I have a son diagnosed with high functioning autism although he is no longer in the school system I believe his story needs to be told.

As a small child my son lacked any insight into his condition he experienced sensory overload that would cause him to panic and leave the classroom. Although I spoke with teachers about his condition and the need to give him a quiet space he was frequently shouted at or physically restrained. This usually resulted in a physical altercation as the noise or physical restraint tended to increase his sensory overload and result in a flight or fight response. Invariably my son would be suspended from school for "aggressive" behaviour. Unfortunately for us this happened across six different primary schools until finally part way through grade 5 we met a principal who was determined to give my son some stability and support. The two things that stand out for me was the complete lack of planning available for children with disabilities and the disinterest in his learning style or his capacity for learning in favour of complaining about his behaviour and repeated attempts to move him on.

My son scored well on his tests, while he does process information more slowly he does have the capacity to get the full picture and handles a high level of complexity in some areas. Sadly the dismissive approach continued in High School and required a very active level of advocacy.
I joined a school sub-committee on curriculum and while we had many a conversation on high achieving children, attracting international students and catering to the changing cultural mix of the school there was never a discussion about teaching children with disabilities, there was no sub-committee focused on the needs of children with disabilities looking at ways to support children, families and teachers. As a single parent working full time in addition to caring for two elderly parents, I spent most evenings and weekends assisting my son to catch up with his school work or driving him to private tutors. It was both costly and exhausting.

Every year I would have to negotiate with teachers and try to sense them in to his condition and the best way to communicate/work with him. I did meet some fantastic individuals who showed a willingness to listen and learn and those relationships were extremely important to my son and have had a lasting impact on us both. Sadly we also had some appalling examples including one where the teacher upon speaking to the class referred to my son as "the dog off its leash" because he turned up at class minutes before the teacher’s aide.

I say the teacher’s aide as opposed to integration aid as the role in our experience was quite passive in relation to the child and appeared to serve the teacher by way of intervention in the event an incident of sensory overload is mismanaged. The role of aid was often fulfilled by well-meaning people with no understanding of disability and no power for advocacy.

People do not live their lives compartmentalised it is particularly important for all aspects of government that impact a person’s life to be held accountable for their actions. In the same way that the rest of society has to adapt so too should the department of education. I note public housing , health and human services etc change and adapt to the needs of the society they are serving but I see resistance and a total lack of transparency with the department of education in addition to a lack of advocacy for children and parents and a lack of information /specialisation on teaching children with disabilities. The challenge for education is to address the rights and learning needs of children with disabilities. Integrating health and disability specialists into the educational environment as part of the planning and management team is a realistic and appropriate response to the diverse people who make up our society. Disability, sexuality, cultural diversity, it’s not "special", or" unusual" or" not our problem" it’s the lived reality of a human being and therefore everybody's responsibility to ensure all are given an equal chance to experience their educational and social potential in a non-judgemental, inclusive, transparent, accountable and empowering way.

The current system, or lack thereof, relies on the willingness of the principal and teachers of any one school and lacks the authority of policy underpinned by human rights and the capacity for objective measurement.

My son is about to commence a pathway to a Bachelor, I will continue to support his pursuit of an education to enable a meaningful and productive participation in society. So many children are left floundering in poorly paid work or disability pensions because we don't give them the necessary support or hold ourselves accountable. I would like to see the inclusion of all aspects of a person’s life including education become part of the disability plan.

Thank you for the opportunity to tell our story