Wow. I thought I would take a moment to address the previous comments after my previous post.
My daughter and I absolutely value honesty and constructive feedback, it’s one of the reasons we appreciated and stayed with BTA over the years and it hasnt been all bad, my daughter had many happy years.
However, there is a clear difference between offering professional guidance and shutting someone down after I simply educated Matthew about my daughter’s disabilities. I provided evidence that I had notified BTA from the start that my daughter is a type 1 diabetic, and later shared proof of her ADHD diagnosis as he stated I did not notify them and therefore she would not insured if anything was to happen.
That crosses a line. Dismissing a parent for clarifying essential disability information especially after Matthew claimed she is “not disabled” is not “honesty”, it is unacceptable. If growth is truly the goal, then respecting and listening to the information we provide, particularly regarding disabilities, must be part of that commitment and properly documented.
With respect, the portrayal of BTA as consistently nurturing and safeguarding does not reflect our experience. Despite claims that all students are protected, my disabled child was mistreated by certain creatives in positions of power during a very vulnerable time in her life (her mother being diagnosed with cancer).
Communication from safeguarding staff was nonexistent, and the support described was simply not provided to us. While some staff and parents may act diligently, my experience demonstrates that the safety and well-being of all students were not consistently upheld.
Despite the mistreatment she faced, my daughter still delivered an amazing performance. Yet being denied the opportunity to participate in other promised shows, despite doing nothing wrong in tech this was completely disgraceful. Making a child with ADHD sit in Bob Hope Theatre in tech for six hours (in silent and in hope that she could still do the other shows, if she was on her best behaviour) watching someone else perform her role, and the creative (katy) knowing full well she would not be allowing her to take part in the other shows, was nothing short of cruel. If she wasnt that good why did BTA have her on their tiktok account for so long, getting over 15k likes shows how amazing she really was and when I made a comment to ask them to remove her tiktok after what they did. BTA deleted and block me. AGAIN DISGRACEFUL!
After four years at the academy, multiple main roles, and countless hours of commitment, I expected far better. Instead, Matthew who barely knows my child and has no understanding of her circumstances treated us with complete disrespect. This is not just my experience, I have heard similar accounts from several parents over the years who ultimately left BTA because of being unfairly treated. If any parent doubts what I’ve shared, I have documented emails clearly showing how my child and I were mistreated and happy to share.
Now I am done wasting my time on this. Being ill has taught me that life is far too short to give energy to cruel, vile people. And through this experience, I have also shown my daughter that not everyone in positions of authority will treat you with fairness or respect, no matter how hard you try to impress or go above and beyond to help them.
Finally its truly funny how many comments appeared after mine, clearly prompted and for anyone who wishes to come at me for speaking my truth. Tell someone who cares. Have a wonderful night.