Indira
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.
Indira is in her 40s and mum to six children. She is autistic and lives with mental health issues.
‘My father attempted drowning me in the bath when I was three years of age,’ she told the Royal Commission. ‘The origins and the grassroots of what's happening to me today began then.’
When Indira’s mother left her abusive husband, she and her siblings were left in the care of her paternal grandparents. Indira said they abused her so she would ‘stay silent’.
‘So that I wouldn't bring shame upon the family. As a young girl who had autism, already largely non-verbal at that time, living with non-English speaking grandparents was a great adversity against me.’
At school, Indira fell through the cracks because educational supports ‘were centred around little boys’. As a teenager, she was labelled ‘oppositional, delinquent and defiant’.
Indira was diagnosed with Asperger’s as an adult but said she was not provided with any disability support. She spent years being ‘disbelieved and victimised by systems’ when seeking medical assistance.
‘I was locked in a psychiatric institution because I had an untreated disability, and I was forced to take medication that made me very, very sick. It actually made me suicidal.’
Indira struggled to get disability funding and felt there ‘was nowhere to get help’. It was a ‘dehumanising feeling’ to be told she ‘wasn’t disabled enough to need supports’.
‘These gaps allow government services to make up their own minds and rules on what autism spectrum is and to refuse, deny and withhold supports.’
Indira feels discriminated against by employers.
‘I have an extensive education behind me. No-one will give me a chance in employing me because of my disability.’
Today she receives NDIS funding ‘on the grounds of very substantial support needs’.
‘I have all the support I need now, but it happened a little too late.’
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.