Opening remarks from Senior Counsel Assisting Kate Eastman SC, explaining that this morning's evidence will focus on dental care and this afternoon's on First Nations experience, which will be an ongoing thread throughout the Commission.
Tomorrow, we'll hear from Jim Simpson of @CIDvoice, who will tell the Commission that health promotion campaigns and preventative health don't pay enough attention to people with cognitive disability.
Later this week, the Royal Commission will be questioning representatives from the Health system, NSW and Commonwealth, about issues that have come up so far and initiatives for improving the health of people with intellectual disability.
We will also hear from the #NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commissioner, in particular about reportable deaths, data and research, and actions recommended by the Commission.
The first witness for today, Ms Monaghan, was previously listed on the witness list as AAK. She has asked for the anonymity order to be lifted for herself but stay in place for her children.
Ms Monaghan says her nurse training involved no more than "a couple of hours" of training about disability, although that was a long time ago. She didn't know anything about autism until her son was diagnosed.
L was born in October 2000. He was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old, after a long wait and having to go to Melbourne when the Ballarat waiting list lost his name.
Later tests suggested intellectual disability, but they were based on tests that autistic people often have trouble with because of issues with verbal instructions - language impairment isn't the same as intellectual impairment.
Ms Monaghan says it's important to note that what some people call "challenging behaviour" is for non-verbal people often about trying to communicate. L is mostly non-verbal but understands most of what's going on around him.
What works for the family at the moment is mostly environmental cues - showing L a towel when it's shower time, showing him the car keys to see if he wants to get in the car.
They use a communication app on the iPad and L is good at communicating things like food choices but has some anxiety about using it for emotions and social stuff.
Eastman asks how someone like L could give evidence themselves. Ms Monaghan says the bright lights and environment would be difficult, but a teleconference with a familiar environment and a support person, and questions provided in advance, would help.
Moving on to the healthcare system, Ms Monaghan says there needs to be more time allowed, that small changes can be hard for people with autism to deal with and good healthcare needs to be well-coordinated to manage that.
He also gives them multiple options for treatment, because they only see him every 3-6 months and can't just go back straight away if something isn't working.
L went to a segregated school from age 3 and annual dental checkups were provided at the school, without Ms Monaghan present. As far as she knows there weren't any familiarisation visits to help L get used to it.
From age 12 he went to a different school without those dental health checkups, so Ms Monaghan took L to a community health centre. They had a "special needs" dental clinic but intake didn't ask anything about what L's needs actually were.
Ms Monaghan had to explain L's autism and healthcare-related trauma to the dentist, and that he would need some time to adjust before he could get in the chair.
Last year, a new dentist was shocked that L hadn't had any x-rays for 12 years and referred them to a dental hospital. She pushed for urgent review while L was in pain because the criteria for getting through the system are not preventative-based.
L also has a lot of trauma from other healthcare like pathology collection. He has been restrained and given anti-psychotic medication to manage his behaviour, which compounds the trauma.
Ms Monaghan is now talking about how hard it is to get a comprehensive behavioural assessment. Intake process is very onerous for a parent without medical training.
Every time there's an incident with L, including seclusion and restraint at school, and being left on the bus - people tell her "this has never happened before," and she doesn't believe it.
Ms Monaghan echoes a number of witnesses from last week in saying healthcare staff need more training and experience with disability, and especially in the social model of disability.
She says there need to be friendlier spaces, especially for children with autism. Novel and flexible approaches are important - not necessarily anything expensive or complicated, just small things.
Before the oral exam under sedation Ms Monaghan asked to be allowed to give L pre-medication herself, in the car, to reduce his anxiety, but it didn't happen - although there is precedent.
Chair asks about the private health system. Ms Monaghan says they don't have private health insurance but have sometimes paid privately for consultations due to long waiting lists in the public system.
@gdevera In closing remarks, Dr Zylan says that there are preventative measures that exist for people with intellectual disability, and that every time those measures are not taking it is neglect.
