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Research shows that neurodivergent children, particularly those with autism, are disproportionately vulnerable, with school distress up to 46 times more likely in this group. Parents describe the cruelty of being told that they must either force their child into an environment that is destroying them or face fines, prosecution or even imprisonment. These blunt measures create not only stress and poverty for families but also stigma, fear and a breakdown of trust between authorities and parents. We have testimony of children carried kicking and screaming to classrooms, restrained at school entrances, bullied to the point of depression or subjected to neglect so grave that they feared they might die. Such stories make it abundantly clear that punitive enforcement does not safeguard; it compounds trauma, disrupts education and fractures families.