Three full time carers

are apparently needed for a teenage boy with "autism and behavioural issues". He is still living at home. According to the story in this morning's paper his mother has called an ambulance over one hundred times in the past year because he has injured himself or someone else. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been paying for two carers and expecting the family to cope the rest of the time.

I have no idea what he is like but I can imagine his behaviour is very, very challenging. I have known families where everything, and I mean everything, that can be kept under lock and key is kept under lock and key. I have known parents with bruises and black eyes and, in one case, a broken arm brought about by the violent behaviour of their autistic child. In the supermarket yesterday I had to spend almost ten minutes I could not really afford to spend allowing an autistic boy with some severe issues show me his new i-pad. He is "non-verbal" and uses it to communicate. As they were finally leaving me alone his mother mouthed to me behind his back, "Thank you so much Cat." I knew what she meant. If I had not stopped to "listen" to him he might well have caused a major disruption in the supermarket. He did do just that once. Things fell to the floor and he threw something. Fortunately one of the staff caught it and, knowing him, helped to calm him down. 

His parents have no idea what triggers his outbursts. Everything can seem completely calm. He can appear to be enjoying something and then he will suddenly appear to go "berserk".  His family have done everything they can to get help with the situation. It is one of those rare cases where his parents have stayed together and supported each other, where his two siblings try to help too. I know it has an enormous impact on their lives though. They are not a "normal" family however hard they try to be.  He should be at school but no school, not even the private special needs school, can cope with him. He can never be left alone. His siblings sleep with their door locked against him. His parents and a carer take the nights in shifts.

I know it can't go on much longer. His mother looks old far beyond her years with the effort to cope. His father looks no better. There have been more times than they care to count they have been tempted to abandon him at the big southern police station. 

It is why I will spend ten minutes "listening" to him but, like the boy in the other story, he needs highly specialised care in a residential setting. I know there are all sorts of arguments about children with severe behavioural issues still being better off with "family" and "in a family environment" but their parents and siblings need to be considered as well. If the NDIS cannot pay for three round the clock carers (if you can find people willing to do it) then reasonable alternatives need to be provided. Why? Because right now it is not just the child with behavioural issues who has a disability but an entire family.