Lynda
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.
Lynda, mid-50s, sustained a brain injury when she was a teenager and lives with depression.
Lynda has worked as a disability support worker for many years. She is concerned about supported independent living (SIL) accommodation. She says many people who live in SIL homes don’t have a choice about where they live.
‘From my perspective, it's just a quieter form of control and domestic violence. Especially when it comes to non-verbal people and people with behavioural issues.’
Lynda told the Royal Commission the NDIS hasn’t made any difference.
‘[Residents] are quite often subject to what carers believe is appropriate behaviour modification, which could be yelling at them, which could be sending them to their room.’
In some places Lynda worked, support workers threatened residents saying, ‘If you don't behave yourself you'll have no staff and you'll have no-one.’ They told people they couldn’t move house because of their behaviours.
‘If you went into every SIL house with a behaviour, somebody would be living in domestic violence, whether it be verbal, psychological or physical or all three.’
Lynda said most SIL homes are dotted around the community and people can’t leave their homes because it is not safe for them or the community.
Recently she worked in a disability village where people could leave their houses and safely visit their neighbours or participate in different activities.
‘There's socialisation, there's friendship making, there's lots of group activities and it's open to the public.’
Lynda said many of the people who live in SIL homes don’t have family or friends. These people are physically isolated and support workers are not allowed to hug or touch them.
‘We're with them eight hours a day or longer. Some of them have 24-hour care. And to go a few days without touch is reprehensible.’
Lynda acknowledges there are people who don’t want to be touched and respects their choice.
‘We need to help them get used to touch, create bonds and then also allow those bonds to dissipate … We need to create a written plan for change of carers with people who do form those bonds and help them learn to deal with the loss of a carer or the change of a carer.’
Lynda worked with one woman with intellectual disability who was very lonely. Support workers started ‘playing matchmaker’, but different support workers had different views on whether she should be having a relationship.
‘They were encouraging her not to be friends with somebody and then encouraging her to be friends with somebody else. And then she wasn't allowed to see that somebody else … It's just a psychological nightmare for this woman.’
Lynda organised a counsellor and encouraged the woman to speak to them.
Ultimately Lynda wants support workers to stop treating people with disability like children.
‘We need intense work for our support workers to be able to create positive behaviour in a positive way. And we need people to understand that the hard discipline they gave their children might be working, but it's not right.’
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.