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| AYN, today, 18 mo older than when she left |
Amie Van Dyk is mom to Ayn, the ten-year-old girl who has
been in foster care since June 2011. Amie and her ex-husband Derek Hoare, have
agreed that he should be the primary caregiver for their three children, who
include two sons, older than Ayn. Derek has had custody and care of the trio
since the parents’ marriage dissolved, at least that’s all the marital details
any of us casual readers need to know. What is of importance to us if we care
to understand the dynamic of this situation is that two of three children are
autistic. One of them is Ayn. As it pertains to visitation with the children
and other arrangements concerning them, Aime and Derek have a sensible
relationship and understanding.
It was during the summer of 2011 that Ayn was playing in the
back yard of the home in which Derek and the three siblings lived, that Ayn
wandered off. Ayn is a lovely girl, playful, affectionate, and in some regards
challenging. Derek who learned how to communicate tranquilly with her, always
met the challenges capably. But a healthy father-daughter relationship does not
eliminate a child’s curiosity, and on a June afternoon, Ayn decided to explore
the neighbourhood. When Derek noticed
that she had scaled the high fence and left the fairly secure yard, he searched
and couldn’t find her. Anxious about this, he called for police assistance, and
three hours later Ayn was located in a neighbour’s yard just a couple of homes
away. The reunion was joyful but also short-lived. Within a couple of days,
MCFD showed up as two social workers with a voluntary surrender of custody form
that Derek could sign, or they would simply remove the child without his
permission. MCFD conducted that seizure at Ayn’s school one day.
Initial observation of the
girl’s treatment following that removal, was then, and is now questionable to
many, appalling to others. For some weeks the child carried a photo of her
daddy, wanting him, missing him, wondering where he was and when he would come
for her. And in the early weeks she was given medications, anti-psychotic
drugs, a host of them was Derek’s informed allegation. Professionals may handle
the aggressive episodes of an autistic girl that way. A loving parent
predisposed to non-doping but rather communicative interventions, did not.
That’s a brief history of the basic information. A volume of emotions goes
along with the history.
