Gordon
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.
‘Once you’re put in here, you have no rights. People like me, you know, with a disability, have been abused. There’s no support and there’s no help and it feels like there is no end to it.’
Gordon is a young autistic man who lives with depression. He has been in prison for several months and told the Royal Commission he’s been denied disability supports and basic healthcare.
‘Still waiting to see mental health … Still yet to see a doctor. And there’s no way for me to access any help. All this shit that they say you’re entitled to is non-existent.’
Prior to his detention, Gordon was participating in an autism support program
‘That benefits me in the right way. Like, there’s no support program in here for that. If I was on the outside, I’d have no problems, you know, being able to access it …The more I’m in here, the more I mentally deteriorate.’
He also has an infection that’s gone untreated.
‘Still haven’t got my treatment that I was prescribed before I came in … I’m starting to feel shittier and shittier.’
Gordon did once get to see a prison psychologist, but said they breached confidentiality and told prison officials his autistic behaviour was ‘threatening’.
Gordon said that in the detention unit for dangerous offenders where he is now being held, guards ‘physically assault’ prisoners after turning their body cameras off.
‘They talk to you like shit and abuse you. They think they have the right … They are violating our human rights.’
Because of the ‘mistreatment’, Gordon has autistic meltdowns and often feels suicidal.
‘I’m getting to the point where I’m just … Like, this place literally makes me want to give up. And the situation and the atmosphere doesn’t help. I’m not coping … I should’ve been in rehab getting everything done.’
His social anxiety is exacerbated, and he’s now cut off from prisoners with whom he’d been able to form supportive relationships.
‘A few autistic people … we’re alienated from ourselves.’
Gordon is angered by the way the prison treats people with disability.
‘Legislatively, it needs to be changed. I want some rights for the people who are like me, you know. All I care about is accountability when it comes to this system. I’m lucky that I can, like, stand up for myself at times, but there’s other people like me who just don’t have that ability. I can’t stand by and let people be treated certain ways … It just doesn’t sit with me.’
One thing he would like to see in Australia is a formal ‘autism card’ he can show to authorities and health professionals, so they don’t make incorrect assumptions about his behaviours.
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.