Western Sydney mum Narelle has seen a difference in her teenage son, Keanu, since he began participating in the Y NSW’s Alternative Suspension program.
It’s where the 14-year-old has felt seen and heard. For Keanu and Narelle, it’s meant the world as the teenager navigates school with an ADHD diagnosis and evolving neurodivergent traits, while also continuing to work through the trauma of losing his father several years ago.
Overwhelmed by the demands of his mainstream class – to which he had been transferred from a support class – Keanu’s emotional dysregulation was viewed through a “misconduct lens”, Narelle said.
The mother-of-three said Keanu gained an advocate after being referred to the Y’s Alternative Suspension program at Y Space Western Sydney.
Youth Worker Hayley Smith worked with the Year 8 student to better understand his needs, making recommendations to the school for additional support structures that Narelle said ultimately “validated” the family’s experiences in the health and education systems.
With the support of Hayley and Youth Program Coordinator Jarrod Graham, Keanu is learning how to advocate for himself and his needs.
The teen describes the pair as “genuine”, and it’s this authentic approach that’s made him feel seen and accepted.
“It doesn’t feel like they’re on a script,” Keanu said.
Narelle said she was grateful the team saw Keanu for who he was and not what he had been labelled.
“Very quickly it wasn't just, ‘okay, here we have another child that's … naughty’ or whatever the school has deemed them. They saw Keanu – the actual child – with everything and not just what he's already been labelled externally, but who he was,” Narelle said.
She has since seen positive changes in the way Keanu engages with school, describing how at first, after returning from school burnt out, he would come home, “lights off … hiding away in his room”.
“Everything was just too much,” Narelle said.
“But the days that he was coming back from the Y, it was like he was a different boy. He was coming back, he was drawing, he was playing his guitar. You could just see he had new life breathed into him.”
“They could see him exactly for what he needed, and it’s a respite. This is where he can go and not burn out … and then Keanu – the real Keanu – can be seen, because if he needs to move around because he also has ADHD, he needs to move around, that's okay. If he needs to fidget, that's okay. If he needs to have his headphones in because the noise is getting too much because of his sensory overload, that's okay. He's not judged for those things. And then what he will then provide to others is he'll be engaged.
“He makes me proud.”
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