Shocking reason 5-year-old disabled boy was suspended from school

An Aussie mum has appealed to the Disability Royal Commission after her autistic son was repeatedly suspended for 'deliberately bad behaviour'. Photo / Getty Images

The mum of a boy with disabilities who was suspended seven times before he was 7 years old has told a royal commission of repeated attempts to get support in place for him.

"Amy" told the Disability Royal Commission yesterdayher son's 18 months at a New South Wales school in Australia were "the most stressful [years] in my life" and traumatised the boy, now 10. "Sam" has autism, ADHD, anxiety and a number of other conditions.

Amy said she was at first overwhelmed with the school's willingness to accept Sam and provide the support he needed.

But two weeks after he began kindergarten, aged 5, he had an outburst and received his first suspension warning for aggressive behaviour.

"It was presented to us like 'rein him in or he's going to be suspended'," Amy said.

"I was absolutely floored. For any kindergarten kid, I would think that's not a way to say welcome to the school let alone a kid with additional needs who struggles."

The new principal complained the school wasn't provided any information to support Sam, prompting a "gobsmacked" Amy to turn up with a wad of papers and reports and recommendations. Sam was suspended for the first time in April after the school said he "deliberately" kicked a teacher in the knee when he tried to abscond.

Other suspensions for aggressive behaviour followed, including stretches that lasted 20 days, forcing Amy and her husband to reorganise their lives to support Sam at home.

"I was devastated. I couldn't understand why suspension was being used and there were supports that had been recommended that weren't being used," she said.

Amy appealed two of the suspensions to the education department but was rejected.

"It just didn't feel like anything was changing after each suspension," she said.

She said the department referred to supports in place for Sam, but there was no evidence they were being used consistently.

The suspensions continued into the next year. Amy felt "deflated" and questioned why it kept happening.

After Sam was suspended a seventh time, this time for another 20 days, he was taken out and home schooled.

Amy said that period was the "most stressful in my life".

"Anyone who knows me will know the incredible pressure we were under as parents and the fear we had for Sam's safety in terms of his absconding behaviour. Every time that phone rang I was waiting to be told he was injured or possibly dead."

Amy, who said she was threatened with trespass by the school, called for an independent process to look at what is being done to address behaviour before a child is suspended.

She said authorities needed to treat parents as "human beings who want to be in partnership with the school rather than people to blame or shut out".

"There shouldn't be a system where it can be manipulated to the point where parents feel they have no option and they have to pull them out to home-school them," she said.

"Five or 6-year-olds don't have the capacity to process and understand a suspension, let alone a child with a disability who is emotionally and socially at a 2- or -year-old level."

Commissioner Ronald Sackville QC noted that Sam's behaviour was described by school authorities as "deliberately" aggressive.

"Under the general law, a child under the age of 10, and people say that should be 14, can't be responsible by way of criminal law and here is a 5-year-old, 6-year-old, characterised as deliberately kicking and deliberately engaging in aggressive behaviour," he said.

- NCA NewsWire