Kason and Lindy
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Kason is autistic, has dyspraxia, a stutter and speech delay.
He started school just before COVID-19 hit.
‘I was worried about taking him in and out of lockdown,’ his mum Lindy told the Royal Commission. ‘So we decided to keep him at home [for a] year. It was actually amazing, it was so good.’
During this period, Lindy had some issues with the school and decided to change schools.
The new school agreed to provide supports and to allow Kason’s allied health therapists to come to the school.
When Kason returned to the classroom, Lindy noticed changes in his behaviour. He stopped sleeping through the night and always had to have a hat on. His social anxiety increased and he would chew his fingernails down to their beds.
‘My son's teacher, I don't think she understood disability at all. I think that sometimes when he was anxious or shy or he would come into himself, she just thought he was being task avoidant.’
Lindy spoke to the school and discovered they weren’t providing additional support even though they were receiving around $30,000 per year.
If Kason was having difficulties they would take him to the chicken coop.
‘And he hates chickens.’
Lindy asked if Kason could use the therapy room at school for some occupational and speech therapy, but they refused to allow therapists at the school.
Kason developed allergies and a constant cough and the school told him to stay home.
The teacher said she didn’t have the time to send schoolwork home.
After about six weeks Kason was ready to return, but Lindy didn’t want to send him back until the school agreed to provide supports and allow therapists to support him.
The school refused to make any changes.
Lindy contacted the education department. They recommended homeschooling through distant education, but Kason’s therapy team was not supportive.
Lindy attended a meeting with an advocate, the school and the department. The school agreed to provide limited support as Kason gradually returned to the classroom. They offered Kason ‘a storeroom’, because the therapy room was ‘booked out’, and insisted on meeting all his therapists. Lindy agreed even though the cost of five one-hour meetings was significant.
The next day, the school told Lindy they’d rethought the proposal. They couldn’t allow therapists and wanted Lindy to support Kason at school.
Lindy refused and asked for another meeting.
During this meeting the assistant principal told Lindy the therapy room had been contracted to an external party by the school council.
When Lindy expressed surprise, the meeting was suspended for a few moments. When it recommenced, the assistant principal said there had been a misunderstanding and the therapy room was always available for Kason to use. He also denied the school had offered a storeroom for therapy.
Lindy asked for the minutes of the previous meeting. They’d removed all negative comments about the school and misrepresented what she said.
Lindy told the school she wanted to enrol Kason in another school.
There was a Zoom meeting but Lindy, the advocate and Kason’s paediatrician were all kept on mute. ‘We all typed in the chat, "We can't unmute ourselves." And they said no, we are using a hands-up function for this meeting.’
The school pressured Lindy to approve the outstanding minutes. Lindy’s advocate told her that it was the most discriminatory meeting involving the department she had ever attended.
Lindy is at the ‘end of [her] rope’.
‘I think that teachers as well as principals need training in autism, human rights and discrimination.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.