@gdevera Luke received a surgery a few years later. She says that after, a surgeon patted her on the back and said 'You did a good job convincing us to do that'
She was furious, noting she wanted to 'punch him in the face'.
@gdevera She speaks of talking to service providers about being inclusive.
When getting her sons support, with activities she knows they enjoy, she often made recommendations, and offered to help them with programs but was refused.
He emphasises the importance of data for showing that individual stories are representative of the broader experience of First Peoples with disability.
Dr Avery's research was motivated by hearing many stories from First Peoples with disability in his work with @FPDNAus but not hearing their voices in government initiatives like the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Health Plan.
He's explaining his methodology - a mixed method approach in which qualitative data (people's stories) and quantitative data (statistics pulled together from separate Aboriginal and Disability data) support each other.
Dr Avery's research was open-ended - asking people for as much or as little data as they wanted to give, without trying to guide their stories towards any particular aspect.
He says intersectionality is more than just having two identities at the same time (Aboriginal + disability). It's about where people sit in the social hierarchies of power.
The inequalities you experience as either an Aboriginal person or a person with disability are multiplied, not just added together, when you belong to both groups.
e.g. an Aboriginal man with cognitive disability being constantly assumed to be drunk by people around him (due to stereotypes about Indigenous ppl), which reduces his access to public spaces in a way you can't explain without bringing those two aspects together.
He talks about a cultural model of disability. Compared to the medical model (talking about a person's deficits), the social model (talking about things like stigma and accessibility), the cultural model talks about what disability means in a cultural context.
His example is barriers to fetal alcohol syndrome diagnosis: social barriers = fear of being stigmatised as a bad mother, cultural barriers = whether your culture sees disability or focuses on developmental milestones at all.
He says it's important not to just see diagnostic overshadowing as a communication issue that can be solved with consultation and awareness - it can be a matter of prejudice, as in the example of ambulance staff assuming someone is drunk.
Aboriginal people with disability are "hidden away" when it comes to rationing - there's the idea that nobody will kick up a fuss when they don't get the care they need.
Ms Eastman asks Dr Avery about his recommendations. He says change needs to be integrated throughout the system - from the frontline staff through to the national policy. These issues are currently absent/"othered" in all these areas.
There's a lot of buck-passing in terms of responsibility for complex health needs that really need everyone to buy in and take responsibility - but right now it's noone.
Getting ready to live tweet the last day of the #DisabilityRC hearing into the use of psychotropic medication and chemical restraints.
It's been a tough week, so if you need to mute this thread of the hashtag, we do understand.
If you feel impacted by anything you read here today, remember you can always call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
You can also call the National Counselling and Referral Service (specifically set up to support people impacted by anything related to the #DisabilityRC) on 1800 421 468.
We have been very disappointed so far with the lack of people with disability giving evidence at this hearing, and we'd like to start this thread today by sharing three blogs written for us by people with lived experience of the mental health system. #DisabilityRC
Getting ready to live tweet the #DisabilityRC again this morning. Thanks to everyone following along this week. Some of the testimony is confronting to hear, and we appreciate everyone engaging with us this week.
As always, if you need support, you can reach Lifeline on 13 11 14.
You can also call the National Counselling and Referral Service, set up to support anyone impacted by anything related to the #DisabilityRC, on 1800 421 468.
@FrancesPWDA is live tweeting this morning's #DisabilityRC sessions. You can follow the thread here:
It's day 2 of the Disability Royal Commission into "the use of psychotropic medication, behaviour support and behaviours of concern". We'll be live tweeting from here again today using the hashtag #DisabilityRC
We heard some harrowing testimony yesterday and we encourage everyone to look after yourselves as we go through this together.
We invite you to follow along on the journey with us, but also remember you can temporarily mute the hashtag or a thread if you need to. #DisabilityRC
@FrancesPWDA will be live tweeting for us from her account this morning. Check out the thread here:
The 6th Disability Royal Commission hearing on "the use of psychotropic medication, behaviour support and behaviours of concern" starts today at 10am, and we will be live tweeting the proceedings from here.
We'll be using the hashtag #DisabilityRC if you'd like to join us.