On Wednesday afternoon, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson suggested to the senate that children with autism be removed from mainstream classrooms to stop other students being ‘held back’ (you can read Hanson’s comments here).
Mum of three Jessica Ey has written this open letter in response.
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Dear Pauline Hanson,
Today I dropped my three children to school, same as any other weekday.
The first to hop out the car is my eldest. At 10 years old, he is full of energy and is beyond his years smart. He is in Year Five at school. He has a small group of friends that call themselves ‘the club’. They play together every day.
Kallan received mostly Bs on his report card, apart from an A in science. He is studying extension maths, and can spell long and difficult words, although his handwriting is somewhat atrocious. He has received a letter of commendation from his principal each semester, and has never been in any trouble at school. He has a vast understanding of our universe, how the world was made. He loves to read a range of fiction and non-fiction books and is probably more knowledgeable than me on most topics.
Kallan is also autistic. He is also at a mainstream school. Starting kindergarten at four years old, my child could barely speak and what he could say was extremely hard to understand. We pushed him. It was hard for him and hard for us but we pushed him to attend mainstream so he could have children to model from, to learn to speak from, to hopefully one day be his friend. He did not make his first proper friend until he was in Year Three at school.
If only you knew just how much work, how much heartbreak, how much joy we had gone through to get my son to a point where he is now fitting quite seamlessly into a mainstream school.
Top Comments
I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was 5 and put into a special ed class despite my parents wishes. As a 5 year old I wondered what was wrong with me as the special ed class was mainly comprised of children with severe barriers to learning. For me it was inappropriate. My mum took me to a specialist and I was helped immensely. I was put back a year but back into mainstream classes and was an ok student. I was still made fun of by other children for being dumb and secretly believed I was. I am now in my 30s and have 2 masters degrees with distinction and even got an award for having the top weighted average mark for one degree. I don't say this to big note myself but to demonstrate that if I had been left in special ed classes for my entire school system I would not be the adult I am today. You do not know the capabilities of any child and where they should be placed in school. Let the parents make that decision. My mum fought for me and was successful. Even now when I am tired I get a bit muddled and will write backwards, but self awareness and self management help that. I admit dyslexia and autism are not the same but we are all people and all deserve the same opportunity as the next person. What we make of it is up to us. Well said Mama!
A beautiful kind response from this lady that I'm not entirely sure Pauline Hanson is entitled to. She peddles segregation in all corners of our society and someone like that has no place being in modern day politics.