Moscow school allegedly recalls class photo album to remove pictures of girl with Down syndrome

An elementary school in Moscow has recalled a school photo album, after parents complained about the presence of a 7-year-old girl with Down syndrome in some of the pictures, according to Olga Sinyaeva, the mother of one of the school's students.

Sinyaeva says the girl in question, Masha, is the daughter of a teacher at the school. Dealing with an apparent lack of child care, the teacher brings Masha to her classes, where she sits on the floor and "doesn't bother anyone," Sinyaeva writes on Facebook.

According to Sinyaeva, the school's parents were asked on October 20 to return a new glossy photo album for reprints. The reason for the recall, she says, is that other parents demanded Masha be removed from the book. "Masha practically lives in that classroom; she tries to talk to the other kids; and she's kind and helpless, but the children run from her like the Devil from holy water," Sinyaeva says.

Sinyaeva also posted a photograph of an instant-message conversation that she says is proves that the photo albums are being redone to remove pictures of Masha.

This incident with Masha at the Moscow school marks the third recent scandal in Russia involving intolerance of disabled persons. Last week in Krasnoyarsk, locals hit the streets with leaflets, trying to stop a center for disabled children from building a ramp in a high-rise residential building. The center's opponents complain that the ramp takes up parking space and invites "unpleasant neighbors."

In August, a cafe in Nizhny Novgorod ejected a 27-year-old woman diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy. The woman turned out to be the sister of the world-famous Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova.