A plan to live without fear from bullying

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http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24233498-

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A plan to live without fear from bullying

Meredith Ward

August 25, 2008 12:00am

WOULD you do more to stop a bully if you knew it was going to save a

life?

Many government policies encourage us to include people with a

disability. The language we use to describe them has changed over the

decades to be kinder. But little else seems to have changed,

especially for those whose disability is " hidden " - as with autism.

Children and teens still taunt and tease others who are different.

They always have.

It appears that bullying for " Tom " - a 15-year-old with Asperger

syndrome who lived in the Geelong area - became such a burden that it

was a factor in his suicide last weekend.

Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder is now put at 1:160 children.

It was once quoted at 1:500.

ASD is the umbrella term for three diagonstic categories of autism,

which includes Asperger syndrome.

People with Asperger have an IQ in the normal range but are impaired

in communications and socialisation, and have very narrow interests.

They can be obsessive.

Diagnosis of Asperger syndrome is now more common, but most are

undiagnosed.

My son Grant is 12, in grade 6 at the local primary school, and he

recently became the target of bullying.

He looks normal. There's no physical signs of disability yet Grant

has autism.

Just for fun, bullies push him until he explodes with anger. Worst of

all, Grant refuses to tell me what's going on.

It is " his secret " .

My once happy boy now comes home from school upset, working himself

into frustrated outbursts of foul language, self-harming, banging his

head against the nearest door while telling me: " I don't deserve to

live. "

I thought his moods were just puberty blues, but it is from bullying.

The combination of puberty with a delayed emotional maturity is a

double-edged sword for a child such as Grant.

An Autism State Plan is being developed in partnership between

community organisation Autism and the State Government. Our

goal is to significantly improve the quality of life for people with

autism.

's ambition is to do what no other government policies have

achieved -- meet the huge unmet need of all people with ASD.

This is an Australian first lead by Minister for Mental Health

Neville.

But at present in this state, being autistic is not enough to access

support services.

Because people such as Grant don't also have an intellectual

disability, they are ineligible for the support services they need in

basic education such as kinder, school, TAFE and work.

In response to " Tom's " suicide, Neville said: " When you're

young, you're much more vulnerable to taunts when you're different. "

" We want people with disabilities to participate in schools, the

workforce and in community life but until we break down those

barriers, it will be extremely difficult for them to do that. "

I congratulate Ms Neville for recognising that people with Asperger

do in fact have a disability.

I congratulate her for realising they should have access to the

supports and services they need.

Let us all hope that " Tom's " tragedy will strengthen our Government's

resolve to take the steps to bring true meaning to Ms Neville's

words.

This includes reform of the Disability Act so people are supported on

the basis of what they need, instead of services being rationed on

the basis of narrow definitions.

A significant increase in funding would have the real impact of

reducing long waiting lists for services.

It is, after all, about saving lives.