Bria and Odette
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.
‘She was totally mistreated at school. She was mistreated in the way she was labelled. She was neglected. And I think there was a lot of victim-blaming. Blaming her and blaming us as parents. It is still happening.’
Odette’s daughter, Bria, is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ‘extreme anxiety’.
Odette told the Royal Commission that problems with Bria’s schooling began at her early learning centre.
‘The director called me into her office and was quite angry and frustrated. And she had a list of complaints … Her first complaint was that [Bria] was too active, which I thought was part of a two-year-old's job description.’
The teacher also said that Bria had ‘no empathy’ and ‘acted via stealth’.
‘Which I think is disgusting. But they complained that she would slip away … and let herself into the building and go into rooms that she wasn't allowed to be in. She would then run around and lock all the doors so the staff couldn't get in.’
At preschool, ‘things didn’t improve’. Again, the principal and teachers called out Bria’s behaviour.
‘And it seems that her four years there were spent with her hiding under desks in the classroom, in the reading corner, running away … Or she was in the principal's office. And she was labelled as a naughty child and a badly-behaved child … Now to me, that's a problem on their end.’
Bria switched schools for year 3 after being formally diagnosed with ADHD. The ‘flags immediately went up’, Odette said, when staff contacted her, concerned about ‘a number of issues'.
The school psychologist did an assessment of Bria.
‘It was like a whole lot of hand grenades going off through this report, because she was complaining about her behaviour again, saying that she “was really difficult” … I was really upset and distressed and very angry, because I felt from a school psychologist it was a series of attacks on [Bria].’
Soon after, Bria ‘got the diagnosis for level 2 autism’, and also dyscalculia and dysgraphia.
‘The childcare centre and primary school didn't pick up that the reason she couldn't hand write or whatever is she's got a problem.’
Bria is now in year 6.
‘And her teachers are great but we know she struggles.’
Odette said the fight will never be up to ensure Bria gets ‘the most basic support’.
‘I know that my child, who is disadvantaged because of her disabilities, I'm putting her into a broken system that is not going to be able to support her, and I'm gonna have to pick up the slack.’
Promises of an 'inclusive learning department', including a sensory room with support from a dedicated teacher, have already been whittled away.
‘I feel like I'm looking down the barrel of the next six years of having to fight.’
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.