11-year-old suspended for stab threat has ‘no idea what it actually means’

The 11-year-old was sent home for allegedly threatening students – but her grandmother said Liviah was mimicking schoolyard behaviour because of her autism.

A woman whose autistic granddaughter was suspended for allegedly threatening other students with a butter knife says the education system is under-equipped to manage children with autism.

Debbie McKenzie received a letter from Morphett Vale East School last Friday stating that 11-year-old Liviah would be excluded for a day.

Principal Carolyn Mildrum said she had “reasonable grounds to believe that (Liviah) has threatened or perpetrated violence” and that she “made threatening gestures towards a staff member and students”.

However, Liviah said she found the knife in a classroom while left unsupervised, according to Ms McKenzie, but is meant to have constant one-one-one care from a student support officer (SSO).

Debbie McKenzie received a letter from Morphett Vale East School last Friday stating that her 11-year-old granddaughter Liviah would be suspended for allegedly bringing a butter knife to school. Picture: Brett Hartwig

Ms McKenzie said the suspension was “not helpful” because Liviah’s problems with social cues meant she “mimics” other children – without understanding what she has said.

“She doesn’t know what ‘stabbing’ someone means,” Ms McKenzie said.

McKenzie said Liviah has problems with social cues and mimics behaviour from other students without understanding the context. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“I asked her where she heard that word and she heard it from (another student).

“I asked her if she stabbed someone, and she said ‘yes’, and I asked her if there was any blood and she said ‘no’ … She doesn’t have any idea what it actually means because she’s copied what she heard from another boy. She never hears that language at home.”

The butter knife confiscated from Liviah …

… compared to those at Ms McKenzie's home. Picture: Supplied

An Education Department spokeswoman responded saying “the safety of staff and students is our priority, which is why this action was taken”.

“The student is supervised when she is at school by her SSO, who is trained to provide autism support,” the spokeswoman said.

“She also receives a high level of support from other staff, including the principal, all of whom are assisted by an Autism Inclusion Teacher who is also trained.

“Due to the complex needs of the student and her family, they have received ongoing support from the school and the Department for Education and have been referred to other government agencies when appropriate.”

Liviah has missed up to three weeks of school this year because of bullying, which has been an ongoing problem throughout her schooling according to Ms McKenzie.

While she has two meetings a week with the school principal to monitor Liviah’s wellbeing, she wants to have more input in how her behaviour is managed to avoid potential escalation.

“ (Liviah) has been bullied so much – when she was in kindy, she had to go to the hospital because someone hit her in the head so hard she had to have plastic surgery,” she said.

“We can’t let this keep going on or else kids just won’t want to go to school.”

School refusal is becoming more common among schoolchildren, with a national survey in May finding two in ten students had displayed such behaviour more than once.