When Stephen and Josienne Abela saw their son Teo born with Down syndrome, doctors told them that, like all other babies with his condition, he had a greater chance of being diagnosed with another severe condition.

Little did they know that he would be diagnosed with the worst form of other diseases and conditions and that he was often close to death... and that is before they were wrongly accused of harming their son.

Upon birth, doctors discovered that Teo had two holes in his heart and was in critical condition. His parents rushed him to surgery in the UK and eventually returned to Malta, only to find out that he was suffering from cataracts in both his eyes.

He underwent surgery again in his eyeball lenses but completely and permanently lost sight in one of his eyes.

A year later, Teo was diagnosed with leukaemia and spent a year fighting for his life in hospital.

His parents say he miraculously survived it but his immune system was lowered drastically, making Teo extremely vulnerable and prone to other diseases.

Consequently, during every winter that followed, he would catch colds that would force him back into hospital fighting for his life again.

On top of that, Teo is severely autistic. He throws frequent tantrums and, at times, hurts himself in the process.

“His condition is unbelievable. Not only was he destined to get almost all the other diseases and conditions but he got the worst form of each one of them,” Stephen told Times of Malta.

“It is a miracle that he is still alive.”

Stephen is an engineer by profession and his wife, Josienne, an assistant head at a school. For them, life is even more challenging because they have another child, a daughter, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

To top it all off, a few months ago, the couple was informed that the authorities were investigating them after they received a report that they might be beating or physically abusing Teo.

“It seems that one of his therapists noticed he had a lot of scratch marks from the tantrums and thought we were abusing him,” Stephen said.

“And, just like that, we received a call that we were being investigated over an allegation that we were beating our son.

“It was heart-breaking,” he added.

The couple’s friends started receiving inquisitive telephone calls from the authorities asking them about the couple’s behaviour.

“Our friends and colleagues know us well... they know we would never hurt our son after all we did to save his life several times,” Stephen said.

“But it was still humiliating to know that they were receiving those calls about us.”

A few weeks ago, much to their relief, the couple received a call informing them that the investigation had cleared them of the allegations.

“I wouldn’t say we were worried because we knew we did nothing wrong. But to know we were being investigated made life more uncomfortable,” Stephen said.

“I also would have liked the authorities to contact all the other people they called about us and let them know we were cleared so that they rest assured we are innocent.”

This does not mean, however, that the person who suspected maltreatment on Teo was acting out of spite or incompetence. Maltese law compels professionals in childcare with mandatory reporting.

The law obliges them to report knowledge or strong suspicions of child maltreatment. Failure to do so could make them face up to nine months in prison and a maximum €5,000 fine.

Teo turned 11 this year and his parents look forward to help him live and grow as normally as possible.

“Our children changed our lives completely,” Stephen said.

“We never dream about trips abroad or buying a new car, for example. We wake up every day fighting to keep our son alive. Everything else is meaningless. And it was also a financial struggle  because we would not always get state-sponsored therapy.

“We were told they would not provide Teo with therapy for autism because he has Down syndrome and when we sought therapy for Down syndrome, we were told it cannot be provided either because he is autistic.

“Consequently, we had to pay for most of the therapy.”

 

The Primary and Special Unit school that brings about change

Stephen and Josienne Abela now live in Gozo, where Teo has enrolled in the Primary and Special Unit school in Sannat.

It caters specifically for children with learning difficulties while allowing them to continue their education with their peers who do not struggle with the same challenges.

“He is a changed boy. After having faced all those adversities, we never imagined Teo would be able to go to school normally, interact with other students and have fun,” his father said.

“He wakes up genuinely excited to go to school and that gives us a lot of hope because we see a future for him.”

School head Pauline Grech said the facility is striving to become an educational centre of excellence for children with learning disabilities, not only through investment in cutting-edge equipment but in recruiting competent professionals towards a vision where children can study and live together in a dignified environment of acceptance.

“Secondary schools on the island report that our students are some of the most welcoming and accepting of all the other students when they leave here.

“And we believe that is because they learn to live with students with different abilities since their early childhood,” Grech said.

Teo may be a rare case on the more severe end of the spectrum but the school caters mostly for students with milder learning difficulties.

Monica Portelli was hesitant to enrol her autistic son Mikhail in the school.

He has a milder form of autism and she feared the environment would stifle his development.

“Now that he’s there, I wish I had done it before,” she said.

“They know everything you need to know to take care of these children.

“There’s not even one wasted minute  and it’s nice to know that there are a lot of professionals in the educational field who are doing a very good job.”