played down the severity saying it was a head injury. He’s had to have surgery, and then to top it off due to underlying health conditions he ended up with temp leg paralysis for four days after the surgery.
"The school is completely negligent, my son is a wheelchair user with poor mobility and is autistic with no sense of danger - a very dangerous combination - and has care plans in place to avoid this.
"No child should be allowed to climb and run across benches never mind children with 1:1 care plans."
According to Kirsty, she has had to complain to Edinburgh City Council a 'number of times' with concerns over her son's care while at the school and alleges that on one occasion he was allowed to drink 'rusty bin water.'
She added: "He also managed to get into a locked part of the playground and drink rusty bin water in a previous incident.
"My son now has a permanent bump in his nose, he may require another surgery as he gets bigger. The school is not keeping the kids safe.
"I had actually complained to Edinburgh council a number of times previously to this incident regarding a concern for his safety in Braidburn school, as it was an accident waiting to happen with their negligence."
The mother also claims that her child was made to wear a jacket 'back to front with the hood at his face' at one point so that he couldn't take it off.
She said: "That’s a health and safety risk in itself and I’m not sure that’s even within disabled rights to force a child to wear their jacket backwards.
"Would you? I wouldn’t wear mine back to front."
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “We take the safety of children in our schools very seriously. As a complaint has been received and is being investigated it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
