A Queensland influencer has accused a daycare of ‘discrimination’ after they said her special needs, non-verbal son was no longer welcome.
Kathryn Denny, a mummy blogger whose five-year-old son was diagnosed with level three autism, has been updating her fans via TikTok on the situation since last year.
The saga began in November when Kathryn was forced to resort to crowdfunding to pay for her son’s speech therapy, after his government disability funding was close to running out.
At the time, Kathryn was paying for her son to attend a special needs daycare from Monday to Friday, while simultaneously paying for a one-on-one carer to look after him at the facility due to the severity of his autism.
When the available funding ran down to just $5,000, Kathryn was forced to ask his daycare to reduce his time with the one-on-one carer from five days a week to three, while still remaining at the daycare from Monday to Friday.
Queensland influencer Kathryn Denny (pictured) has accused a daycare of ‘discrimination’ after they said her special needs, non-verbal son was no longer welcome
According to Kathryn, this request was denied.
In a tearful TikTok video posted on November 28, Kathryn revealed how she had exploded at the daycare owner over the phone after learning that her son was ‘no longer welcome’.
‘I said, “So because we can’t afford his daily therapy, he’s no longer welcome at the centre? I said, “Do you realise how hard it is to have him home every day?”,’ she said in a tearful TikTok video on November 28.
Kathryn claims her son had been kicked out because of his special needs, and the fact that she had previously complained about the facility on social media
‘She had the audacity to tell me I was being aggressive while I’m literally in tears, trying to make her understand,’ the blonde wept.
Kathryn managed to pull the funds together and keep her son at the daycare, but returned to TikTok in February with more complaints about the facility.
This time, the influencer claimed she’d clashed with the daycare owner because her son had been picked up an hour after his one-on-one care had ended.
According to Kathryn, the daycare had refused to allow her son to join the rest of the class when his personal carer wasn’t there.
‘We’re paying the daycare fee like every other child in that room plus $390 for one-on-one for five hours. Yet he’s not welcome at the daycare outside of those five hours?’ she fumed.
The saga took a turn when the daycare decided to simply cancel her son’s enrollment.
Kathryn claimed her son had been kicked out because of his special needs, and the fact that she had previously complained about the facility on social media.
‘He’s no longer welcome to attend the center or because I questioned why he was not allowed to be at the center when we’re paying a 10 hour daycare fee like every other kid,’ she raged.
‘He was discriminated against because of his disability and his high needs by a special needs center, and also because I expressed my experience on social media, which I’m entitled to.’
Taking the situation in her stride, Kathryn said she was ‘actually so glad’ that she no longer had to deal with the facility again.
Taking the situation in her stride, Kathryn said she was ‘actually so glad’ that she no longer had to deal with the facility again. Stock image
