Vito
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.
When Vito was about six months old, doctors told his parents he was a ‘rubella child’ and had multiple disabilities, including deafness, blindness and cognitive impairment. The doctors told them to put Vito into an institution.
Vito told the Royal Commission he imagines his parents, who were migrants with little English, would have been scared. But they pushed backed against the experts and kept Vito at home.
It turned out the doctors were wrong. Vito is legally blind but can hear and isn’t cognitively impaired.
After a few months at a local primary school Vito attended a boarding school for blind children. He was taught braille and how to navigate the physical world but the academic expectations were low. Vito remembers repeating third grade three times. When he told the teacher it was his third time she said, ‘then I think it is about time you did grade 4’.
‘My parents were told by the then principal that I would probably go to technical secondary school and then possibly end up making baskets and brooms as a career.’
Around this time school policy was changing and mainstream schools were becoming more inclusive. Vito attended a mainstream school one day a week, where one of the teachers saw his work and suggested he switch to a mainstream high school.
The boarding school fast-tracked Vito’s education so he could begin school with his peers.
Vito did well at school. His year 12 coordinator told him he would have achieved better grades if he had access to the information in a timely manner and in a format he could read.
At university Vito studied accountancy. In the 1980s there was no disability liaison support so Vito had to negotiate directly with lecturers for reasonable adjustments and access to course materials.
Most lecturers allowed him to record lectures but some refused, scared he would publish and profit from the material.
Only the core textbooks were available in audio versions. ‘If I lacked comprehension in a particular area of my study there was no possibility of me being able to access additional reading material to assist me develop the knowledge in that area.’
Unexpectedly, Vito was contacted by a retired accountant who had been employed by a disability support organisation to read the textbooks for him.
He told Vito he felt uncomfortable reading accounting material for him because there was ‘no way’ a blind or vision impaired person could be an accountant. Vito tried to explain how he adapts to situations and the equipment he uses but the retired accountant was not convinced.
‘He could not even comprehend that I could make such a decision myself. I knew the challenges that were ahead of me in my future career with that kind of bias.’
Vito feels he could have graduated with honours if he’d received reasonable adjustments.
He found an employment agency who assisted people with a disability and got a job as an accountant in the public service. He considers programs to hire people with a disability were better and more effective at that time than they are today.
Access to information in the workplace continues to be difficult. Often the IT system isn’t compatible with Vito’s assistive technology and he is left to figure it out. When he attends meetings where there are visual presentations he is rarely given access to the material in an accessible format beforehand. Touch screen technology is designed for people with good sight.
Vito said that when he had been passed over for promotion early in his career, he hadn’t felt it was because of discrimination. But as he progressed, he believed this was the case.
In the 13 years he has been in his current role, he has seen several other staff progress from levels below him, to levels above.
‘If you have a disability, the barriers you face and in my case the neglect I have faced over the years – the ability to access information in a manner and format that I can read, accessible training, and the neglect in obtaining the IT infrastructure in order to efficiently do my job – are not recognised in selection panels.’
Victor now chairs an employee network within his organisation. He is determined to make systemic workplace change.
‘There needs to be a culture of access and inclusion across the whole Australian society. It needs to be second nature to everyone not just the disability sector. Access and inclusion need to be considered a “top priority” and not just a “nice to have”.’
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.