“I had to work through my own assumptions that children with disabilities went to segregated schools”: Mum tells new podcast why she chose not to send her son to a ‘special’ school

In an interview for the Purple Orange Podcast released on Friday 5 April, mum Michaela Banks shares how she had to challenge her own thinking when it came to choosing a primary school for her son, Harry, now 13.

In February 2012, when Harry was 11 months old, he acquired a severe traumatic brain injury which resulted in a physical and communication disability. Afterwards, health professionals told Michaela that Harry would not be able to go to a mainstream school, and that a segregated school – often referred to as a ‘special’ school – would be his only option.

After the accident, Harry returned to his mainstream childcare centre, and after that, moved onto a mainstream kindy.

“There’s no segregated childcare, so Harry went to a beautiful childcare centre where he was so wonderfully included,” Ms Banks said.

“And then it was time for Harry to go to kindy, and again, there are not really any special kindies available, so we chose a beautiful kindy that was close to us. Harry absolutely loved it. The kids played with him and included him.”

But when it was time for Harry to start primary school, Michaela had always thought – and had always been told – that Harry’s path would diverge from his friends: they would go to their mainstream schools, and Harry would go off to a special school.

It wasn’t until a speech pathologist asked, “have you thought about a mainstream school?” that Michaela challenged her own preconceptions about what formal schooling might look like for Harry.

“Until that point, I hadn’t even considered a mainstream school for Harry. It felt like that option was off the table.

“Suddenly I thought, maybe mainstream school is an option for him. Maybe anything is an option for him.

“I had to work through my own sense of ableism and my assumption that children with disabilities went to segregated schools,” she said.

In its final report, the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) saw all Commissioners agree that mainstream schools need major reforms to overcome the barriers to safe, equal, and inclusive education.

In its submission to the government ahead of the State Budget, disability advocacy organisation JFA Purple Orange is calling on the State Government to respond to the DRC with a funded strategy to better support inclusive education in South Australia.

“We believe all South Australian children should have the option of attending their local school with the assurance of being welcomed, supported, and included, and thereby receiving a high-quality inclusive education in a mainstream school – just like Harry,” said JFA Purple Orange’s Strategy Leader Tracey Wallace.

“But sadly, for too many children and young people living with disability in South Australia, this is not the case.”

Decades of research1 demonstrates that students with and without disability benefit immensely from inclusive education.

“These benefits include a more positive sense of self, enhanced communication and language development, increased awareness of diversity, and a higher quality education that is better suited to individual needs for ALL students,” Ms Wallace said.

It was these research findings that also galvanised Michaela Banks’ determination to send her son Harry to a mainstream school.

“At the time, it was 40 years of research, but I guess now it’s 50 years of research, that shows that there are social benefits and huge academic benefits to disabled and non-disabled children being in inclusive schooling together. And that not one research article favours segregation over inclusion. It gave me a feeling of power and certainty that this was the right choice,” Ms Banks said.

JFA Purple Orange recommends the State Government should commit to ending segregated special schools and units within the term of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031.

“The State Government should NOT invest in any new public or private education infrastructure, programs, or other provisions that segregate children living with disability from non-disabled students,” Ms Wallace said.

“The State Government must invest in a co-designed Inclusive Education Strategy and subsequent initiatives to create an inclusive education system for all South Australian children.

“We welcome the South Australian Government’s focus on access and inclusion at school for students living with Autism, and these initiatives should be expanded to include all children living with disability in our schools,” she said.

Meanwhile, after successfully completing his primary education at the local primary, Harry started at the local high school earlier this year.

“The high school has been wonderful, and Harry is settling in really well. It brings me so much joy to see Harry continuing his schooling with his mates from primary school, and making new friends.

“It’s hard to believe that Harry’s schooling journey – and life – could have been completely different if I hadn’t challenged my own assumptions all those years ago,” Ms Banks said.

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Marissa Brown
Leader, Marketing and Communications
Julia Farr group (including JFA Purple Orange, inhousing, Stretchy Tech and JFM Fund)
Email: media@juliafarr.org.au