Berkley
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.
Berkley is in her mid-20s and lives in a rural area. She is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Berkley told the Royal Commission she was ‘bullied every single day in primary and high school’ and ‘not one person in staff’ supported her.
Berkley was still at school when her father died, sending her into ‘one of the worst depressive episodes’ of her life. She self-harmed while at school, but teachers did nothing.
‘No-one did shit. I walked out. And nothing was ever mentioned to me … If any other person in that classroom had shed a tear, they would’ve been removed and spoken to.’
Berkley has a history of self-harming when she gets ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘can’t cope’. She said emergency services have only once treated her well.
‘I was 16 years old … I answered the door with blood dripping down my legs and my arms. My mum came out and was like, “What the fuck is this shit?” blah, blah, blah. And, the ambulance officer took her away out of the room and said, “She may do this for the rest of her life and you need to support her no matter what.”’
Berkley feels police often fail people with disability.
About three years ago, after her sister punched her, she ‘drunk a litre of vodka, had probably 200 pills’. Police ‘dragged’ her out of her car and took her to hospital.
‘When you send the police to a mental health issue, you’re going to end up with problems because the police are only there to enforce. Their training is to manhandle people. Not to treat them like fucking human beings.’
At the hospital doctors pumped her stomach and then ‘immediately discharged’ her, even though she told them she would kill herself if they did.
‘I ended up back in the ED (emergency department) four hours later. I’ve never had such a depersonalising, traumatic, abusive, neglectful situation.’
By this stage, Berkley had an NDIS plan.
‘But I was homeless and in a psychiatric unit because I didn’t know how to use it.’
‘Educating’ herself has made all the difference. Berkley is trying to self-manage her plan and hires her own support workers. Recently she fired one who would come to work for five hours, work for one, then ‘sit on her ass for the rest of the day’.
Berkley says good supports ‘take away’ some of the stress of ‘trying to cope with life’.
‘I have the knowledge. My disabilities struggle is in the activation and getting the tasks done. So, with my support workers, I’m very, very adamant that whatever they do in my life, it’s not to disable me further.’
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.