Children ‘dehumanised’

‘‘I felt like I was being controlled all the time ... It was like sending someone to prison at 11 years old.’’ Matthew Whiting Spent eight years at Burwood Hospital

Matthew Whiting spent eight of his formative years in Burwood Hospital in Christchurch where he was sexually abused, put into isolation and had food shoved down his throat.

Whiting, who has cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia and a speech impairment, told the Abuse in Care hearing yesterday that Burwood Hospital was a prison with no bars.

He lived there from age 13 to 21 because his parents believed it was the best place for him, but he became institutionalised, had no choice about his day-to-day life and was forced to hide in a lift to get some personal space.

One day, when Whiting refused to eat, a nurse held his nose and shoved the food down his throat.

‘‘I was living day after day in a system of power and control ... When you can’t move yourself, you don’t have any choice. The way that staff members wanted things done, that was the way it was done. There is a massive power imbalance,’’ he said.

When Whiting was 15, he was touched and kissed by a nurse without any choice in what was happening, he said. He only later realised as an adult how she had abused and taken advantage of him.

When he was a child, a specialist incorrectly believed he had a learning impairment. However, a child psychologist later confirmed he had above average intelligence.

His adoptive home was ‘‘significantly dysfunctional’’ with a lot of verbal violence. He moved to family homes at the age of 7 which was upsetting and made him believe that his impairments were to blame for the family’s difficulties.

He was then moved to Pukeora Hospital where some staff members abused their power and control over the residents. ‘‘Nobody asked me what I wanted ... I was terrified. I felt like I was being controlled all the time ... It was like sending someone to prison at 11 years old,’’ he said.

He was living in a dormitory and was threatened by two men who he saw performing a sex act on each other, leaving him feeling vulnerable and powerless.

Whiting was put in isolation by staff both in Pukeora and Burwood.

He told the hearing about the discrimination he still faced every day as a disabled person, from discriminatory questions in job interviews to being ignored by waiters.

‘‘I’m treated like I can’t do it, like I can’t talk. I am put down. Every single day, my sense of self is affected.’’

Whiting wanted societal and systemic changes to address the imbalance of power in the disability sector which is significantly underfunded.

He has worked as the regional disability leadership coordinator and service manager for CCS Disability Action for the past 21 years.