A mother fights

“I don’t want to put my son in a home”

Sven and his mother have a very close relationship and want to continue living together.

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Michaela Schäffer from Linz has been looking after her severely disabled son for 24 years - alone. But it is becoming increasingly difficult and now the mother has to fight to be able to continue caring for her son at home.

Michael Schäffer is annoying, she is loud, she says what she thinks freely and she is uncomfortable. "But I don't see any other option," says the 57-year-old in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. Because life has not always been kind to the Linz native. Her son Sven was born 24 years ago - healthy as a pumper. In hospital, however, he was given too little to drink and this had dramatic consequences. Sven is severely mentally and physically impaired, is blind and is repeatedly afflicted by epileptic seizures. Because the sleep center in his brain is damaged, he has a disturbed day-night rhythm.

Sven is dependent on a wheelchair.

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Personal assistance
Michael Schäffer has now been looking after her son around the clock for 24 years. Alone, because the child's father quickly said goodbye and paid little or no alimony. But as if that wasn't enough, the woman from Linz has also been battling with the authorities for years. "They don't want to pay me for personal assistance. They said that I would get full care. But I don't want to put my son in a home, I want to look after him at home for as long as I can," says the Linz resident combatively.

I have the right, and this is also stated in the UN Convention on Human Rights, to look after my child myself. And I have to be allowed to do so.

Michaela Schäffer kämpft um Sven

Daycare not realistic
The state's social services department emphasizes that several offers have been made to Ms Schäffer. "Sven can also be taken into daycare," they say. However, this is not realistic for the mother. "What's he supposed to do there? He needs far too much care. What's more, he's been there before and it didn't work, he broke his shoulder there," says his mother. Because she is already at the end of her tether, she is currently pulling out all the stops, writing to all the politicians and the Ombudsman in the hope of getting what she wants. However, she also has to fight on another front. She has to stand trial for an allegedly falsified account. This is not the first trial Schäffer has had to endure. She has won all of them so far (with the exception of a statute of limitations).