After her son was bullied, the mother of an Indigenous boy who made global news claims she was left for months in the dark by his school.
Nine-year – old Quaden, who has a common form of dwarfism, went viral in February, claiming he was going to kill himself after being taunted at school.
Yarraka Bayles told the royal disability commission that the school has made recent improvements, but it took a long time to establish a plan to return to the classroom for her son.
“It was just our support services checking in with us,” Ms Bayles said on Monday.
“Quaden felt like he was being punished because he actually wanted to go back to school.
“There were many, many months that went by where it was just me and Quaden sitting at home.
“There wasn’t anything else we could do and it was very, very difficult.”
The five-day commission hearing explores obstacles to inclusive and satisfying education for students with a disability.
Ms. Bayles said Quaden wants a specialist machine to help with respiratory issues, but he is not permitted to carry it to school.
Ms Bayles is trying to implement a ‘Quaden ‘s law’ and said she needs to see anti-bullying policies shake-up.
There should be a change to promoting child empathy, addressing root causes of bullying at home, and ensuring that students can anonymously report incidents, she said.