Aisling
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.
Aisling, 30s, has intermittent deafblindness.
‘Things in my world would fuzz, move, disappear, have patterns,’ Aisling told the Royal Commission. ‘There was no name for it when I was a kid, so education was extremely difficult.’
Aisling couldn’t keep up with the class and did practically no work. Students bullied her and teachers called her ‘dumb’.
‘If you think I'm dumb, you're not actually going to teach me. You're not going to teach me any more than what you think I'm capable of, which is a problem in itself.’
Except for a reader and writer at exam time, no-one supported her.
‘I constantly failed.’
At 17, Aisling had a reading age of a 12-year-old, but the school thought that was enough for her to get a job.
Aisling went to university but said it was a nightmare. She couldn’t access support during the semester, only at exam time.
When Aisling asked for more support her teacher told her she could go to another campus. But Aisling couldn’t drive and had no way to get there.
‘It's this constant thing with education, having to educate people but then really not being heard.’
Aisling is currently studying at TAFE and is still not well supported.
‘Even getting into that TAFE building there's practically no walking spaces safe anymore. There's more and more shared spaces. It doesn't feel like a shared space because you're forever having to negotiate with people who don't even look for your cane at all. They don't look for the cane, they don’t look for the wheelchair, they don't look for anything like that.’
Aisling says the NDIS is a constant battle. Staff don’t understand deafblindness and don’t understand her needs. She has to continually negotiate the technology and supports she needs.
‘I find it insulting because I have to explain myself all the time.’
Aisling also finds Centrelink difficult to navigate.
She requested assistance to fill out a form, but she never received it and staff made excuses about why they couldn’t help her.
Aisling has only ever been able to secure low paid jobs because she doesn’t have the support she needs.
‘One of the biggest gaps for people with disabilities is that no-one is really thinking about you when you leave school. I can't have a reader and a writer at a job. No-one will hire me if I need a reader and writer at a job.’
Aisling has tried to volunteer but it is ‘practically impossible’ because she doesn’t drive and IT systems are not accessible.
‘I'm not really made for this world pretty much. It's frustrating too because I'm not a person who sits in the corner and does nothing … But it's quite difficult. I don't fit in anywhere.’
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.