Neurodivergent students being turned away from elite Brisbane schools

An Aussie mum has told of her heartbreak and anger after five private schools rejected her son because he has autism – and says one told her ‘we don’t do kids like that’.

Neurodivergent and disabled kids are being turned away and told they cannot enrol at Brisbane’s most elite private schools, with the widespread issue being labelled unacceptable and frustrating.

Brisbane parents say they fear their children with conditions such as autism and ADHD are being branded “too hard” as they are being excluded from multiple schools in the region.

Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion chief executive Matilda Alexander said parents had turned to them when children with “various disabilities” were turned away from private schools, which was “not acceptable”.

“Our message to parents and kids is that discrimination is unlawful in Queensland,” Ms Alexander said.

“It’s a school’s responsibility to resource those changes so that the teachers get the support that they need, and the students can stay in school.”

Ms Alexander said children with physical disabilities were also refused access to the same education opportunities available to their peers.

“We want to live in a community that is fair and inclusive, and we want our schools to be places where everyone is welcome, and discrimination causes stigma and exclusion,” Ms Alexander said.

Children with disabilities and who are neurodivergent have been told they cannot enrol at some Brisbane schools.

One Brisbane mother, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sunday Mail she had applied to five private schools for her son, who has autism, before being told no by all of them.

“We went to one school, and they said, ‘No, we don’t do kids like that,’ that was literally their words from the person I spoke to on the phone,” she said.

“We spent six months approaching every school we could think of that might be a good fit … they just would not progress his enrolment application.”

Another mum said her child with autism couldn’t even make it for an in-person interview to any of the private schools they attempted to join.

“We were just put in the ‘too hard’ basket,” she said. “What’s the point of paying hundreds … of dollars to every single school around the region, just for an enrolment interview, to be told no, you’re too hard?”

The mum said it was “exceptionally frustrating”.

“Where does that leave us?” she said. “The entire time we were in public schooling, I was still approaching private schools, independent schools and special schools, begging schools to be able to accept us.”

The mum said she should not have to advocate for “equal rights”.

“It shouldn’t be OK to have the education system just turn around to parents and caregivers and say, ‘it’s not my problem’.”

She said she wished private schools were more transparent on who they could accept.

Autism Spectrum Australia national director Maryanne Gosling said schools needed to share resources more.

“We should be coming together … and saying ‘a parent would like to choose a private school, because that’s their choice …’ then how is the community wrapping around to say, ‘hey what could you do differently, and how can we support you to get there?,’” Ms Gosling said.

“It’s really tricky if you’ve got two or three other children in that school, and sibling number three comes along and there’s not a place for them because they’re different.”

Originally published as Neurodivergent students being turned away from elite Brisbane schools