Rahim's Legacy

May 6, 2005
Rahim's Legacy
By Clair Schuman, Executive Director, ACT – Autism Community Training

It was six years ago when I was working as an advocate for parents of children with autism that a mother called me to discuss the then familiar question, “What can I do about the continual bumping of my son’s education assistant? He has had a parade of educational assistants in his life without being the cause of any of the changes.”

Freida Lalji’s young son had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and was severely affected by autism. Rahim could not speak, use sign language or walk. It often took many weeks for an educational assistant to begin to understand his needs and desires. Yet Rahim, when able to attend school, faced frequent replacement of educational assistants for a variety of reasons, none of which had anything to do with him.

It seemed that once an EA was trained, understood Rahim’s efforts to communicate and was fully ready to provide quality support, she was bumped or she moved somewhere else. Over the period of a few years, little Rahim experienced a switch of education assistants six times. When presented with another change of EA, Rahim, unable to effectively communicate any other way, would bang his head against his wheelchair. There was a real fear he would break his neck, this behaviour was
life threatening.

I asked the mother what she steps she had already taken to try to put a stop to the frequent replacement of EAs. She stated she had discussed this with Rahim’s case manager who could not help. I urged her to write the principal a letter outlining Rahim needed a consistent EA and ideally, it should be the EA that had just been moved to another school.

The principal’s response was the contract with CUPE representing EAs took precedence over Rahim’s needs and he was unable to help. Freida moved forward appealing this decision to the assistant superintendent of the school district, who responded by saying he would speak to the union president. (The union president said later in a hearing that he did not receive a call). Eventually the assistant superintendent said he too could not help. The next stop was the superintendent. After many, many months, he responded in a similar fashion: “No.”

Our only choice was to make a formal appeal to the school trustees. Almost a full school year following the initial letter to the school principal, a formal meeting was granted with the trustees. The trustees, of course, had legal counsel in attendance along with the assistant superintendent and superintendent, both whom had already declined the appeal. The situation was described by all parties and we were sent off to wait for a decision. Several weeks later a letter from the chair of the board arrived, refusing the appeal.

Having exhausted all levels of internal appeal, Freida turned to the Human Rights Commission. After several attempts to clarify the issue with an intake worker it was agreed that this was a case worthy of investigation. School District 43, Coquitlam, and the CUPE Local 561 were named in the complaint. I contacted the Deputy Chief Commissioner’s office to alert them that this individual case might have systemic implications. Upon review, the Deputy Chief Commissioner declared this was a systemic case by enjoining on the case. This meant that any decision made by the Commission would have implications for all children in the District not only Rahim. By this time another school year was almost at a close.

Then in June 2001, a provincial election was held and a new government came into power with plans to revamp the entire system. The Human Rights Commission was disbanded and a new Human Rights Tribunal was put in its place with very different rules and processes. We were told that Rahim’s case remained on the books but we knew this would delay any investigation considerably. Indeed it did.
In March 2005, after several delays due to the change in the administrative process, a court hearing on a related matter, many meetings, proposed offers, counter offers and consultations with lawyers, the School District and the union, finally agreed on a settlement which would adequately address the issues brought forward by Rahim’s mother.

District 43 and CUPE Local 561 agreed to a new job classification that provides a minimum of 30 hours of work per week for all EA positions. Thirty hours are the maximum available hours per work week for an EA so this removes the incentive to bump or post out to a position with more hours. The new job classification for EAs who serve children who demonstrate a need for consistency will ensure that the EA will not be bumped by a more senior EA during the school year. An EA taking the position will commit to not leaving the position during the school year and the District will provide adequate training for the position. In addition, every child with special needs will be individually assessed by the School District as to their demonstrated need for a consistent EA over the course of the school year. The Union agreed that the collective agreement would not interfere with the process.

Over the last six years, Rahim’s life continued in the way expected for a child with Muscular Dystrophy. He moved from the elementary school where the appeal first began, to a middle school where his mother reported he was treated “like a prince and the red carpet was laid out”. He did well at this school. This was a relief for his family. A person with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy has a life expectancy that often does not extend into adulthood so every positive experience was
particularly precious.

Rahim’s Muscular Dystrophy progressed rapidly. He died in early March 2005, at the age of 13, two days after the School District’s offer to settle. The decision was no longer about Rahim. His mother had known this for a long time, but persisted for six years in an effort to improve the lives of other students with the need for EA consistency.

Thank you Freida for your commitment not only to your children, Rahim and Karim, but to all students with special needs, as they have a right to be treated with respect and compassion. Your courage
is exemplary.

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