Carole and Clint
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.
Clint didn’t know his daughter, Carole, was autistic until she started primary school.
‘At the time we had no idea. You know, we knew very little about the wide spectrum of autism,’ Clint told the Royal Commission.
When Carole was a toddler and struggled to make friends, a childcare worker told Clint to take her to a child psychologist. Clint said they turned out to be ‘a total quack’.
‘[They] started recommending unproven, unscientific magnetic treatment that measured energy waves. I'm not kidding. We walked out soon after.’
It wasn’t until she started kindergarten that teachers referred Carole to a paediatrician, who diagnosed autism. Clint said the diagnosis was ‘like a weight was lifted off [his] shoulders’.
‘We now knew what the problem was, right? And we could then seek guidance and do a lot of research.’
However after her diagnosis, Carole’s school wouldn’t let her attend school activities.
‘[She] was frequently and routinely excluded from activities, games and even playing with her friends at lunchtime.’
For nearly a year, Clint said, the school’s support teacher made Carole sit alone in a room while her friends played outside.
‘She would eat her lunch and then, when she was finished eating, someone would come and get her and take her to learning support for the remainder of the break.’
When Carole jumped around to regulate herself, the teacher tried to stop her.
‘Every time [they] said, “It looks silly … you can't do that at high school because everyone's going to laugh at you.”’
When Carole’s behaviour deteriorated, the school started suspending her.
‘They had these very strict rules and if she stepped out of line, [she] had to go home. So that was the response, and any kid with autism is going to have trouble … For six years, [Carole’s mum] was forced to wait by the phone, waiting for a call that would inevitably come from the school to go pick our [Carole] up.’
At the end of primary school, Clint struggled to find a private high school that would accept Carole.
‘We found that in almost every case, the private/religious schools would say that they were inclusive, but it was certainly a case that you are welcome as long you can do the same as everyone else.’
Clint recently enrolled Carole at the local public high school that ‘does a really great job in terms of inclusion’.
‘She has missed zero days of [high] school, [whereas] across her six years of primary schooling … we conservatively estimate that she missed greater than 150 days of school … We're fortunate that she is incredibly smart and sort of managed to still keep up.’
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.