Alisa
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.
Alisa is vision impaired. She works in the community service sector and is a university-trained massage therapist.
‘They talk about equal opportunity in education and whatever for a person with a disability, but unfortunately I have not found that to be so in Australia,’ Alisa told the Royal Commission.
Alisa lost her sight when she was seven and learned braille before going to a mainstream high school. Her first job was answering phones in a government department.
‘When I decided that I'd like to do some study, to work my way out of answering phones and stuff like that, I thought I would go along the lines of therapy.’
To be a massage therapist, she needed to study anatomy and physiology. Alisa enrolled in a university arts degree and later tried to switch to science.
‘The definite answer was, "No, there's no way." … The reason they gave, and I still cannot believe their mentality … If I were to do group work, like looking down a microscope, the other students would suffer, at my expense kind of thing.’
Instead, Alisa travelled overseas with her guide dog to study anatomy at a foreign university.
‘They said, "Oh we've never done this before, but tell us how you want us to do it.” … I had access to the skeletons. …We had a hands-on session and this was a regular thing, which worked out really well.’
When Alisa graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education and athletic therapy, her university hired her as a therapist for its swim team. She travelled with them to international competitions.
‘So that was really nice and, once again, we just discussed it, how we'd go about [making it work].’
She returned to Australia as a qualified massage therapist. A decade ago, after getting married, she enrolled in a community service course to broaden her skills. ‘The coursework was not a problem’, but Alisa said the institution’s vocational placement officer struggled to find an organisation willing to give her work experience.
‘All the other students seem to be getting placements and getting all the details where they were to go and blah blah blah. So we're thinking, "What's happening here?" So we kept on making enquiries and they'd say, "Oh no, we're still looking”.’
Alisa is now employed in the community services sector. She recently learned of a student using a wheelchair struggling to find a placement to complete his tertiary education course.
‘[My husband] and I said to ourselves "I can't believe this is still happening" … this attitude of, “Oh they have a disability, there's no way they'll succeed, or if they do there's no way they'll get employment in that area”, so we were just absolutely shocked to hear that it's still going on.’
Alisa said some tertiary education institutions and disability service organisations appear to be discriminating against people with disability.
‘That's why I have come to this Disability Royal Commission, just to lay out on the line, the struggles we’ve had in order to [complete my] studies, and so that this inquiry might open it up to improve it for those who are coming on behind us with a disability.’
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.