The Disability Resource Centre (DRC) supports the university community to be more inclusive of and provide adjustments for students when the impacts of a disability, health or mental health condition effects their access to education
A disability or barrier can be experienced as a result of a wide range of conditions, and may include students who are carers for a person with a disability. Many students may find the university environment is already inclusive of their needs, and where the situation is short term or one off in nature, extensions and special consideration may be the best option. If a student continues to experience difficulties, the DRC may be able to assist.
How to refer a student
- Students can find out more about the DRC by going to the DRC website. This may be useful for students who feel that the service doesn't apply to them,
- Students can self-refer by completing an online Request support form. Supporting documentation from a health professional is required, including:
- information on the student's condition
- whether the condition is permanent, ongoing or temporary
- how their study may be affected.
- a report from a psychologist or other qualified for student with learning disabilities.
- Once registration information is received, a DRC team member will contact the student to arrange a face-to-face or phone interview.
- Students are not obliged to disclose any disability to the University, but if they need to put adjustments in place they can share this information confidentially with the DRC.
What services are available
The team at the DRC work with students with disability to identify their strengths and strategies for participating at university. This may include referral to other services, and mentoring support such as the NAVIGATE program.
They also recommend academic adjustments and document them in an Access Plan which is shared with the relevant teaching and other staff.
Adjustments and support may include:
- Assisting students to communicate their needs to academic staff.
- Advice about other student support services
- Alternative assessment arrangements where required, including for exams.
- Providing access to academic support workers, including note-takers and AUSLAN interpreters.
- Providing study materials in an accessible format.
- Providing access to assistive technology.
- Offering support during practical sessions and placements.
The team are also here to provide advice and support to university staff about providing an inclusive and accessible environment and experience for students with disability, health and mental health conditions.
Contact details and hours
The DRC is available for general enquiries and appointments from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Call 9244 6255 or email [email protected].
- Burwood - Building B, level 1, room 1.03
- Waurn Ponds - Building jb, level 2
- Waterfront - John Hay Building, level 2
- Warrnambool - Building B, lower level
To determine the best referral point, some useful questions to ask yourself are:
- Has the student shared information about an issue they are experiencing due to a disability, health or mental health condition with you?
- Is the student's condition likely to be ongoing and not able to be met with Special Consideration or an extension?
- Are there adjustments that you think may assist the student?
- Are you unsure about whether the student may benefit from support from the DRC and would like to discuss with someone?
- Would you like ideas about how to include students with disability more?
Communicating with a person with disability can seem daunting to some. Some people are concerned that they will embarrass themselves or a person with disability by saying or doing the wrong thing. Though these concerns usually come from a good place, it is entirely unnecessary.
The most important thing to remember is to treat each person with respect, and that everyone is different and will have their own preferences. When communicating with a person with disability, you should ask the person what works for them, and respect their wishes.
Over 4 million people in Australia have some form of disability (around 18% or 1 in 5 people). There are 2.1 million Australians of working age with disability. Of these, just over 1 million are employed and another 114,900 are looking for work.
Australians with disability face significant barriers to work and study with employment participation rates around 30 percentage points lower than for other Australians. Disability discrimination also accounts for the highest volume of complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission. Not all disabilities are immediately obvious, and not all staff members or students with disability will be comfortable speaking openly about it.
There are several things to remember when referring to disability:
- Focus on the person, not the disability. Person-first language is the most widely accepted terminology in Australia, for example: 'person with disability'.
- Use language that is relevant – don't refer to someone's disability unless this is relevant to what you are saying.
- Avoid language that discriminates on the basis of disability.
- When discussing people with disabilities be wary of characterising them by their disability or presenting them as inspirational or in need of sympathy.
- Change the focus from disability to accessibility/functionality – for example accessible car parks, rather than disabled car parks.
- People 'experience' disabilities, rather than 'suffer from' or 'endure' them.
- Avoid terms like 'differently abled', 'disAbility', 'diffAbled', 'special needs' and the like which are euphemistic and can be considered patronising. While the intention is usually good, these phrases can make people with disability out to be special or inspirational just for living with disability.
Be aware of common speech
It is not appropriate to use the definitions such as schizophrenic to describe physical buildings or objects. It is also not appropriate to describe yourself as OCD or autistic when you display behaviours usually attributable to these conditions. Pay attention to words and expressions that can make their way into everyday speech ( 'he is crazy', 'that was mental', 'she went completely psycho'). These expressions, while commonly used and rarely intended to cause harm, may be upsetting for a person with lived experience of mental illness.
Body language and behaviour
Always ensure that you speak directly to the person, and not to anybody else who may be accompanying or assisting them (e.g. interpreters). When meeting with or speaking to somebody who uses a wheelchair, you may wish to choose a location where you can sit down too.
Digital accessibility
Inclusive communication is not just about language. It is also about the tools we use to present information and ensuring that the audience can access it. The focus should be changed from 'disability' to 'accessibility'. For example, we refer to accessible content which means that all students and staff can access it. If you are creating content for the Deakin website, familiarise yourself with the accessibility guidelines.
These guidelines establish the University's standards for ensuring that web content can be accessed using assistive technology (such as screen readers), and that visual content can be perceived and understood by all visitors (via alt-text for images, captions on images, subtitles and transcripts for videos, etc.). Simple things like ensuring text is a reasonable size and that there is a high level of contrast between text and background can make a big difference to a person with low vision.
Vision Australia has developed a free accessibility tool to help you create accessible Word documents. Learn more about Vision Australia's document accessibility toolbar.
Thank you to the Australian Network on Disability for some of this information in relation to disability.
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