Ben Mavlian loves collecting war memorabilia.
The 18-year-old, who lives with autism and dyslexia, has a proud family history of service during World War I.
He said looking at his memorabilia calmed him down after a challenging day at school, where he was frequently bullied.
"It happened on a daily basis,” he said. “They were so mean it dragged me away from school work.”
Ben Mavlian with his WWI memorabilia Source: SBS
His mother, Julie Mavlian, said he was having such a difficult time, he had to change schools.
"It was particularly hard,” she said.
“Typically, he would come home and just let it all out – he would often have a big explosion about the frustrations of his day.
“Hearing all of that about all the things that were difficult for him is really hard, day in, day out.”
Julie Mavlian Source: SBS
The Mavlian family is not alone.
A new survey of 500 parents and carers by Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA), the main group representing the country’s disabled students, has found half of the school-aged children with disabilities have been bullied.
The survey also found one in 10 students living with a disability had been refused enrolment at an Australian school and almost half had been excluded from a school event or activity.
The most concerning statistic, according to according to CYDA, is that a quarter of students living with a disability reported being restrained or secluded.
"They have been physically man-handled by school staff, or they have been secluded in a classroom by themselves or locked away in a special room," Chief Executive Mary Sayers said.
“This abuse is really quite horrific.”
Children and Young People with Disability Australia CEO Mary Sayers Source: SBS
The 2019 version of the survey was the fourth conducted overall.
In those four years, Ms Sayers said, results have not changed.
“This is telling us that we have is a deeply-entrenched, systemic problem,” she said.
The 2019 report has been released just ahead of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability’s start in Townsville on 4 November.
The focus of the first hearing will be education.
CYDA said change to the education system needs to happen before the royal commission ends.
It recommends phasing out specialised schools and segregated classes, and providing more training for teachers.
"I think children with any kind of disability need to be with the community; they are part of the community, they need to be in the community,” Ms Mavlian said.
“The problem is that giving teachers the support and the resources they need to do a really good job of that is critical."
Additional reporting by Evan Young.
