Johanna
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.
Johanna’s three children have disabilities that include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fine motor impairment, general anxiety disorder and an intellectual disability.
All three children go to a mainstream public school and her children are thriving thanks to her advocacy and the school’s determination to listen.
‘In my opinion and my experience as a strong advocate for all my children, it really comes down to the attitudes and professional development a teacher has been able to access,’ she told the Royal Commission.
All three children attend school full time, have never been suspended and have access to all activities in the curriculum.
‘This can happen from what I believe in the following points: Teachers having an open mind and a can-do attitude; [and the] school implementing recommendations from my children’s allied health staff.’
For example, one of her children’s support staff suggested a ‘wobble chair’ would help her child sit at the table and better participate in the classroom. The child’s teacher helped buy the chair during holidays so the child was able to use it at the start of the new school year.
‘Most staff have accessed professional development prior and during the time they have been my children’s teachers so they can better support the children who have disabilities.’
That extra training had paid off, said Johanna.
‘All three of my children who have disabilities all have personalised learning and support plans even though only two of the three [children] receive targeted funding. All these plans are done with teacher and parent collaboration, along with all three children [who are] given a voice in the plans.’
The school plans ahead to help the children transition from one grade to the next. Johanna and the teachers have ‘continuous open-ended conversations as [her] children’s needs can be ever changing and a strategy that may work one day, the next may no longer be valid’.
Teachers adjust the curriculum for her children so they can work with their peers on the same subjects at the same time in the classroom.
The school also runs activities for all students at lunch and after school, to encourage inclusion.
‘[It’s not] perfect inclusion, but it is inclusion that has been achieved because my children [for the] most part have had amazing teachers who see my children as people first and not a label to be dealt with.’
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.