Marcos and Madalyn
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.
Madalyn is the mother of Marcos, who is in his teens, autistic and living with Tourette syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety.
Marcos is gifted at maths.
‘He can solve a Rubik’s cube in about three minutes,’ Madalyn told the Royal Commission. ‘He’s a wonderful, wonderful human being. Although, unfortunately, not everyone in society thinks that.’
When Marcos started school, Madalyn tried to enrol him in the after-school care program his sister attended. After she applied, the organisation running the program told her it couldn’t accept Marcos.
‘This person that didn’t know my son used the words and said, “Your son is dangerous.” I said, “Well, how do you know this? You’ve never met him, and he doesn’t have a dangerous bone in his body.” And the response was, “Well, he has autism, so he must be dangerous.” I’m like, “Well, no, he’s not dangerous”.’
The organisation eventually agreed to enrol him, but said Madalyn would have to pay a higher fee.
‘They said, “Oh, we’re just a not-for-profit organisation. We need to cover extra costs. You need to pay more,” and they thought they were perfectly justified in charging us more.’
Madalyn said she sought legal advice and the education department ‘ended up paying money directly to the provider’.
When Madalyn tried to enrol Marcos in a private primary school, the school told her she had to pay for an extra staff member for the class.
‘We were quite shocked. … Basically all the costs associated with employing that person we would pay; their leave, their long service leave, their sick leave, superannuation, everything … We are not made of money. We are just a regular working family with a mortgage.’
Madalyn said she instead enrolled Marcos in the public primary school down the road.
‘He had a fantastic experience … What made it successful, I think, was the mindset of the school principal. He was just really welcoming and flexible, you know. Just nothing was too much trouble. Not that we needed that much, but he was just, we felt welcome there.’
When Madalyn more recently tried to enrol Marcos in the private high school his sister attends, the school ‘started to ask us for additional information’.
‘At first, I was giving them this information, and then they would ask for more information, and it was getting quite ridiculous.’
For example, the school wanted the details of his NDIS package.
‘Why is that relevant to his enrolment in school? It is absolutely not relevant at all … All of his peers were receiving offers of enrolment, but he wasn’t.’
When Madalyn refused to give the school the details of his NDIS package, they said they ‘would not progress the enrolment.’
‘And they never rejected Marcos, but they refused to progress it. … Yet I provided everything that every other parent provided and more … In the end, we walked away from that.’
Madalyn said Marcos is now thriving at a public high school.
‘He goes to a mainstream school and is, in fact, in the gifted and talented stream.’
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.