Kash and Ariel
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.
Kash, almost a teenager, is autistic and has complex and aggressive behaviours.
His mum, Ariel, struggled to find a behaviour management therapist. When she eventually found a male therapist, he insisted on treating Kash in the family home.
The first time Ariel saw the therapist she felt uncomfortable.
‘He was looking me up and down,’ she told the Royal Commission. ‘And he made comments like, he liked the smell of my perfume.’
But he seemed very good with Kash and Ariel was desperate for help.
The therapist wanted to see Kash every week, which was difficult because Ariel had to pull Kash out of school. She also found it hard to manage her other children around the appointments.
At the start of each session, the therapist would instruct Ariel to incite Kash to have a meltdown. He would then restrain Kash and tell Ariel to leave the room.
‘I thought that was normal but I found out when [Kash] had a new behavioural therapist, it's not.’
Kash’s younger sister is also autistic.
She started to exhibit sexualised behaviours, touching herself in front of other people and asking strangers to touch her.
Worried, Ariel spoke to Kash’s therapist.
He questioned Ariel at length, getting her to reveal intimate details about her past.
‘He wanted to know everything about my personal life, just everything. He was trying to get inside my head. I felt so small and vulnerable.’
Ariel told the therapist about her teenage sexual abuse.
‘Ever since I told him that, he exploited it to the other therapists about my past and how it affects my parenting.’
The therapist started making sexually inappropriate suggestions.
‘There was a shortage of therapists here. He wanted me to do things with him and I feel like I couldn't say no because he had a very good way with words. And he had that influence.’
He told Ariel she had a split personality disorder and needed help.
Meanwhile, Kash’s behaviour was deteriorating.
‘[His therapist] wasn't providing the help we needed, he was undermining the other therapists. He wanted me to change everything to his people who worked under him and he was trying to bully me.’
Ariel spoke to an advocate who helped her organise a meeting at the school.
‘[The therapist] humiliated me in front of all the teachers about my parenting, how I need to see a psychiatrist and how I affect my kids.’
After the meeting, Ariel told the therapist she didn’t want to use his services anymore.
‘He just went right off. Stood up. I was nearly going to faint. I was in tears and really pale. He was quite aggressive. He was yelling.’
Ariel made a complaint to police and the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission. She’s not sure of the outcome.
Kash is now seeing someone through telehealth because there are no behaviour management therapists available to see him in person.
Ariel said she really needed someone to help Kash, but in the end the therapist made it worse.
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.