Creating Accessible Teaching and Support

Disability is a normal part of the human experience, and some form of disability affects about one in five Australians and this number is increasing, partly as a result of an ageing population.  Numbers of students with disability in university have more than doubled in recent years (to around 6%) but are still under-represented.

Our perceptions of people with disability are socially and culturally conditioned. Negative attitudes and assumptions, often based on misunderstanding or ignorance, can shape the way we behave towards them. People with disability are as diverse as those without - blind people are no more alike than brown-eyed people!  They are also parents, partners, managers, employees, artists and sportspeople.

Impairments are variously disabling depending on the extent to which society and the university makes provisions for their inclusion.  Disability is not so much an attribute of the individual as of the social and physical environment in which he or she lives. The nature of the disability experienced by the individual can be moderated when environments and practices are designed to be inclusive.

Although there is little that staff in universities can do to change the facts of students' impairments, there is much scope for altering the environment so that it is less disabling. By implementing the strategies in this resource we can minimise the extent to which universities disable students. 

For example, a person who uses a wheelchair will have no difficulties negotiating a well-designed, accessible building, but is completely disabled in a poorly designed one.

Impairments result from injury, illness or genetic disorders. While it's important to have some understanding of this, your concern is not with the specifics of the impairment, but with its implications for learning, and with making reasonable adjustments to teaching and support practices. 

Wheelchairs and guide dogs are obvious indicators, but disabilities are often "hidden" or inconspicuous. Rather than make assumptions about the impact of a student's condition on their learning, ask them what assistance or accommodations they need.

The Disability-Specific Strategies section includes information about the most common impairments, and the adjustments to teaching and support practices that may be required.

Students at the same institution and with similar impairments may have very different needs, depending on the following factors:

• Type or extent of their impairment

• Their previous educational experience
• Skills and strategies that they have learned
• Nature and requirements of the course
• Teaching format and learning environment
• Level and field of study

Remember that it is the implications of impairment and the social context of the disability that are important here, not the "diagnosis".