Caterina

Caterina, late teens, is autistic.

‘I took longer than I should have to talk. I had speech difficulties,’ she told the Royal Commission. ‘I’d spin quickly in circles without stopping. I had meltdowns, and I had poor gross and fine motor skills … I also had strong obsessions and extreme attachments to certain objects.’

In kindergarten, Caterina’s teacher ‘made it very clear’ she wasn’t like the other students.

‘She stated on ample occasions that I wasn’t a cute little girl but rather a strange child who was ‘messy’, lacked social skills, and was ‘weird’.’

The teacher would make Caterina apologise to the class for not being able to have ‘proper conversations’.

‘She also told my parents that autism didn’t exist, and that my well‐documented autistic traits were just the result of a bad personality.’

The year 1 teacher continued the abuse. She would yell at Caterina for her slow speech, for not colouring inside the lines, for the way she wore her clothes and because she didn’t like to be touched.

In year 2 and 3, teachers constantly told her to be less weird. They would yell at her and physically restrained her when she had meltdowns.

In year 4, Caterina started thinking about and planning suicide.

‘For years I’d been ridiculed, mocked and outcast not by my peers but by my teachers, and it had a large impact on my self-esteem. To this day, it still impacts my self‐esteem.’

Caterina was very talented at maths, rarely getting anything wrong. The teacher told her being smart didn’t matter, because no-one liked her or wanted her around.

Sports teachers would use Caterina as an example of what not to do, calling her ‘pathetic, stupid and weak’.

In her final year, Caterina and a friend became really invested in the rules of a sport they were learning.

The teacher yelled at them in front of the class, telling them they had social problems. The teacher felt bad for their friends who had to ‘put up’ with them because they were ‘nuts’.

‘I was crying and melting down at this point but he kept yelling at me. As usual, my friends were lovely and supported me a lot emotionally.’

Later, Caterina felt so humiliated and confused she started cutting herself.

Towards the end of the year, a teacher locked Caterina in a small cupboard because she didn’t want to deal with her.

In high school, Caterina started to see a psychologist and was able to talk about some of the things that happened.

‘My primary school was awful for disabled children. I’ve had countless conversations with other autistic students who had alarmingly similar experiences to me,’ she said.

‘I hope to see a future where autistic children aren’t belittled, degraded, harassed, and discriminated against by those in positions of power. Vulnerable children should be protected, not bullied, by teachers.’