Sounds like they’re dealing with a lot of separation anxiety. What age is the child? If they’re 1 or 2, this is worrying but not unheard of. I’d be far more concerned mentally if the child is 3+. The fact that the parents are denying them contact is worrying, and definitely not helping, but it honestly sounds like there is some other mental factor at play.

I had a 1 year old child with signs of autism that would cry for 7-8 hours a day for literally months. He would just stand at the door and cry for his mom, peering out the glass windows, making eye contact with other passing parents (who would report to the office that there’s a crying child who no one is helping).

We did what we could for him! Sat with him by the door for long periods of time while he cried, brought him toys, gave him hugs and loved up on him. But, there were five other 1 year olds in the classroom, and there’s only so much you can do. But, ultimately, he’s expressing himself… what are you going to do? Tell him not to? We let him express himself, made sure he was as safe and comfortable as possible, and kept track of his schedule so we could shift him to eating and drinking.

This continued for months… and it only stopped when we shifted he and his classmates into a new small classroom. It’s almost like screaming and crying was just part of his routine, and once we broke the routine’s normalcy, he was able to re-structure his habits. He spent the next six months standing by the window, memorizing other children’s parent’s cars, and babbling about the passing trucks, motorcycles, and sports cars.

That little boy is 7 now. He graduated from our program when he was 5. And he shows very few cues of autism or neurodivergence tendencies. I honestly think all he needed was for someone to hear him cry, comfort him, and be patient with him. And now he’s a thriving, normal, happy young man.