Glenn and Sariah
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.
‘Our drama started … when he broke his leg quite badly at school.’
Sariah told the Royal Commission she didn’t think too much about it at the time because her son Glenn was ‘a climber’. But she was surprised that no one from the school knew how the injury occurred.
Glenn is non-verbal, has intellectual disability and is autistic. His regular teacher was away when it happened and Sariah has never been told who was teaching that day.
‘We had our suspicions but we don’t know.’
Glenn needed to use a wheelchair while his leg mended. Sariah thought this wouldn’t be an issue for his special needs school, but they ‘couldn’t cope with him’. He was home for six months.
‘I think it was easier for them,’ Sariah said.
When Glenn returned to school, Sariah immediately noticed behavioural changes. He had never been a violent child, but he was now having frequent ‘melt downs’ and lashing out.
‘He just started to lose his crap and go into a screaming mess at the drop of a hat.’
Sariah constantly rang the school telling them ‘something’s wrong, something’s not right’.
‘All I got back from school was “oh you know he’s 12 now and puberty’s here”.’
But there were no outward signs of puberty.
Then Glenn started coming home with bruises, scratches and bite marks. A parent told Sariah that Glenn was being attacked by another student. Sariah was ‘jumping up and down like mad’, asking the school why there was nothing in the communication diary.
One afternoon when he got off the bus, Glenn’s face was bleeding. Sariah said it looked like his eye had been gouged.
‘I was like what the hell happened – why is he bleeding and why didn’t I get a phone call?’
The teacher aide on the bus was upset and said, ‘I can’t talk to you. If I talk to you I’ll get fired.’
Sariah searched Glenn’s bag and found a note in the communication diary. It said Glenn was a ‘bit red on the face, don’t know why’.
Then when Glenn took his clothes off Sariah saw bleeding scratch marks down his back and bruises on each arm. She was sure these injuries couldn’t have been made by another child.
Sariah took photographs and emailed them to the acting deputy principal, who told her nobody saw what happened. But Sariah finds this hard to believe.
‘There is no way this happened to him and he was quiet. He screams the house down.’
She decided to keep Glenn home until someone could guarantee his safety.
Meanwhile the teacher who was on duty when Glenn came home bleeding came to see her. The teacher told Sariah the staff had been warned if they talked to her they’d get the sack. But she wanted Sariah to know that she hadn’t hurt Glenn.
By this stage Glenn’s anxiety was so bad he was ‘a screaming uncontrollable mess’. Sariah took Glenn to the paediatrician and showed him all the photos. He said as a mandatory reporter he would report the injuries to the child protection authority and advised her to do the same thing.
‘A couple of days later,’ Sariah said, ‘[Glenn] pulled out his penis and tried to slam it in the shower screen door’.
Thinking it might be a urinary tract infection Sariah took him to the GP who referred them to hospital. Medical staff looked over Glenn ‘from head to toe’ and asked Sariah to explain Glenn’s injuries. A nurse informed her he had to report the injuries to child protection.
By now at least four people had reported Glenn’s injuries to the child protection authority, yet no one contacted Sariah. A counsellor told Sariah if the injuries had happened at home she would have been charged by police.
When a new principal started and the suspected teacher left, Glenn slowly returned to school.
Then unexpectedly Sariah received a phone call from an investigator in the education department. Sariah asked if it was about the broken leg or the other injuries. The investigator had no idea what Sariah was talking about.
‘She knew none of it … It’s like nobody cared about what happened.’
The investigation came to nothing.
‘They don’t have enough evidence to go anywhere and that’s just the end of it ... We’re just expected to carry on like nothing has ever happened.’
Glenn, not yet a teenager, is still suffering. Sariah says he has regressed.
‘His anxiety’s through the roof, he’s scared … and lashes out at people.’
‘To do this to him and make him cope … as a parent it’s heartbreaking.’
Sariah would like to see cameras in the classroom to protect the non-verbal students.
‘I don’t trust [Glenn] with anybody anymore.’
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.