Manuel
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.
Manuel has cerebral palsy and uses crutches and a wheelchair to move around. He also has anxiety.
In the 1970s Manuel attended a special school for children with disability.
He told the Royal Commission that soon after he started, a nurse abused him.
He recalled going to the toilet and the nurse following him.
‘She tried to grab my private parts and I tried to shield myself. She pushed me with great force and I fell backward and hit my head on the concrete floor. She held my head down as I screamed for help.’
Manuel said he lost consciousness and his next memory was being in the sickbay. Someone was stitching a wound on the back of his head.
‘I reported the incident to people there but no-one believed me.’
This was not the first time the nurse had abused Manuel.
She targeted him during lunchtimes when there were no other adults around. She would throw banana peels at him and tease him, in front of the other children, about his migrant background.
Manuel said he told his parents but they ‘did not speak English very well and did not want to antagonise the authorities’. He believes they were afraid the authorities might take him away from them.
When he was about nine the other children told him the only career pathway for him after the special school ‘was a sheltered workshop’.
But Manuel wanted to go to university.
‘Eventually I stood up for myself and … pushed the authorities at [the special school] to let me go to a normal school.’
Some of the teachers supported Manuel, but he still had to face a panel who asked him why he wanted to leave.
His request was successful and he was allowed to transfer to the public school.
Eventually Manuel went to university and completed a master’s degree in education.
Manuel would like all education to be inclusive. ‘People with disabilities should not be segregated into special schools or institutions.’
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.