Page 1214 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 2 April 2019
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We must remember that people with autism are not all the same as each other. They are an incredibly diverse community. What binds them is the experience of being the odd one out. They are all ages and every gender, in every culture and in every profession.
Ultimately, every person’s brain is wired differently. These ones are not broken; they are simply different. Some everyday tasks may be difficult but many other things may not be; many other things may be a lot easier. We need to leave them be and to love them for who they are.
We should remember that being different is not always easy. People get bullied, left out and picked on but we can make a difference by engaging with people with autism, interacting with them and asking them to join in, or even letting them sit on the sidelines without judgement and expectation of their joining in because they are not comfortable doing so. We know that boys are far more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism, although there is a debate as to whether or not its prevalence is higher in boys than in girls. We do know, however, that girls are better at hiding it.
The current obstacles facing girls and boys with autism are many and varied but they can be overcome with deeper knowledge, more effective support systems, open and honest communications between schools and families and strategies that encourage families and schools to work together towards positive outcomes because having a positive, validating, educational experience can help provide the foundations for them and, of course, all of us to thrive. And this is something that we must get better at.
Canberra Police Community Youth Club
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (5.20): The Canberra Police Community Youth Club, PCYC, provides services for young people and their families across the ACT. They currently run recreation-based early intervention programs, such as Project Booyah, which incorporate adventure-based learning with social development, skills training, mentoring, caseworker literacy and numeracy education, and vocational qualifications. The club also provides crime prevention and reduction programs and youth crime diversion programs for vulnerable young people.
I rise today to thank executive manager Cheryl O’Donnell and her capable and enthusiastic staff for all that they do to help young people in our community. I have frequently been a guest at the PCYC and have seen firsthand the innovative and caring ways they work with youth to help them get their lives back on track. For example, 80 per cent of those who complete the Project Booyah program do not reoffend.
This program receives funding from the commonwealth government. As announced by Senator Seselja last week, it has been awarded enough money to run again in 2019. Many other PCYC programs, however, are partially or fully dependent on funds that can be raised locally. So when Cheryl asked me to help with their fundraiser this year, I had to say yes. But, to be perfectly honest, Madam Speaker, it took me a while to say yes.
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