Trev and Alecia
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.
‘You have to take everyone as an individual. Label is not important.’
Alecia’s son, Trev, is in his 20s and autistic.
‘He never saw himself as being a child on autistic spectrum,’ Alecia told the Royal Commission. ‘Maybe because I didn’t talk about autism … I didn’t know where to start, where to finish, what’s going to happen.’
Alecia was born overseas and migrated to Australia. She said when Trev was a toddler she waited years to see a speech pathologist in the Australian public health system and eventually paid for private health care.
She enrolled him in a private school.
‘I did want strong science subjects … but first of all I started with the research regarding the schooling system, so that was my choice.’
In his first year, Trev had a passionate teacher and ‘didn’t experience issues with the school’. Things changed the next year when another teacher enforced a strict routine making it ‘difficult for [Trev] to comply’.
When Alecia asked if Trev could change classes, the teacher told Alecia, ‘This is not a place for [Trev],’ and that she’d already spoken to an autistic school which would be ‘more appropriate’.
‘For the first time in my life I was speechless. I admonished her for attempting to set out the pathways for my son without consulting me.’
Alecia said Trev’s school then ‘decided to really somehow create a situation’ so that other parents would intimidate her into taking Trev out of the school.
One day, after Trev retaliated to being bullied and hit another kid, a group of parents met Alecia at the school.
‘All stood staring ... I walked in, like a red carpet of shame.’
Alecia pulled Trev out of the school. A year later she decided to make a complaint to the state human rights commission.
‘I didn’t know the rules. I believed in human rights forever. It doesn’t matter if the case happened 10 years or 20 years ago … but what was the response of the Human Rights Commission? That … this was an administration issue and is out of date so they can’t assist me.’
Alecia enrolled Trev in a local primary school followed by a private high school. He is now completing an honours degree at uni.
‘Imagine if I had followed [the school’s] advice and couldn’t advocate for him.’
Trev is now dealing with discrimination in the job market. Alecia said that recently, when Trev applied for a particular job through a recruiter, he mentioned he had previously looked for work through a Disability Employment Service.
The recruiter then told Trev he should look for ‘more appropriate’ work and didn’t submit his application for the job, despite his qualifications.
‘All of a sudden they redirected him to the disability part of the business.’
Alecia says the system is working against Trev.
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.