Jianna
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.
‘I would've gone to university straight out of high school, but for what happened in my primary and secondary education. So, everything in my life got pushed back at least 20 years … That makes an impact on what happens after that. It pushes everything in my life back 20 years.’
Jianna, early 60s, was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was five. It profoundly affected her reading, writing and spatial awareness. She struggled with words, maths and playing sport.
At the time dyslexia wasn’t really understood and ‘the cane was still in use’. When Jianna made mistakes reciting her times tables or spelling words, the teacher would cane her.
The first time it happened she was so surprised she pulled her hand away and broke her thumb on the edge of the desk.
Jianna’s mother came up to the school, demanding to know what was going on. In response, the school transferred Jianna to a remedial class.
‘Not that the caning really stopped, it just stopped on the hand. We copped it on the backside or the back of the legs.’
Being in the remedial class, other students excluded her and called her names such as ‘retard’.
In grade seven the teacher would hit her with a ping pong bat for not being able to do long division.
‘And that was pretty much the way everybody with any kind of learning disability was being [treated].’
High school was a bit better because Jianna had different teachers, but she still struggled with maths and sport.
In her final year the maths’ teacher would pick her up by her ears and drag her out of class.
‘I don't think I was inside for an entire class, or even part of a class, really, for my entire last year of maths. She thought it was beneath her dignity to have me in her class. I was a waste of her time and space.’
Because maths was compulsory for the HSC, Jianna was not able to graduate and her dream of going to university had to be put on hold.
Her parents tried to intervene, but there weren’t any formal complaint mechanisms they could follow.
Jianna finally enrolled at university in her early 30s.
She did well on her first essay but failed a multiple-choice exam because of her dyslexia. The professor spoke to her and referred her to the disability support unit. Jianna hadn’t known support was available – ‘I didn’t get anything in the orientation pack.’
The university gave her 15 minutes extra for exams, and all multiple-choice exams were changed to essay style assessment. She was able to complete her assessments and graduate.
Jianna has had a very successful career but said she has never told her employers about her disability.
‘I would like to think that one day there'd be a world in which I would disclose my disability. But I would never put it on Facebook, I would never put it on LinkedIn, I would never disclose it … because I think it would be absolutely fatal to my getting work and to my holding down a job. Because I think it would just be so prejudicial, in people's assessments of my ability to do the job, that I would not get work.’
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.