Mica, Lisa-Marie and Jock
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.
‘She has her whole life ahead of her and there needs to be big changes in our education system regarding children with disability.’
Lisa-Marie and Jock are the parents of Mica, who is autistic. Mica is about to start high school.
‘We knew things were wrong with [Mica] from a certain age, around three to four, but there was no help,’ Lisa-Marie told the Royal Commission. ‘There wasn’t much information about girls on the spectrum, it was all about boys.’
Mica was diagnosed when she started primary school. Jock said each school Mica attended was reluctant to accept her diagnosis or offer support because Mica doesn’t show some of the common physical conditions associated with autism.
‘Our experience is the mental, the hidden disabilities, are just being missed and ignored … “You look fine, so just get on with it.”’
Lisa-Marie said the head of the special education unit at Mica’s first school ‘failed to understand how Mica could be diagnosed’.
‘[The teacher] still didn’t believe she was on the spectrum. And that is what we got. “She doesn’t show physical signs.” “She’s not lashing out.”
‘And eventually when things got worse for [Mica] at school – with either bullies or where she wasn’t understood in the classroom, her emotional and social state, where she could not communicate – [Mica] would be left to meltdown on her own … They would leave her on the stairs by herself to cry. And other children would make fun of her.’
Every day when Lisa-Marie picked her up, Mica would be crying.
‘And what we’d get told was that she needs to be more resilient.’
Lisa-Marie found another school for Mica.
One day, a group of boys verbally assaulted Mica in the bathroom.
‘The school did nothing. They kept those boys there. [They said Mica] was the problem. [She] needed to be more resilient. We needed to put more things in place for [her]. And [Mica] to this day has a fear of men and boys because of this.’
Mica made a number of attempts to end her life and spent time in hospital.
Lisa-Marie found yet another school for Mica.
Initially, in a classroom with an understanding teacher, Mica thrived. She began making friends.
But later that year, a new teacher arrived. They didn’t understand Mica’s disability and would embarrass her in front of her class. The teacher stopped Mica receiving support from the teacher’s aide, even though funding for the aide had been provided to the school because of Mica’s disability.
‘Our understanding, and what we’ve been told by principals, is the funding they receive is there for the school to use as it sees fit,’ Jock told the Royal Commission. ‘So it could be used to make a new office for the principal … I don’t see how that’s fair and just at all.’
Mica was admitted to hospital with a mental health condition. She didn’t return to that school and missed her primary school graduation.
‘She felt she had that taken away from her,’ said Mica’s mother. ‘She would have graduated with her friends. I didn’t get that chance to see her graduate. To go on stage and be proud and say you are not a failure, your autism does not fail you.’
As Mica prepares for high school, Lisa-Marie is worried for her future.
‘I really feel our daughter has been failed by the education system.’
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.