Boyd and Dorothea
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.
Boyd, a First Nations child, is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He recently started primary school.
‘[Boyd's] incredibly intelligent,’ his foster mum Dorothea told the Royal Commission. ‘He's very good with mathematics. He is a very good reader … He's a great runner. He'll tell you he's the fastest runner in the world and he's aiming to be faster than Cathy Freeman.’
Boyd’s been living with Dorothea since he was a few months old.
‘There was a lot of planning that went into choosing and selecting the most appropriate schooling for [Boyd]. However, when we started school we ran into issues immediately.’
Dorothea said the school ignored Boyd’s behaviour and learning support plans.
‘We were constantly called to pick him up at either recess or lunchtime. In that time we were having behaviours where he would abscond from school. They weren't focusing on, I guess, strategies that we were trying to implement.’
Instead the school developed its own plans.
‘They were trying to implement a behaviour support plan that worked for the vice principal rather than one that worked for the child … They were saying … that he could control the behaviours of concern if he would just listen.’
Dorothea said the school ‘worked quite tirelessly’ to exclude Boyd’s support team, including child protection. When Boyd’s behaviour deteriorated, one staff member wanted to change Boyd’s medication ‘to fit in with schooling’.
When Dorothea suggested a sensory space for Boyd, the school put him in a locked room with toys. One day she arrived at school to find him sweeping concrete while the other kids were playing sport.
‘He was completely unaware that the children were participating in sports activities, and he's a kid that loves sports activities.’
Dorothea said the school often sent him to the library alone to play computer games because it ‘didn't want him to interact with other children’. When the other children went to the library to borrow books, his teacher assumed Boyd wouldn’t be interested and didn’t include him. Dorothea insisted he be included.
‘He came home absolutely ecstatic going, “I went to the library and they actually have library books.” And he didn't realise … that you could actually borrow books from the library. He was just thinking that he went to library for Minecraft.’
One day Boyd told her he shouldn’t be playing with other kids because he was naughty.
‘You shouldn't love me because I'm the naughtiest kid in the school,’ he told Dorothea.
‘And I'm like, “No. Where are you hearing that? That's not true and we love you very much.”’
Eventually, Dorothea persuaded the school to include Boyd’s support team in its behaviour and learning plans.
‘We've actually done quite an amazing job to get him to where he is at the moment. He's not absconding from school anymore at all … He's building meaningful relationships with both his aides and children.’
But Dorothea said the school still treats First Nations foster children with disability differently to other children with disability.
‘We have seen other kids in that school with disabilities who have been handed everything. You know there's been amazing things done with a deaf child who has severe disabilities … but then I've seen another [First Nations] child [with disability] who has been told he can't use the disability toilet.’
Dorothea said there are still teachers who believe autistic and ADHD kids are ‘just naughty’.
‘The attitude … [is] really hard to shift without ongoing, formal education and training. It can't just be a once-off. It needs to be ongoing, especially for I think the older generation.’
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.