Andrés measures almost 1.80 and weighs more than 100 kilos. With this corpulence it is hard to think that I am 12 years old. With only two, he was detected with severe autism and from a very early age he received therapeutic attention at the Autismo Córdoba association and the Infant-Youth Mental Health Unit (USMIJ) of the Reina Sofía Hospital in Córdoba. The detection of epilepsy has further aggravated the effects of autism to make day-to-day life unsustainable with your family. Andrés experiences numerous attacks of aggression in the face of his own frustrations, a behavior that endangers both his health and physical integrity and that of those around him. Therefore, his parents -Andrés and María- have asked the Andalusian Government for their urgent entry into a center or the adaptation of one of the existing places to the needs of their son.

Supported by the Autismo Córdoba association, the parents of the child have decided to tell the journey they have been living since last June, when their son's doctors prescribed a hospital admission as a matter of urgency. At that time, the Mental Health Service of Córdoba initiated the relevant protocols to find a center in which to treat Andrés. The disappointment came weeks later, when both doctors and parents found the harsh reality: there is not a single residential place for mentally ill minors in Andalusia.

Already at that time, Andrés took 12 pills daily to which rescue and emergency medicines have to be added, the latter to face the crises that arise in his day to day. One of the medications he consumes is seriously affecting his metabolism, which has led him to gain up to 20 kilos in the last seven months. The daily routine during the week allows Andrés to be more controlled, although on weekends or any minimal change that may occur around him "has a serious detrimental effect on his behavior," says Andrés.

No public resources

Due to the absence of public resources to attend to their child, the parents learned of the existence of the Dulce Nombre Psychopedagogical Institute, in Malaga, a private-concerted institution that they did not hesitate to visit since it is the only one that can treat their child son. The admission of minors can be made in this center under the prescription of the Andalusian Health Service, a requirement that Andrés met since his doctors advised a six-month internment . At first, parents have counted, the center accepted their son's admission. In fact, they visited the facilities. "We left there very happy because as hard as the situation is, we knew that our son would be fine in this center," said the parent. They even saw their house reflected in this building, with the walls protected against shocks, for example. Andrés was the first on the waiting list and his entry would be made at the end of the year.

However, ten days after the visit, the USMIJ of the Reina Sofía Hospital informed the parents that the center did not finally accept their son. "We do not know the reasons. At first everything was correct and, as we are told, after reading the file well, this center does not have the resources Andrés needs," said his father.

After this refusal they asked the Andalusian Government for the shared guardianship -second way to enter this center-, which was denied since Andrés "is very well cared for by his parents," the Andalusian government wielded. It has been the child's parents who have reported several episodes that have lived with their son. In one of them, his mother and his three-year-old sister had to take refuge in the bathroom until Andrés overcame one of the many aggressive crises he suffers every week.

There has been no institution with which Andres and Maria have not met. Last February 5 was the last meeting they had with the delegate of Health and Families of the Board in Córdoba, María Jesús Botella, and the delegate of Education in Córdoba of the Andalusian Government, Immaculate Troncoso. The hopes of these parents were truncated again when the first sentence they heard was "What do you want us to do?" "There was no proposal on the table. They told us that they had read our son's file but that there are no resources," explained these parents to whom, even, he was raised the option, "in a subtle way", to denounce to the little one. "That is something we will never do because he is the only victim," said Andres, bluntly.

Options

Another option they heard was to enter their son in a residential school , rejected fully after contacting an entity of this caliber. "They told us clearly that our son could enter but that after two days we were going to have to go to pick him up because, in addition to having no resources, they only have one adult for 15 children," Andres argued.

The case of Andrés has transcended the political instances and both the board of persons with disabilities of the Board, Fernando Santos Urbaneja, and the Ombudsman for Minors are aware of the serious situation facing the minor and his family. For all this, the family has made a double appeal . First, to the Board, to create a place for your child or adapt an existing one to your needs. Second, to any public or private institution that can offer the resources it has available and that are consistent with Andrés. "We must not forget that it is a 12-year-old child, a mentally ill person who is suffering every day and that this lack of resources prevents him from achieving emotional stability and the happiness that any child deserves," conclude the parents who have begun to collect signatures through the change.org platform.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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