Marika
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Marika, 40, is autistic and has several children who are autistic. She is a registered nurse.
‘My autistic attention to detail and my ADHD ability to think at 3,000 miles an hour kept a lot of people alive.’
But Marika said she’s struggled to help her children overcome discrimination at school.
When her eldest son started pre-school a few years ago he was well-supported.
‘Look he was hard work, don't get me wrong. … but once we finally got the occupational therapy and the support into the school, he thrived. He really, really thrived. And so when my [other children] started primary school there was already the relationship there … and we were very happy there.’
When her family moved to a regional primary school, the COVID-19 pandemic started and he received fewer supports. When she asked for better support the principal ‘started to get a bit nasty’.
‘[He rang] and said, “You know your kids aren't that special [Marika]. Other people just get on with it or just accept that their kids aren't going to get anywhere.” And I was really quite shocked.’
Marika says she felt like the primary school used COVID-19 as an excuse to not appropriately support her children.
‘I would get phone calls left on my phone saying that my boys were being very naughty, being very defiant. My [son] would come home and have four-hour meltdowns every single night. I would ring the principal and say, “Look something's wrong. Things aren't being met. I don't know what's going on. Can we please get an [occupation therapist] OT, a speech therapist in?”’
The school provided poorly trained teacher aides.
‘None of these school aides had any qualifications in anything nor was there an appetite to give them skills to deal with some of the behaviours. So I would walk onto this school ground and I could see very dysregulated children.’
One day, a member of the school staff told Marika her children should be in a special school.
‘I said, “That's impossible … They don't have an intellectual disability.” And he's like, “Well I'm sick to death of families like you.”’
Marika told the Royal Commission her family’s mental health has suffered from the lack of support.
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.