Alaric, Hester and Zeb
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.
Alaric is in his mid-30s. He has epilepsy, intellectual disability and is deaf. He lives in a group home, uses a wheelchair for mobility and requires around-the-clock care.
Alaric is also non-verbal and communicates by ‘showing distress, crying … [and by] the occasional smile,’ said his mother Hester. All of the residents, including her son, are ‘totally dependent on others for every aspect of living’.
Over the years there has been a large turnover of staff at the home. ‘They must find the job soul-destroying,’ said Alaric’s father, Zeb.
Alaric’s parents told the Royal Commission that having a group of non-communicative residents isolated in a group home leaves them open to exploitation. ‘They’re just sitting ducks,’ said Zeb.
On a number of occasions, night staff left the house before the day staff had arrived for their shift, leaving residents alone in the house for three hours. ‘Their carers had no notion of duty of care,’ said Hester.
In another incident, a support worker physically abused Alaric, kicking him for not following instructions. Zeb pointed out that verbal instruction may not be the most appropriate form of communication for a person with profound deafness.
Zeb and Hester are both in their 70s and ‘manual handling’ is ‘getting to be difficult’. They have an electric hoist to help them move Alaric in and out of his wheelchair, but ‘it’s very awkward to manage’.
Their ‘greatest fear’ is that the NDIS is failing people with ‘severe, multiple disabilities’.
‘[What will] happen when I go, when we go,’ said Hester. ‘Who will provide for Alaric then? And I also want Alaric to have care by kind people so when we’re just too old and feeble to see him anymore, he’s being looked after.’
Zeb says the NDIS needs to change so Alaric’s parents are not being relied on to ‘administer his care’.
‘We actually need the care to be independent of us, so that when we are old and infirm, [Alaric will] be safe, primarily to be housed and well cared for whether we’re there or not, whether we’re overseeing the scheme or not.’
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.