Chico
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.
Chico, late teens, is autistic.
He attended a mainstream primary school but spent all of his time in the special education unit.
‘It felt like we got treated different compared to the other mainstream kids. Like, in a bad way.’
Chico told the Royal Commission most of the kids in the unit had ‘really bad anger issues’ and he didn’t want to be there.
‘It was just more that I couldn’t really learn properly and stuff like that. My anxiety just didn't help me with that.’
If a kid ‘got out of control’, staff locked them in a storage room, ‘for however it took to calm down’.
In year six, a ‘very violent’ substitute teacher started.
One day a kid started kicking and messing with the shelves.
The teacher swore and threw a whiteboard marker at him with such force the pen shattered.
‘Everybody just went completely silent and didn't really want to talk or anything like that, because everybody was just afraid. He seemed really, really out of control.’
Chico and his friend often tried ‘to get away from the violence’ and would roam the school.
The teacher got mad at them and locked Chico in the room for more than two hours
‘I have nosebleeds whenever I get overheated or really anxious or stressed.’
When Chico’s nose started to bleed, ‘all they did was just bring in tissues’.
The teacher would physically restrain kids.
‘I came home one day with, like, a bruise on my eye and all over my back.’
Chico’s friend hated being locked in the room. One afternoon his friend was feeling ‘uncomfortable and angry’.
‘The teachers were about to go lock him in that room because he was getting out of control. There were four, five teachers all blocking him into a corner. He was just trying to stop himself from being locked in that room.’
Chico told the teachers to leave his friend alone.
‘I had two grown adults sit on top of me because they thought I was going to do something wrong. I feared for my life because one of them was sitting directly on my chest and the other one was sitting on my legs … I was telling her and begging her to get off me because I was wheezing. I couldn't breathe properly.’
The teachers broke capillaries in Chico’s neck, behind his ears and on his face. His shirt was covered with blood.
Chico’s mum pulled him out of school and homeschooled him until the end of primary school. She took the education department to court but ended up withdrawing the matter.
‘They actually told her if she loses the court case she's going to have to pay all the bills of all the lawyers for the education department, and that's going to cost her and set her back tons of money.’
Chico received counselling but didn’t want to return to school.
‘Anything that was learning-related I really struggled with. Ever since that happened at that school … I just couldn’t learn anymore. I was struggling to do anything at school.’
Chico attended several different high schools but ‘they didn't really do anything to help’ him.
The last school was much better at helping kids regulate their emotions.
‘They used to calm them down and give them their time to calm down. They would make sure everything was okay. They didn't restrain kids or anything like that. They simply just kept them away from hurting other kids.’
Chico left school as soon as he finished year 10. He loves computers and has tried to study at TAFE, but going to campus reminds him of school.
‘It just gives me really bad anxiety and stress knowing that I have to go there.’
Chico spends most of his time gaming at home.
‘Since I wasn't really having a good time at school, I didn't really make many friends. The reason I stay home all day is because I have no friends.’
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.