Seven and Dee

Seven is a young autistic boy who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental delay impacting his speech and mobility. He lives in a rural town.

Seven thrives on repetition and routine. His mother, Dee, says she has ‘little charts’ at home to show him ‘what he does in the morning, what he does after school, [and] in the evening’.

Before bedtime, Seven takes his medication, uses a weighted blanket and often watches his favourite movie with his parents to help him ‘calm and settle’.

Seven also requires support with his fine motor skills, ‘like being able to tie his shoelaces’. He ‘really struggles with his social interactions’ and finds team sports challenging. ‘He doesn’t like things in his face, and nor does he like to make eye contact.’

Dee told the Royal Commission that living in a ‘rurally isolated’ region means they have ‘very limited’ services available to them.

In the classroom, Seven requires ‘visual guidance’ to support his understanding of maths, grammar and handwriting.

Seven has access to a teacher-aide for 30 to 60 minutes a day, but this is shared with other children in the classroom.

Dee was told that her son didn’t need a full-time aide because ‘the school believes it's important to encourage Seven to be independent’. She later discovered limited funding prevents the school being able to offer ‘extra help and support.’

‘The principal told me that the aide is supposed to be shared amongst a few students rather than just the individual with the disability,’ said Dee.

Resources Dee had bought to assist her son in the classroom went missing, for example visual cues such as pencil grips, a cushion for his ‘restless legs’ and a ‘time timer’ to reduce the stress of trying to decipher the time on a clock.

Dee has had several support workers assist Seven at home. She says they either lacked an appropriate level of training, or were uninterested. She often saw agency workers ‘playing on their [mobile] phones’ rather than interacting with Seven, who ‘should have been their centre of care’.

But more shocking incidents were about to occur.

‘[Seven] told me that [one support worker] hit him with a [toy] light sabre between the legs more than once when they were jumping on the trampoline, pretending they were Star Wars characters.’

Seven also told his mother that while he was sitting on the couch, the same support worker ‘started to tickle him ... more than once’ in ‘his private area’.

‘We actually went through a police investigation but it’s [Seven’s] word against the individual support worker,’ said Dee. The family has yet to receive a response or apology from the agency.

Dee said the incidents led to an increase in Seven’s anxiety levels, and he began having nightmares.

In a recent incident, a support worker stole her son’s anxiety and ADHD medications. ‘[Seven’s] Lovan disappeared, his Ritalin at the time – as well as I was on some pain relief because I had had some surgery – so I had some Panadeine Forte or Endone ... and they disappeared.’

Dee reported the matter to the service provider. She is unaware how the agency dealt with the matter. She was told by a third party the support worker is no longer with the agency.

Dee says the agency’s failure to provide quality support workers with appropriate experience and training is ‘appalling’.