Page 5 of 30 proposals concerning a care order. I have also taken note of the children’s medical files. On 10 September 1980, Kerstin Lindsten, welfare officer at the school for retarded children, provided certain information by telephone concerning Stefan. It appears from the medical file that at the age of four months Stefan was admitted to the Gothenburg children’s hospital for assessment of his development and already at that stage he was found to be considerably retarded. At the age of six months he was retarded by two months. During a new test at the age of three years he was found to be at the developmental level of a 15 to 20 month old child. The psychologist Barbro Wikman considered him at that time to be passive, afraid and cautious. He was withdrawn and was most significantly retarded as regards his linguistic development. He was considered to be in great need of stimulation and the psychologist questioned whether there were sufficient opportunities for this in his home environment. He could not feed himself, could not run properly and he was not accustomed to playing with other children. According to the file, the parents were ‘not interested in taking him to a special play-centre’. On 4 May 1976, it was noted that he never had cooked food, could not construct sentences, did not play outside, cried easily, could feed himself but did it rarely, and seemed pale and lethargic. Stefan now attends the third year in a school for the retarded. It appears that he is one of the weakest pupils. At the beginning of his time at this school, the home conditions appeared to be acceptable since the family had a home-therapist. Subsequently, however, there were alarming reports that Stefan ran around outside and was often taken care of by the police. He could not control his urine and bowels, was teased by his friends because he smelled badly, and he was even undressed by them, according to the school welfare officer Kerstin Lindsten. Food problems have also occurred, according to the school nurse. Stefan mostly ate only sandwiches. The boy is short-sighted and needs to wear glasses, but he does not do so. Since the parents have also had difficulties in supervising and caring for Stefan, different ways of placing him have been discussed. A placement in an educational home appeared to be a good solution, but the parents withdrew at the last moment. Placement in a foster home has also been proposed, but the father reacted with depressive symptoms and kept the boy at home and away from school. During a medical assessment on 10 September 1980 Stefan gave the impression of being very retarded in his development but, in addition, he was cut off in his personal contacts, did not hear questions, did not treat play material in an adequate manner and seemed to have a limited concentration and attention span. His behaviour was clumsy. He could not write his own name and, when drawing with a pencil, he folded the paper at an angle of 90o. He did not wear his glasses. During a development assessment in her home on 25 March 1980, carried out by Helena Fagerberg-Moss, Helena Olsson attained a level comparable to that expected of her age. During a visit to the children’s welfare clinic, however, Helena was considered passive, looked afraid and had an undeveloped use of language. She has been going to a clinic since September 1979 for stomach problems, but this has not led to any measure being taken. During an assessment on 10 September 1980 she was shy when there were several persons in the same room, did not say anything and behaved as a mother towards Thomas, giving him toys and embracing him now and then. The same behaviour has been noted at the children’s home. Thomas’ development has been assessed on 5 October 1979 and 11 September 1980 by Helena Fagerberg-Moss. During the first assessment he was somewhat below the level of development which was expected and was also somewhat passive and withdrawn in his contacts. During the second assessment he was seriously quiet, cautious and his face was without expression. His development was four to six months behind. His language (at the age of 20 months) corresponded to a degree of development of a six to eight month old child. He became clearly stimulated by play and test material and seemed to have development potential. He gave a clear impression that he had not received sufficient stimulation at home. In the medical file it has been noted in August 1979 that the mother’s way of feeding Thomas was clearly abnormal. She held the feeding bottle at a distance and, even after having been asked to pick him up, there was no natural close contact. At the children’s home it has been observed that the father still treats Thomas as a baby. In summary, Stefan, Helena and Thomas are three children whose parents have been registered as being retarded. The father has retired early. In addition, the parents’ inter-relations are bad. They have separated for a long period and are now separated again. The family has moved four times in two and a half years. Stefan and Thomas show clear signs of backwardness, probably of different origins. Furthermore, there is a lack of care for the children on the part of the parents, and the children’s behaviour is disturbed. Stefan has had enuresis and encopresis, feeding difficulties, social difficulties with other children and has shown vagrancy tendencies. His special need of clean clothes, glasses (he is myopic), and extra care and stimulation because of his backwardness, has not been met by his parents. The linguistic development of all the children is retarded. Such backwardness is the most frequent sign of under-stimulation. Helena, who is of average intelligence, is inclined to take too great a responsibility for her brother Thomas. Thomas has not had any opportunity of adequate training either physically or psychologically. Since measures taken up to now in the form of a home-therapist, day-care nursery-home placement, supervision, etc. have not improved the situation, we recommend that Stefan, Helena and Thomas be taken into care and be given foster homes." http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/viewhbkm.asp?sessionId=60525252&skin=hudoc-en&a... 10/13/2010