13 July 2023
To Whom It May Concern:
We have four boys, 3 with different presentations of Autism and one with ADHD. Our youngest, aged 14, in particular has a PDA profile of Autism and we have been homeschooling him for the past 5 years. He is very bright and creative, dreaming of becoming a set and costume designer, a voice over artist and he is incredibly good at coding and designing in minecraft.
School was an absolute nightmare for him most of the time. He was so traumatised that, after 5 years, he still refuses to set foot in a school building or participate in activities that reminds him of school. He lost trust in adults to keep him safe. Myself, his father and sometimes tutors have to use alternative ways to educate him, but it can be very challenging at times.
He was subjected to continuing bullying at school. He was excluded from activities and class, lunch and break times, suspended (often in-school suspension, sitting at the back of another class). He became suicidal at the age of 8.
Teachers need better training and a deeper understanding of autism and the fact that there are different presentations
The punitive style of discipline in schools needs to be change. If schools in NSW can decide to incorporate Dr Ross Greene’s CPS approach, why can’t we incorporate it in Western Australia?
https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and learning/professional-learning/scan/media/documents/vol-40/Scan_40 7_August2021_AEM.pdf
If only schools could be more flexible, give students scope to incorporate and pursue their interests, offer a reduced curriculum, allow for students who struggle to attend all the time to have modified hours, remove rewards/punishment-systems (don’t get me started on this!! I discovered my son’s old school reward charts the other day, it is so incredibly degrading!), provide a quiet safe haven or sensory rooms or not force students to attend noisy meetings or all school gatherings (my son found it incredibly overwhelming), use declarative language, collaborate more with parents and therapists, adjust demands to suit variable tolerance levels.
We will try and get him to start with TAFE next year, but we are not sure if he will cope with the transition, hopefully all the therapist hours and work we’ve put in to help him will have him ready for it.
Unfortunately I only saw this notification tonight, otherwise I would have written more comprehensively and more coherently. I myself am autistic and do struggle to express myself well.
Kindest regards