The end of the school day is often an exuberant time for most households, a chaotic flurry of backpacks hitting the floor and kids hitting the fridge in celebration of the final bell.
But at Briana Blackett’s family home, the after-school scenes are heartbreaking and harrowing.
That’s because the mother of two is often at pains to comfort her sons after difficult days in the classroom where they have been isolated and segregated because of their complex autism.
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She said on the tough days, her sons cry a lot, have sleepless nights and beg her not to return to class.
“You just constantly feel like you have to repair children who have been broken by the system,” Blackett said.
“Both of these kids, because of the exclusion, they experienced behavioural issues. I would develop the same issues if I’d been put in a corner, ignored all day every day.
“My kids would try to abscond, they’d run away. Then they would get punished for absconding.
“When they realised they weren’t able to run away anymore because gates would get locked, they would scream and shout, basically scenes they would never exhibit anywhere else. (I thought) why is this happening only when (they’re) at school.”
Blackett’s children, Max and Freddy, have changed schools six times — all of them in Sydney — because of consistent experiences where they have been separated from the rest of the students, and given little support to complete their work.
Blackett recalls teachers saying that her sons “don’t like learning” or that they aren’t capable of it because of their disability.
She said on one occasion an NDIS planner told her, her children “weren’t worth the investment” because of their complicated needs.
“I feel heartbroken because I just want my kids to have opportunity and I want them to have the chance to live their best life,” Blackett said.
But when the boys actually found a school that invested time and funding into their education, one of them completed the Premier’s reading challenge and won the school award for mathematics.
The family’s experience in the education system is consistent for many other children with disabilities, a new study has found.
Treated differently
Advocacy group, Children and Young People with Disability, along with the University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales conducted three surveys, interviewing almost 800 parents and young people with disabilities in 2022 and 2023.
They found 70 per cent of those students had been excluded from events or activities at school, while 65 per cent reported bullying.
Only 35 per cent of families felt teachers and support staff had adequate training and knowledge to support their child’s needs.
In early childhood, 29 per cent of families reported that their child had been excluded from excursions, events or activities.
Twenty-eight per cent reported bullying from other children or staff, while 20 per cent said their child had been refused enrolment altogether.
University of Melbourne Senior Lecturer Dr Catherine Smith said the results of the study were difficult to read, and that the impact of discrimination on children could be life-long.
“It’s not a surprise. There’s a lot of different things in research that tell us we have an issue … the system isn’t working properly,” she said.
A Victorian teenage male student said during interviews for the study, “I’ve never been on a school camp or any excursions with my peers.”
In another interview, a NSW mother said when she raised concern that her daughter was being bullied, the school blamed her daughter and said, “it was proof she was autistic.”
Smith said the issues were multi-layered, ranging from teachers lacking training, schools lacking resources and curriculum being unfit for students with disabilities.
“For kids, particularly in secondary school … a relationship with someone who understands you becomes really important, but the nature of the way the work is set out (in secondary school) is often counter to allowing that to happen.”
The study had been submitted to federal and state governments, as well as a current review into Australia’s education by the federal education department.
Children and Young People with Disability chief executive officer, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, said the organisation was hoping it would encourage governments to improve schools for children with disabilities.
“The results are disappointing, and show discrimination is significantly impacting the education and wellbeing of Australian students with disability.”
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