Today the Goulburn Post is parting from convention for our editorial. We invited local parent of four children with autism, and former Post columnist, Candy Jubb to respond to Senator Pauline Hanson’s comments this week. The Senator said children with autism should not be placed in mainstream schools because they were placing a strain on teaching resources. The remarks sparked much condemnation, including from Mrs Jubb (pictured with her family):
“We need to get rid of these people…” she said.
By now you would have heard about Pauline Hanson’s statement made during the school funding debate, where she said that children with a disability or autism need to be placed in classes other than mainstream schools because they are holding back their peers. “We need to get rid of these people…” she said.
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I am a parent of four children on the autism spectrum. They range from severe to mild, so you can imagine how that last line from Ms Hanson felt in the heart of a mother who wants her children to enjoy inclusion like everybody else. Two of my children attend a special school, one mainstream, and one is home-schooled. Parents across the country, including myself, are livid.
Ms Hanson was starting to head down the right track: special needs kids in a mainstream classroom do need support.
I’ve seen it first-hand. Teachers do struggle with time and resources. It is one of the reasons we’ve chosen to home-school one of our children. His needs didn’t quite fit in either box: too clever for one school and not clever enough for another, he began to fall way behind, so we took matters into our own hands.
My son is just one example. There are more than 100,000 other autistic children in Australia, every one of them different with no support need being the same.
But Ms Hanson articulated her opinion so badly, the idea got lost. In the end, her statement suggested we should segregate these children, and it showed she does not have an understanding of the bigger picture. Her blanket comment that these kids need to be separated is damaging.
Ms Hanson needs to back up this statement not only with evidence, but with a plan – and after she apologises profusely, of course. Special needs children do need more funding for school support, but inclusion really is key.