Nathan*, who has autism and mobility problems, was five years old when his teachers started to notice injuries on his body.
Despite the fact such injuries were spotted throughout his primary school life, it was not until he was 11 that a child protection referral was eventually made. It was also wrongly assumed his injuries were self-inflicted, the serious case review found.
A failure of teachers, social workers and those in health to accept anyone could abuse a disabled child was a major factor in their inability to protect him.
Another was his communication difficulties, which meant he could not tell anyone about the abuse.
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