Disability Royal Commission, Disability writing

Disablity, abuse and neglect: a scar on our society

by Iva and Julie

Ann-Marie Smith, Willow Dunn, and hundreds of thousands of people with disability… Things need to change!

On May 30 Australians are being asked to hold a one-minute vigil for Ann-Marie Smith, a tragic story of abuse of a woman with a disability.

Ann-Marie Smith was a 54-year-old Adelaide woman with cerebral palsy, who lived on her own. She relied on her carer to support all her needs. She died this April with the following issues: severe septic shock, organ failure, sores, malnutrition. She had spent more than a year in a cane chair, 24 hours per day. Yet she was funded for six hours a day of disability care and support a day. Thankfully the carer was sacked, is being investigated by police, and should not be allowed to support people with disability again.  

Ann-marie Smith
Ann-Marie Smith will always be remembered

But this is not a story of one neglectful carer. This is a story of a major issue with our disability care system across Australia. On May 28 news came of a little girl with Down’s Syndrome, called Willow Dunn, allegedly murdered by her own father. This prompted an online candlelight vigil.  Abuse keeps on happening. People with disability are simply not being supported in our society. Indeed, this story highlights how little communities value people with disability. One minute is all it would have taken for neighbours to check in on Ann-Marie. Or Willow for that matter. Thus the call for one-minute’s silence.

The COVID-19 context demonstrates that this is not a rare case. Consider the shocking percentage of deaths in care homes worldwide, and the fact that people with intellectual disability were refused testing for COVID-19 in some countries, though they are among the most vulnerable populations. What does is say about us as a society?

Abuse of people with disability should not be ignored and reports should be sent to authorities. Review of practices should be strongly implemented to make sure this behaviour is stopped. 

We are heartened by some of the responses on our personal Facebook pages to news of these shocking cases.  From Alex Strike: “This is wrong! I don’t understand why people act this way towards people with disability. How dare they get away with it!” And from Angelo Hatz: “It’s absolutely disgraceful that people with physical and intellectual disabilities are treated like this in this day and age. More needs to be done now to ensure that this type of abuse and neglect does not happen… people with physical and intellectual disabilities need to be treated like human beings and valued members of our community.”

This is why the recently released COVID-19 Statement of Concern: Human rights, disability and ethical decision-making is so critical. See: http://wwda.org.au/media-release-covid-19-statement-of-concern-human-rights-disability-and-ethical-decision-making/?fbclid=IwAR38TiKhB14uCYqPcFvFQX6csM-X66jf8X9kBAz1zZdR-qoiC7697O7ExrI

And this is why the Disability Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability is so ESSENTIAL. We need to hear the voices of those who have been silenced for centuries. We need to stop the abuse. We need to put in preventive measures, so that abuse and neglect of people with disability does not happen again.

That is also why it is so important to REMEMBER. To remember that lives of some people, like those with intellectual and other disability continue to be treated as if they are worth less than others. The blog by our dear friend Jan Walmsley is a great reminder of that: https://janniewannie.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/remembering/

Will you also join us in the one-minute vigil for Ann Marie? https://www.aminuteforannmarie.com/?fbclid=IwAR1v-0jA3mWROU9iHlo4UzmNXBCGdfdV0WMp_Mk0h1CmOn_2dAmPHD2u-oo? 

PLAIN ENGLISH VERSION

On May 30 Australians are being asked to hold a one-minute vigil for Ann-Marie Smith, a tragic story of abuse of a woman with a disability.

Ann-Marie Smith:

  • 54-year-old
  • lived on her own
  • had a carer to support her in all her needs for 6 hours per day
  • had a disability (cerebral palsy)
  • died in April 2020.

Ann died because:

  • severe infection,
  • organ failure,
  • sores,
  • hunger,
  • spent more than a year in a cane chair, 24 hours per day.

Thankfully her carer was sacked. This is being looked into by police.

Her carer should not be allowed to support people with disability again.  

Also, in May we learnt about a little girl with Down’s Syndrome, Willow Dunn. She was allegedly killed by her own father.

This story is not about one carer who was careless. Or about one parent who killed their child.

It is about:

  • major issues people with disability have with care system across Australia.
  • Abuse keeps on happening.
  • People with disability are not being supported in our society.
  • Communities do not value people with disability.
  • It does not take long to check on your neighbours and how they are.

The COVID-19 situation shows this is not a rare case.

  • Think about the deaths in care homes worldwide.
  • People with intellectual disability were refused testing for COVID-19 in some countries. But there are among the most at risk people.

What does is say about our world?

Abuse of people with disability should not be overlooked.

Reports should be sent to authorities.

Review of practices should happen, so this abuse does not happen again.

This is what some people said about this on our Facebook pages:

  • Alex Strike: “This is wrong! I don’t understand why people act this way towards people with disability. How dare they get away with it!” 
  • Angelo Hatz: “It’s absolutely disgraceful that people with physical and intellectual disabilities are treated like this in this day and age. More needs to be done now to ensure that this type of abuse and neglect does not happen… people with physical and intellectual disabilities need to be treated like human beings and valued members of our community.”

This is why:

We need to hear the voices of those who have been silenced for years.

This needs to stop.

It is important that lives of people with disabilities are treated as lives of anybody else. They are not different to others.

This blog is a reminder of issues.

You may also like a blog by our friend, Jan Walmsley: https://janniewannie.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/remembering/

Will you also join us in the one-minute vigil for Ann Marie? https://www.aminuteforannmarie.com/?fbclid=IwAR3y9T9U66etz1vGo6AMBJUmlNmLCaXmiF59jzXoQbfMep03ZNpump47eQk

Iva Strnadová and Julie Loblinkz are research partners and friends. They host the blog Disability and Me. Both are strong advocates for people with intellectual disability.