Elton and Izobel
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Elton is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
His teacher, Izobel, told the Royal Commission that Elton finds it difficult to adjust to new environments and new people. He needs a predictable and consistent routine.
Elton receives funding for a learning support officer to help him learn for several hours each day.
But this doesn’t happen, Izobel says, because the school ‘shares’ the learning support officers between funded and unfunded students.
In the first two weeks of the year, the school redirected Elton’s learning support officer to assist the kindergarten teachers with new students.
Elton was left to navigate a new classroom, new classmates, a new teacher and a new routine without support.
‘I had to lock the classroom door during lessons to ensure he didn't escape. I had to remove toys and distractions from the classroom as I could not adequately supervise him and the other students.’
Izobel said she was not able to meet the educational needs of any of the children in her class.
When Elton did eventually receive learning support, Izobel discovered it wasn’t targeted to support his learning. The support officer, being a shared resource, wasn’t familiar with his basic needs and wasn’t sufficiently prepared to support him.
The learning support officers constantly rotate. Elton can have up to six different learning support officers in one week.
‘There are some days when he has two different [support officers] on the same day. There is no supervision of [support officers] to ensure their expectations are consistent. The variation to their schedules means that I no longer plan lessons with the expectation of having a [support officer] present.’
Izobel is so busy managing behaviour, she rarely gets to spend time teaching Elton.
‘I have listened to him read, one‐to‐one, once in eight months. Each day I am faced with the decision of whether to teach [Elton], or to teach the other students … My best option for any success is to try and keep [Elton] settled while attempting to teach the other students.’
Towards the end of the year, Izobel spent some time out of the classroom. But she had to return several times, because Elton was screaming on the floor. There was no learning support officer in the room and the replacement teachers didn’t know what to do.
‘The individual teachers had not done anything wrong as such. The system is inadequately resourced to meet [Elton]'s needs.’
Izobel has made several complaints about the lack of support and resources for Elton.
‘Everything is considered acceptable under the circumstances.’
Elton is expected to be in the system for at least 10 years but there seems to be no long-term plan for him, she says. There is no process or document outlining the purpose or goals of the funding he receives.
‘The [education department] is neglecting the learning needs of disabled children. And in doing that, they are neglecting the educational needs of all children,’ Izobel said.
‘Neurodiversity needs to be celebrated and valued. Each person has something unique to offer, and when focussing on someone's challenges we are missing out on experiencing their potential.’
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.