A mum says she has pulled her son out of school after he was made to drink tap water. Marie Donnelly's son Larsson Hankins has autism, and only drinks juice or Evian bottled water.
The incident arose after Bude Park Primary School in Hull put in place a new policy which only permits pupils to drink tap water from reusable bottles, which the school provides. However due to his autism, Larsson is very particular about what he does and does not like, his mum claims, and ignoring this can cause a lot of distress.
Marie claims Larsson was approached by a member of staff who had noticed that he was not drinking from his school bottle. She says the staff member then took him to "play a game" and told him that he "had to have a drink" because they had spoken with his mother and that she was "concerned", HullLive reports.
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However, Marie has claimed that this conversation did not take place. After this, she says Larsson was given two cups of water and asked to determine which was tap water and which was bottled water.
Larsson was not initially told that both of the cups actually contained tap water. After tasting them both and confirming that he did not know which was which, he was told that they were both tap water, the mum explained.
Marie said: "As Larsson is autistic, he struggles socially and for him to be alone in a room with a staff member he doesn't know well and to be pressured into having to drink water will have caused him a lot of stress. He told me he cried when he got back to class and he cried again when he got home."
Marie also claims that when Larsson's dad went into school afterwards, he was told 'autistic kids drink water', to which he replied, "well, this one doesn't". Marie has since taken Larsson out of Bude Park Primary School and is looking for a new school for her son.
She said: "School life is already hard for Larsson, so I don't like that they're making things harder for him, especially the way he was spoken to. I'll do whatever I have to do to make him happy and make school less stressful for him."
In response to the claims, Bude Park Primary School said: "Staff and governors of the school are committed to safeguarding and promoting the health and welfare of its children. This year, the school purchased water bottles for all of its pupils. These bottles are kept in school and ensures that all children have access to plenty of safe drinking water throughout the school day.
"The school prides itself on being inclusive and endeavours to support every child regardless of their level of need. The school has accommodated pupils who have found the transition to water-only more difficult and will continue to work with parents and pupils to ensure that all children are appropriately supported to make healthy choices.
"Whilst this initiative has been widely supported, the school encourages those parents who have concerns to raise these with the headteacher and/or via the school’s complaints policy."
