Kelly Vincent – Radio Adelaide Interview on Disability and Access to Education Select Committee
24/09/2015
On 24 September 2015, Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent was interviewed on Radio Adelaide to discuss the Select Committee on Disability and Access to Education, that is currently investigating the experiences of students with disabilities in the South Australian education system. Here is the audio and transcript from the interview.
Pascale: A Select Committee is investigating the experiences of students with disabilities in the South Australian education system. The group was established due to numerous reports from parents that students with disabilities are regularly being excluded from the education system. Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent joined Breakfast producer Tara Nash to discuss the move and what the committee is investigating.
Kelly Vincent: We’re looking into the experience of students with disabilities in the South Australian education system and trying to identify what’s going wrong in terms of what supports do students need to do with their disability that they’re not receiving. But also what’s going right, what’s working well for students, and what should we be doing more of to properly support students to reach their full social and academic potential in our state education system. And, unfortunately the need for this committee has come about because of numerous constituent cases that Dignity for Disability is aware of, as well as cases in the media that illustrate very clearly that there is a culture of low expectation around what students with disabilities can achieve, and sometimes that low expectation translates them to not getting the support that they would need to reach their potential and not being invested in, because people believe that there is no potential there to be reached. On the more severe end of the scale we do hear about quite severe abuse and neglect and seclusion happening in our schools and we also hear about students and families being told that their child can’t attend school either at all or full time because of a lack of support and resourcing in that school. So, there are significant barriers to overcome to enable students with disabilities to reach their full social and academic potential and I’m hopeful that having this committee will enable us to use the lived experience of people who face these barriers to identify the way forward.
Tara Nash: Will it be all disabilities being investigated?
Kelly Vincent: Yes, absolutely. So we’ve kept the definition of what constitutes a disability under this investigation very broad, so it’s anyone with a disability or additional learning needs, or any additional support needs broadly speaking can feel free to have their story told if they wish.
Tara Nash: What are the downfalls with the education system that you would like to see changed?
Kelly Vincent: Well as I’ve said we hear significant evidence from constituents from their dealings with my office, the students with disabilities are regularly excluded from school, they’re either told they can’t attend a particular school at all and that happens in both government and non-government schools I have to say, or they can’t attend school full time, because the supports they need, because of the disability aren’t resourced to be present in the school full time. We also hear about students being secluded, excluded and abused, there was a very, very high profile case in the ACT which I think illustrates the gravity of the problem where a young boy with autism was kept in a classroom in what has essential been called a cage made of pool fencing because the teachers couldn’t think of a better way to control these behaviours which was a manifestation of his autism. And so I think there’s a discussion to be had here around the increased need for material resources to support students with disabilities. But I’m also hoping to have a very open and honest discussion about how we can challenge some of the thinking about educators, and I acknowledge that I’m not an educator myself; I don’t have experience in this field but I think it’s clear from that example and others that we are hearing that there’s a need to challenge the thinking around how can teachers better use their existing skill sets to better support student behaviour in a more positive way.
Tara Nash: Yes you did mention that case in Canberra earlier this year. Do you think that was an extreme case, or are we seeing cases to this level quite constantly?
Kelly Vincent: Well certainly it is very extreme. I don’t think any parents would want their child going to school being put in a cage structure, and expect that not to be called extreme. But unfortunately I think we would be naïve to believe that this is the only instance of that kind of behaviour occurring, and we would also be naïve unfortunately to believe that it was only happening in the ACT. So that’s why Dignity for Disability is a South Australian based political party, it’s because there’s an inquiry into the South Australian education system, so that gradually hopefully on a national level we can get some movement, some recognition that there is a problem with the treatment of students with disabilities in this country. And gradually move forward nationally to have consistent measures in place to support those students and educators, so that every student has the right to reach their full academic and social potential.
Tara Nash: What does a teacher’s treatment towards a student with a disability say to the rest of the class?
Kelly Vincent: I think it obviously reinforces a culture of difference, for people with disabilities. And I think that of course obviously it illustrates very clearly that it’s okay for people with disabilities to be treated differently, and I don’t think that any parent whether their child had a disability or not, would tolerate them paying school fees to have the child sent to school to be sat in a cage. So I think we need to have a very serious discussion around why there is such a difference in expectations around the treatment, just because the child has a particular label. Whether that’s a disability or an additional learning need or some other behavioural issue or something else, the fact is that we’re all human and we need to have schools supported and resourced in a way that supports the human rights of all students, no matter who they are.
Tara Nash: Are teachers adhering to students with disabilities’ learning plans well at the moment?
Kelly Vincent: I think there is a discussion to be had around that, I’m certainly concerned not only about the implementation of learning plans where they do exist, but around the level of literacy – if I can call it that – of families and parents and other advocates for children, around knowing what their rights are to have a negotiated education plan in place in the first place. I think that education is slowly increasing but still I’m significantly concerned with the level of lack of awareness that we’re gaging out there in the community around what supports parents are entitled to for their children and where parents may not be aware of that in the first place. So I think certainly we need to have a discussion about negotiated education plans that are actually being implemented, but in the first place I think we need to make sure that parents and families as well as students are aware of what their rights are to begin with.
Tara Nash: Yep. How could we destigmatise disabilities for other children?
Kelly Vincent: I think actually children aren’t the ones that need to be educated. From my observations both in my professional role and as a person who has a disability themselves, I often observe a lot of children interacting with me and with lots of people with disabilities, and often any hesitancy that they have or any reservations they have in my observation are in fact a reflection of the attitude of their parents. For example if I’m walking down the street and a child asks their parent questions about my wheelchair, the parent says, ‘oh don’t look, don’t point, don’t stare, don’t ask questions, it’s rude’. The parent might think that they’re being polite but what they’re actually doing is teaching their child to deny that disability exists, and teaching them to believe that it’s something to be ashamed, of, and worse, ignored. So what I’m trying to do is create a society where we don’t ignore disability, we don’t walk around on eggshells around it, we can have an honest, open discussion and respectful discussion about the fact that it does exist and there are very simple things that we can put in place to properly support that so that it doesn’t have to be the big deal that we sometimes think it is.
Tara Nash: Can anyone make a submission to the Committee?
Kelly Vincent: Absolutely, anyone who has an interest in this field for any reason, whether they’re a student, either current or former or a parent or a teacher or a support worker in a classroom or any other interested person is welcome to make a submission and we’re certainly looking to get a wide variety of voices.
Pascale: That was MLC Kelly Vincent speaking to Breakfast producer Tara Nash. If you’d like to make a submission to the Select Committee investigating the experiences of students with disabilities head to kellyvincentmlc.com.
