Clifton Hill Primary principal Geoffrey Warren is the first to admit to ”considerable doubts” when asked to enrol a student with severe autism several years ago. Adam Dickson, then eight, was ”shutting down” at an autism school and his mother Stephanie Gotlib became concerned he was depressed.
Ms Gotlib, the executive director of Children with Disability Australia, wanted him to go to a mainstream primary school. But Mr Warren was anxious about how Adam would cope. He was concerned he would be too disruptive and whether Clifton Hill Primary could keep him safe. ”He has a total phobia of dogs and we were worried if he saw one he would just run across a major road,” Mr Warren says.
Despite his reservations, Mr Warren, who believes students with disabilities should attend mainstream schools wherever possible, agreed to give it a go.
The first three months were ”heavy going”. ”Adam would scream at the top of his voice for a minute or two and sometimes we would need to bring him into the hallway or this office until he calmed down.” However, after just three months he had made considerable progress. The following year Adam started in year three, and with the help of a full-time aide has gone from ”strength to strength”.
”It took him a while to begin to relate to others and others to him. It didn’t happen overnight, but it happened far more quickly than we thought it might,” Mr Warren says. ”Had he stayed in an autistic school, would he have developed as well? Probably not.”
Clifton Hill Primary now has about 15 students with disabilities, eight of whom have autism. The school also caters for gifted students doing year 9 maths in year 4, students from housing commission flats, students from wealthy, middle-class homes and students from the Horn of Africa. Mr Warren says the message students learn is that difference is not something to be feared. ”They don’t see disability after a while, they just see someone who is different.”
Ms Gotlib says before Adam started at Clifton Hill Primary, children would steer clear of him when they went to the park and he made loud noises. Now they bound up and say hello. ”This inclusion wouldn’t have happened if he was at a special school or an autism specific school. The transformation of that boy … has been amazing.”
While Ms Gotlib believes there is a place for specialist prep to year 12 autism schools, she is concerned too many parents think it is their only alternative. Virginia Smedley sought to integrate her son Joshua into a mainstream school after becoming concerned he was miserable and not intellectually stimulated at an autism school.
”I went to every primary school in the region and spoke to the principals … some of them seemed to think my child had two heads or would be disruptive or hurt other children,” Ms Smedley says. Joshua is now at Braemar College in Woodend, which Ms Smedley says is ”like a breath of fresh air”.
”It terrified me to take him out of a safe environment and put him in the thick of mainstream with potential bullies but it has paid off. He has lots of friends, [and] nobody bullies him,” she said. ”The bottom line is that if parents don’t speak out and push the boundaries, changes will never be made
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- Cost
- Free
- Topics:
- Case study, Education, Inclusion and access
- Author:
- Jewel Topsfield
- Source:
- The Age
- Date published:
- Thu 22nd Mar, 2012