Georgina Moodie knows how difficult it can be to find the right school for a child with a disability.
Key points:
- This week, the Royal Disability Commission will analyze the experiences of young people with disabilities in different school settings
- Almost 90% of children with disabilities attend mainstream schools
- Advocates say the general system does not support children with disabilities as well as it could
As a single mother of two boys, she has twice decided that her upbringing “didn’t work.”
Both boys, who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, began their education in conventional public schools.
On several occasions, Ms. Moodie moved them to specific educational settings and saw a “huge” difference in their learning.
“Until you’ve had a child with special needs, it’s very difficult to understand the feeling around him,” Moodie said.
“It’s so isolating and so difficult at times.”
Her youngest son, Will, started at the local primary school, but the first six months were a “nightmare”.
Georgina’s children, Tom (left) and Will (right), both began their education in conventional public schools. (ABC News: Fletcher Yeung)
“Autism is a disorder of the sensory processing system, and a kindergarten class is like [a train] station at rush hour, “Ms. Moodie said.
“Will just didn’t cope with the noise and the interaction, socially it didn’t fit at all.”
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Ms Moodie said the general school did not have the resources to care for children like her son.
“Will used to run away … they would lose him on the street,” said Mrs. Moodie.
“I would have a crisis in the classroom … they didn’t know how to handle it.”
Students with disabilities in the system who “really fail.”
Will’s experience is often reflected in the entire Australian education system.
This week, a five-day hearing of the Royal Disability Commission will examine the experiences of children and young people with disabilities in different school settings, including special schools.
Many advocates, such as Mary Sayers, managing director of Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA), would prefer to see the end of a “two-way” system.
Mrs. Sayers will prove in research that the current system “jams barriers.”
“We have a system that supports students in conventional schools or in segregated settings where they are separated from their non-disabled peers,” he said.
“The education system is really failing students with disabilities … if you have an inclusive education, this is a great way to start an inclusive society.”
After six months of Will struggling in a regular school, Mrs Moodie thought that her only option was to move him to Sir Eric Woodward School in St Ives north of Sydney, a special school run by the Department of Education. of NSW.
An individualized learning plan was developed for Will around not only his academic goals but also his personal development.
Mary Sayers says Australia has not yet achieved a fully inclusive education system. (ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Ms Moodie said this had given Will “coping strategies” for his “very short fuse”.
“He’s come this far in the four years … Sir Eric is understood, appreciated, included, accepted and recognized,” Moodie said.
“It doesn’t mean we don’t have fights yet … but you come up with a behavioral challenge and there’s only understanding.”
“A form of segregation”
According to a 2020 report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1 in 10 schoolchildren in Australia live with a disability, with 380,000 children aged 5 to 18 with a disability attending primary or secondary school. .
Almost 89% of these attend general schools and the rest attend one of Australia’s nearly 500 special schools.
But Mrs. Sayers argues that separating students in conventional and special schools is “a form of segregation,” as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
“We need to be transforming our education system so that all students are included alongside their non-disabled peers in education,” he said.
Ms Sayers wants the Royal Commission and the Albanian government to commit to a 10-year plan towards inclusive education.
“It’s not just about cross-cutting, because the current general system doesn’t work well,” he said.
“It’s not a real option if you can’t really go to your local school because you’re excluded and told that there’s not enough funding if your child needs any extra support.”
Ms Sayers said she did not blame parents for sending their children to special schools.
“There is no judgment because we do not yet have the inclusive education we want in this country.”
“He was like a different child”
During home schooling in confinement in 2020, Ms. Moodie discovered that her eldest son, Tom, who was in the middle of the fifth grade at a general elementary school, was behind her classmates.
“I realized there were big gaps in her education,” Ms. Moodie said.
“I mean I knew he had autism, but honestly, I felt like I was neglecting him.”
He requested that Tom attend Sir Eric Woodward School for his final year of primary education.
“He was very nervous about going there, changing, or anything like that is very difficult for him,” Ms. Moodie said.
“But [when he got there] he was like a different child. ”
Georgina Moodie twice decided that Tom and Will’s education “didn’t work.” (ABC News: Fletcher Yeung)
Tom is now at Pittwater High School in northern Sydney, where he is receiving support for learning through the Cabrananga Special Education Unit.
“She does a couple of general classes: math, science, and technology,” Ms. Moodie said.
“He’s happy, that’s what’s important.”
Ms Moodie has been President of the Sir Eric Woodward School Parents and Citizens Association since mid-2021.
Asked about “inclusive” education, Ms Moodie said that in her experience, “dramatic” change would be needed in conventional schools in terms of “resources and understanding”.
“I think the choice is essential,” Ms. Moodie said.
“Unfortunately, society is not particularly accepting or inclusive or accepting of disability.”