Autism advocates are begging for change from the NSW government after it was revealed young children are being forcibly handcuffed, strapped down to hospital beds and forced to take powerful sedatives.
Anger-inducing video footage recorded earlier this week shows a nine-year-old girl from south-west Sydney screaming as she is handcuffed and led away by police officers, following a meltdown at school.
Families and support workers say that kids who have challenging behaviours and complex needs are falling through the cracks due to a lack of mental health and inpatient services for their age group.
Advocates say these young kids are instead undergoing traumatising experiences by cycling through emergency departments and apprehensions by police.
Makayla, nine, has struggled due to her combination of conditions including autism spectrum disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, ADHD and anxiety that result in uncontrolled and sometimes violent outbursts.
“I just want to be a normal family,” Makayla told 9News.
“I want to make mummy proud.”
However, the young girl says she lives in fear of a voice in her head and the fallout from her own meltdowns.
Makayla has on numerous occasions been handcuffed and put into paddy wagons.
While this heinous act might seem like it is illegal, the NSW government allows it under the Mental Health Act.
Makayla’s mother Megan, who has been attacked by her daughter during outbursts, said her child needs more specialist help.
Unfortunately, she has been told by medical staff that Makayla is a child who has “fallen through the cracks” of the system.
“We’re just being stonewalled everywhere we go,” she said.
Megan stressed that she doesn’t lay any blame at police, health workers, carers, school or emergency staff who respond to incidents.
Instead she blames the system as it is failing to provide much-needed specialist interventions, treatment and support for young kids like Makayla.
Grace Fava is CEO of the Autism Advisory and Support Service and operates Australia’s only 24-hour hotline for struggling parents and carers of kids with autism.
She claims there are so many parents like Megan, whose families have been torn apart, unable to cope and felt isolated.
“For every one that comes through to us, there are at least another 100 that are crying out begging for help,” she said.
“The system is letting them down. I’d say the system is broken but as somebody once eloquently put it, there is no system.”
Ms Fava says these children often end up in teen or adult mental health services.
Unfortunately, this means they may be exposed to drugs, self-harm and inappropriate behaviour.
These children are also at a higher risk of turning to drugs and ending up in the justice system when they get older.
