Jase and Kynlee
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.
‘We know that he is intelligent and capable of more than what he's been able to achieve, and that's why we never gave up on him, you know.’
Kynlee is in her 40s and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She’s also the mother of Jase, who is autistic and lives with ADHD and intellectual delays. Jase is in primary school.
‘He loves Roblox, Minecraft, pretty much every game that any [boy of his age] can play,’ Kynlee told the Royal Commission. ‘He's just all over it and really, like, self-taught with all of it, just an absolute natural with technology.’
Kynlee is a special education teacher. Before teaching in Australia, she worked in countries where schools were more inclusive when it came to children living with disability.
‘The UK have these inspections. They can be random. Schools have to prove that they've got inclusive practice in place and I don't understand why we don't have external bodies assessing [Australian] government schools.’
Kynlee said Jase’s first year in a government primary school in Australia was ‘a nightmare’.
‘His teacher was a first-year teacher without any experience working with or understanding autism and ADHD.’
The teacher reprimanded Jase in the classroom for his behaviour. Jase began ‘lashing out’.
‘I would pick him up from school. "Why doesn't anyone like me? Why doesn't anyone want to play with me?" and then start crying. And this went on for weeks until I had to basically just stop.’
Kynlee transferred Jase to an independent school.
‘There was only five in the class which made a huge difference. He was happy. He made friends. It was incredible. It was the best school he ever went to, actually.’
Unfortunately, Kynlee couldn’t afford the tuition fees, so she enrolled him in another government school. His new teacher had ‘no tolerance for his behaviour’.
‘[Jase] started to get worse. He'd bang his head against the wall.’
Kynlee said her son was ‘basically pushed out’ of the school.
‘The teacher almost triggered [Jase's] behaviour on this particular day by ignoring him and not supporting him when he was having a meltdown and I think it was communicated to the principal.’
Kynlee later learnt the school had been given funding to support Jase, but hadn’t consulted her. When she asked what the school was spending the funding on, she was told it would be used for a speech therapist.
‘This decision was made despite [Jase] already having a private speech therapist and not needing to see another.’
Jase now attends another private school with small classes and better support.
‘They plan in a proactive way for the learning to be engaging and motivating. But more than anything, it's the smaller class sizes that really help him,’ Kynlee told the Royal Commission. ‘It's just become a haven for all the kids like [Jase], who are not being included [in other schools] … I can see the private sector taking over where the government are not capable because they're just not getting funded properly.’
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.