According to Archbishop Mannix, boys like David Kanatopsky were the lucky ones’. Having sustained an acquired brain injury at birth, Davey grew up in a loving Jewish family in Melbourne. At 16, his care was entrusted to the Hospitaller Brothers of St John of God, a Catholic order dedicated to meeting the needs of people with intellectual disabilities.
But behind closed doors, and away from his family, Davey was subjected to horrific physical, psychological and sexual abuse. As the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse revealed, the Order of St John of God was deemed the worst of the worst.
In All About My Brother, Ilana Snyder asks us to consider the personal, social and institutional forces that enabled and protected this perpetration of evil. She shows how survival plays out for the abused and their loved ones, navigating complex legal, financial and bureaucratic systems. In telling Davey’s story, Ilana writes for all those who care for the disabled, for those who care for justice in our society and for those who care to understand the humanity of people who cannot advocate for themselves.
Ilana Snyder taught English in high schools before working in teacher education at Monash University for nearly three decades as a lecturer and researcher. She has published eight academic books, including Hypertext and The Literacy Wars, along with many journal articles and chapters. An emeritus professor in Education at Monash, she has also written for the Australian Book Review. All About My Brother is her first work of life writing, intimately exploring her family’s experience raising an intellectually disabled child and the long-hidden abuse he suffered over many years.
* A deeply moving real-life account of survival and resilience despite injustice against disabled people in care.
* Explores the social, legal and institutional failures within the Order of St John of God, highlighted by findings from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
* Highlights the vulnerability of people with intellectual disabilities and the urgent need for stronger protections.
* Examines survival, trauma and ramifications for individuals, their families and broader networks, and the struggle for dignity and healing.
* Appeals to readers interested in law, ethics, human rights, and institutional accountability.
* Engages carers, advocates, legal professionals and policymakers.
Publicity:
One of the ironies of the family memoir genre is that often it is the darkest subject matter that produces the most compelling stories. David Kanatopsky survived monstrous treatment and institutionalised betrayal and inhumanity. Ilana Snyder relates his story in fond, cogent and suitably indignant prose.
—Quote from Peter Rose, (retired) editor of the Australian Book Review
