Mike Sherman says he was beaten and denied food or drink while in an assisted living facility.
Photo: supplied

• Disabled man claims he was abused and abandoned in nursing home
• He uses his experience to teach medical students.
• She loves her new home, created by the father of another disabled person.

Mike Sherman claims he has suffered abuse, neglect and inadequate care while living in disability housing.

Now the 31-year-old, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and needs 24-hour support, is sharing his experience with healthcare students in the hope of improving the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities.

In the filing, Sherman said she had suffered abuse since she first moved into supportive housing when she was in her 20s.

“People hit me, deny me food or drink, sometimes for long periods of time.”

The Northland man was born prematurely and suffered cardiac arrest two days old, causing a catastrophic brain haemorrhage.

At 18 months he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair, communicating through yes and no acknowledgments and very short sentences.

“The hardest thing is not being able to do anything for myself,” Sherman said.

“I can’t do anything and I have to rely on the people around me to take care of me.”

In a statement, he said that over the years some employees were unfriendly.

“My basic needs were met, but nothing more. I experienced emotional abuse: people did not take me seriously or treat me like a human being.

“I felt like I was just a job for support workers rather than a human being worthy of attention.”

Sherman claimed that some support staff openly admitted that they did not like him and found him demanding.

“I was physically abused. I was beaten and at times missing medication.”

Celeste Sherman said she heard a caregiver hit her son when she picked him up one day for a family event.

“I saw the movement of his hand, but I definitely heard the slap. It was one of those cases where you think, ‘Did I really see or hear that?'”

She asked Sherman if the caretaker had slapped him and he said yes and told her it had happened before.

Celeste called a meeting with management at the NZ Care home in Hamilton to express her concerns, but said they didn’t seem to believe them.

A spokesperson for NZ Care hit back at the allegation.

“We are extremely concerned about the 2018 incident of abuse that Michael Sherman reported experiencing while living in a home supported by NZ Care, which he recently raised.

“We apologize for any distress this has caused Michael and his family.

“We have zero tolerance for neglect and abuse of any kind, and we are taking Michael’s report very seriously.”

The spokesperson said that as a provider of disability support services, NZ Care had systems in place to provide disabled people and their whānau with opportunities to safely raise concerns of any nature with them.

“A thorough review of all of Michael’s records shows that the NZ Care team worked closely and collaboratively with Michael and his family during the four years 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 her son was moved because of her concerns and he now lives in Kōwhai House, a private home in Hamilton created by the father of another disabled person.

Sherman gives presentations about his life and what it’s 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 staff from Idea Services in Paeroa.

“Overall, I’ve had very positive responses, especially from students,” Sherman said.

“The main thing they tell me is that students are moved by hearing a personal story from my perspective rather than hearing everything about caregiving in a textbook.

“A young man stood up and apologized on behalf of the people who had wronged me, thanked me for educating them, and said he can promise that he and his classmates will make sure nothing like this happens again.”

Sherman said the presentation, which includes slides, was read by her support worker and Kōwhai House manager, Melissa Hunt.

“I’m working with an (occupational therapy) student to do a voiceover, which can be played instead of reading the presentation. That way, people can connect me more with the information, rather than being a support worker talking. “

Sherman hopes to continue telling her story, but said because her truck was broken down, she was relying on Driving Miss Daisy for transportation.

Disability Affairs Minister Louise Upston said the government wanted the best for disabled people, their families and carers.

“Any experience of abuse and neglect is concerning.”

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