Resources

Monash flips on ‘ableist’ learning model

Monash flips on ‘ableist’ learning model
Monash University’s law faculty has sensationally scrapped its “ableist” ban on recorded lectures following fierce backlash from students.

Inclusive education: It’s time to flip the thinking on educating young people with disabilities

Education is not only a fundamental human right, it also acts to amplify other rights – this is called a multiplier effect.  Inclusive education must go beyond simply including children with disability in a space, as there’s often an invisible door that stops a true sense of belonging.  This ‘exclusion within inclusion’ also has negative psychological and biological impacts, poor sleep, reduced or excessive eating or exercise.

Legislation and regulation in Australia: Children and young people with disability in primary and secondary education settings’.

The report provides a general description of how Commonwealth funding for education operates; a detailed explanation of how laws regulating education for students with disability function in each jurisdiction; and an examination of each jurisdiction’s anti-discrimination laws as they apply to education (including the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 issued under that Act.)

Many teachers are unaware of assistive technology for disabled students

In an age when digital is no longer optional for finding work, it is crucial that students with special educational needs leave school with the skills and kit necessary for full digital access. Yet our research has found that education providers do not know enough about AT, the funding available for it, or inclusive digital practices. Teachers and specialist staff often do not have any training in AT and don’t know how best to support their students.

Family Voices

This podcast series features casual conversations with families of children with disability and/or developmental delay and the professionals they work alongside. The aim is to support and build families’ knowledge, skills and confidence when navigating the early childhood intervention (ECI) landscape. It is also an opportunity for parents to share their individual stories of everyday life in family with a child diagnosed with a disability and/or developmental delay.

Vow to end ‘ugly lottery’ with $1.6b school disability reform

Education Minister James Merlino has pledged to tackle “school gatekeeping” – where students with disabilities are steered away from a particular school – describing it as an “ugly lottery” for parents. Mr Merlino said the Victorian government’s $1.6 billion changes to student disability funding – which was announced in the 2020 state budget and will be rolled out in 340 schools this year – would ensure every school was “truly inclusive” for students with disabilities.

Lessons from 2020 can make school equal for all

The class of 2020 can teach us a lot about equitable education. As a disabled student finishing year 12 in 2020, I can tell you that studying through that unprecedented year was a challenge. Yet as students, teachers and families prepare for a return to school in 2021, and the temptation to dust your hands clean of 2020 looms, I ask that you consider what can be learned from thousands of disabled students like me.

I’m always the only scientist in the room in a wheelchair. It shouldn’t be this way

Eleanor Beidatsch has a passion for palaeontology, but that’s not as strong as her passion to see more people with disability accepted and succeeding in the sciences. “When I look around a room, I don’t often see anybody else like me. In all the time I’ve been at university I’ve never seen another student in a wheelchair and I’ve seen only a couple with other sorts of disabilities. It can get lonely sometimes.”

Flexibility in individual funding schemes: How well did Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme support remote learning for students with disability during COVID‐19?

This research abstract reports on a survey of over 700 families that explored how Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) supported children and young people and their families to learn remotely during COVID‐19. The results suggest that participant experiences varied widely, with some people able to make the changes they required and others left with a significant service gap. This shows that individual funding schemes are not necessarily more flexible than traditional systems in an emergency situation.

A horrific playground incident: how one school failed its students

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Kimberly’s sunny, athletic and inquisitive about everything. But for years she harboured terrible secrets about what happened to her. Janine Fitzpatrick investigates why her school failed to heed credible warnings that she was in danger.

Overview of responses to the first Education and learning Issues paper

Responses to the issues paper about education and learning for people with disability have been received from individuals including people with disability, family members of people with disability, advocates, organisations and government. This overview is a summary of what people are saying. The use of restraints and seclusion in schools, experiences of bullying, and what neglect … Continued

Advocates divided over the return of students with disability to the classroom

Disability advocates are concerned by the Victorian government’s plan to allow students with disability to return to school, with fears this will put vulnerable children in greater danger of contracting COVID-19. The Victorian government has announced that students from Prep to Year 10 at government schools in metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire will learn from home from 20 July until at least 19 August.