Ryk and Tofi
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.
Ryk is in his early 20s and lives with Asperger’s syndrome, dyspraxia, trauma and other physical and neurological disability. He needs 24-hour care.
His mother, Tofi, told the Royal Commission that a few years ago Ryk was raped while at a respite facility.
‘“You're a retard, no-one's ever gonna believe you” – That's what the rapist said to my son.’
After being rushed to hospital, Ryk was admitted to a mental health ward. The hospital didn’t do a rape test even though Tofi ‘asked multiple times’.
A victims of crime investigation confirmed that Ryk had been raped, Tofi said, and Ryk gave ‘the exact same account’ to six different psychologists.
‘He was black and blue. We have it on video, he has marks on his legs that his legs were held down. You could tell that they're fingerprints, indentations. He had cuts and scratches and things like this.’
Ryk spent a year in respite care. Tofi said the hospital ‘forcefully medicated’ her son and made decisions about his health that she did not consent to. Tofi had warned them of his low tolerance to drugs.
‘They injected him to try to sedate him, and it had a really bad reaction. My son went into psychosis. And they just kept on pumping him full of medication, and they would not listen … It’s like parental alienation. They've just walked all over the guardianship order. And my son's the one that pays for it.’
The hospital took Tofi to a tribunal to get guardianship over her son because she ‘disagreed on the way they handled the whole situation’.
Meanwhile, ‘nothing's been done’ about the rape. ‘Where’s the justice?’ asked Tofi.
‘No-one has said diddly squat, that this is okay for a 15-year-old disabled person being raped in the bathroom by a support worker. The whole thing was about keeping them all safe. It was never about my son.’
Tofi recently moved Ryk out of his third supported independent living house because she suspected he was being physically abused.
‘He's so traumatised, his mental health was deteriorating. And now, the biggest slap in the face was that this service provider took it upon themselves to report me to [a tribunal] questioning my competency and my capacity because I dared to speak out about their unprofessional practice.’
Tofi says incompetent providers make the family scapegoats ‘once they're called out on something’.
She is still trying to help Ryk through his 'trauma reaction'.
‘He has everything that he needs. He's got a psychologist, he's got an OT, he's got a behavioural therapist, he's got a physio.’
Last year, she was able to get him ‘off meds’.
‘I'm talking about heavy duty antipsychotics. Now he's able to speak about things. He's doing pretty well, taking into consideration all the things that he's experienced. And that's why he's my hero. He was just a victim of the broken 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.