Heather Mcnab for Daily Mail Australia
Posted on 12/5/2014
- Bronwyn and Allan Pascoe’s son James was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two but had manageable levels up until the age of 16
- After experiencing trauma from losing his baby sister and grandparents, James’s behaviour began to escalate
- His parents were told their only option was to call the police who would admit James to hospital where he was shackled and sedated
- The Pascoe’s say this cycle has been repeated over the past two years, fuelling James’s fear and anxiety Despite persistent pleas for funding to keep James at home, receiving the therapy he needs, they say they have been denied support from the Department of Human Service
- After acting out at a care facility, James was taken to hospital where he has spent the past fortnight strapped to a bed and unable to move
- Mrs Pascoe has launched a Change.org petition begging Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to address the needs of people with autism
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James Pascoe has severe autism and was apprehended by police at his accommodation centre after acting out and was taken to the Northern Hospital in Epping, where he has been restrained for 14 days
The parents of a young man with severe autism who has been chained to a hospital bed for 14 days claim that healthcare authorities have ignored their pleas for support.
Bronwyn Pascoe’s son James was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, and suffers from high levels of anxiety and trauma, which she said was caused by years of care givers repeatedly ignoring his needs.
James has severe autism and spent his 21st birthday shackled to a hospital bed despite his parent’s desperate pleas to healthcare authorities who they say have failed him
Despite persistent calls by Mrs Pascoe and her husband Allan to the Victorian Department of Human Services about the lack of support and appropriate care options, James was apprehended by police at his accommodation centre and taken to the Northern Hospital in Epping, where he has been restrained for 14 days.
Mrs Pascoe’s mother had been a role model for James and a care giver who he adored, but passed away from pancreatic cancer when James was 16.
‘When my mum passed away in 2012 James started showing outbursts of behaviour, and wasn’t coping. He withdrew and became depressed and became obsessed with the fact that people died,’ Mrs Pascoe told Daily Mail Australia.
‘He kept reliving losing her and was haunted by the fact that his baby sister had died at only a few weeks old, and this developed into real trauma,’ she said.
James’s sister Jacinta died at only four and half weeks old, an event which still distresses him, and made the deaths of his grandparents more acute and created a fear of hospitals and death.
James (centre) with his mother Bronwyn (left) and father Allan (right) say their son has deteriorated as a result of ignorance about his condition and a lack of support from the Victorian Department of Human Services
More: source
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I don’t think it’s a “result of ignorance”. It does looks bad but since he was “acting out” the restraints are to keep him from hurting himself and the hospital personnel. Hospitals have policies on restraints – release every hour or thereabouts. These patients are already on medication so adding other drugs to sedate isn’t a wise move since it takes time to figure out an increase in dosage or change the old medication to a new drug w/ correct dosage. Until that happens the restraints are necessary and no amount of funding can change it. Very sad.
