By Natalie Akoorie of RNZ
Mike Sherman claims he has suffered abuse, neglect and inadequate care while living in housing for people with disabilities.
Now the 31-year-old, who has severe cerebral palsy and needs 24-hour support, is sharing his experience with healthcare students in the hopes of improving the treatment of intellectually disabled people.
In the presentation Sherman said he had suffered abuse since first moving into supported living in his mid-20s.
"People have hit me, have withheld food or drink from me - sometimes over long periods of time."
The Northland man was born prematurely and suffered a cardiac arrest at two-days-old that caused a catastrophic brain bleed.
At 18 months he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair, communicating through yes and no acknowledgements and very short sentences.
"The hardest thing is not being able to do anything for myself," Sherman said.
"I can't do a thing and I have to trust the people around me to take care of me."
In a statement, he said over the years some staff were unkind.
"They met basic needs, but nothing beyond that. I experienced emotional abuse - people didn't take me seriously or treat me like a human being.
"It felt like I was just a job to the support workers rather than a human being deserving of care."
Sherman claimed some support staff openly admitted they did not like him and saw him as demanding.
"I was physically abused. I was hit, and at times, my medications were missed."
Celeste Sherman said she heard her son being smacked by a carer when collecting him one day for a family event.
"I saw the movement of her hand, but I definitely heard the slap. It was one of those instances where you think 'Did I really see or hear that?'"
She asked Sherman if the carer had smacked him and he said yes, and told her it had happened before.
Celeste called a meeting with management of the NZ Care home in Hamilton to express concern but said it did not seem they were believed.
An NZ Care spokesperson responded to the hitting allegation.
"We are extremely concerned about the 2018 incident of abuse Michael Sherman reported experiencing while living in a home supported by NZ Care, which he has recently raised.
"We apologise for any distress this has caused Michael and his family.
"We have zero tolerance of neglect and abuse of any kind, and we are taking Michael's report very seriously."
The spokesperson said as a provider of disability support services, NZ Care had systems in place to give disabled people and their whānau opportunities to safely raise concerns of any nature with them.
"A thorough review of all Michael's records shows the NZ Care team worked closely and collaboratively with Michael and his family throughout the four years that he lived in the Hamilton-based home.
"According to our records, Michael's decision to leave the service in June 2019 was unrelated to the reported incident."
Celeste said they moved her son because of their concerns and now he lives at Kōwhai House, a private home in Hamilton set up by the parent of another disabled person.
Sherman gives presentations about his life and what it is like to be disabled to healthcare students.
So far he has presented to NZMA health and wellbeing students, first-year Wintec occupational therapy students, representatives from Enabling Good Lives (a type of disability support funding), and Idea Services staff in Paeroa.
"Overall, I have had really positive responses, especially amongst the students," Sherman said.
"The main thing I get told is that the students are touched hearing a personal story from my perspective versus hearing all about care in a textbook.
"A young man stood up and apologised on behalf of the people who have harmed me, thanked me for educating them and said that he can promise that he and his classmates will make sure nothing like that will ever happen again."
Sherman said the presentation, which includes slides, was read out by his support worker and Kōwhai House manager Melissa Hunt.
"I am working with an [occupational therapy] student to do a voice-over, that can be played instead of reading the presentation out. That way, people may connect me more to the information, rather than it being a support worker talking."
Sherman hopes to keep telling his story but said with his van currently broken, he was reliant on Driving Miss Daisy for transport.
Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston said the government wanted the best for disabled people, their families and their carers.
"Any experiences of abuse and neglect are concerning."
