Caleb’s Story
The teenage years can be challenging at the best of times, but when attending school is so difficult that a young person feels suicidal, intervention is critical.
This was the abyss faced by Caleb and his despairing mother, Rhonda, after his first seven years in a mainstream school unequipped to deal with his autism. It had left him behind socially, psychologically, and academically.
Rhonda knows that if they hadn’t found The Sycamore School – which Caleb attended for three years, graduating Year 10 in 2021 – their lives could have been vastly and tragically different.
“He was an angry, depressed, unhappy teen who had absolutely no trust in the schooling system, teachers, or anything,” Rhonda shares.
“He had major anxiety issues. He had rarely completed a day of school since he started Prep and was usually sent home from school. He would have major aggressive, destructive meltdowns at school and at home. He had absolutely no emotional and social regulation skills.
While Rhonda believed Sycamore would be different, convincing Caleb to give schooling another chance was a giant hurdle. She had to force him to attend the first day, and his adverse attitudes and responses were so ingrained that Rhonda feared his aggressive behaviour would be handled in the same way as at a mainstream school, risking expulsion.
What transpired caught her by surprise.
“The school was absolutely amazing in getting to the cause of the problem with social stories, and talking to him. He had never had any assistance with how to regulate his emotions; how to communicate how he’s feeling. So, it took Sycamore the entire first year to undo seven years’ damage from mainstream schooling.”
Caleb’s transformation was dramatic. “Once he started realising Sycamore staff and teachers were different and caring and actually wanted to help him, he could go to school. He would come home from school exhausted, but he wasn’t coming home from school in meltdown.”
Over time, when Caleb did have meltdowns, he could self-regulate, so in most instances he could control them within 15 minutes. Previously, it had taken hours.
The behavioural groundwork in Year 8 paid off in Caleb’s classroom learning in Year 9.
“He actually managed to exceed all his Personal Learning Plan goals, before the end of the first term,” Rhonda notes.
Music therapy, involving learning the trumpet, was also beneficial. Rhonda shares her proud moment of Caleb playing The Rouse at the school’s 2021 ANZAC Day ceremony dressed in a replica World War I Light Horse uniform belonging to his sister.
“Oh, that was amazing. It was beautiful to watch. That was a major achievement for him. I know everybody was so proud of him and I’ve never seen him so proud of his achievement. Then he went around the primary school classes, to show them the Light Horse uniform.”
While she admits Caleb was “devastated” that Year 10 was the highest offered by Sycamore, their goal focused on long-term and post-school skills “to continue any education and to make him employable, so that he could be a productive member of society”.
During Year 10, Caleb undertook work experience as an activity supervisor at an outdoor education centre, and a BMX bike building program. Eventually, he would like to be a support worker, “to help kids like him because he knows what it feels like”.
The Year 10 graduation ceremony was a very emotional day, Rhonda recalls.
“Because all the kids had very poor educational experiences previously, to see how they progressed and developed from the first day of Grade 8, to become well-balanced teens was amazing.”
Although 2022 and 2023 will be very different for Caleb, returning to a mainstream school to finish his secondary studies – Rhonda believes the foundation created by Sycamore for school and life, and the lasting friendships he formed, will help him manage.
“He is learning how to communicate better. Sycamore taught him how to actually learn, how to regulate his emotions so that he can stay calm and feel better about himself. Sycamore gave him confidence.”