dispelling the myths
If not confronted, myths can form powerful
barriers to students with disabilities when they enter university.
Myth Equal opportunity means
everyone should be treated the same.
Reality Equal opportunity does
not mean that everyone should be treated the same. Rather, it recognises
that different people may experience disadvantage for a range of reasons
and need support to enable them to achieve their potential. Students
with disabilities who have the ability to achieve at university may
experience significant disadvantage due to their disability—for example
they may have greater difficulty than other students in moving around
the campus, reading and processing information, conducting library re-search,
preparing assignments and photocopying.
The provision of support services in the
form of equipment, scribes, interpreters, computer access and tailoring
of assessment tasks can ensure that equal opportunity is not merely
a token gesture.
Myth Students with disabilities
are more likely to drop out of courses than other students, even when
given support.
Reality Students with disabilities
may withdraw from study for the same range of reasons as other students,
but they are not more likely to do so, as is indicated by recently published
retention rates.
Myth Students with disabilities
are too time-consuming and their needs are too difficult to cater for
in a university environment.
Reality Many students with disabilities
are highly motivated to attend university and do well when provided
with appropriate support. They are usually very well organised and,
while a problem may seem daunting to staff, it is quite likely the student
has faced something similar before and can readily identify either a
solution or an alternative.
Myth Science, medical, technological,
business, and applied science courses are not suitable for students
with disabilities.
Reality Students with disabilities
have the same rights as other students to aim for careers consistent
with their goals, interests and abilities.
In some courses reasonable adjustments
can be made to ensure students with disabilities are able to meet the
academic requirements. In only a small number of courses is it likely
that the disability itself would prevent the person from being able
to study that discipline, and this would be different for different
types of disability. It is not the institution’s responsibility to decide
whether a student will reach employment based on the course of study.
Myth Students with disabilities
create substantial costs through the need to provide extra equipment
and additional staff time.
Reality It is impossible to generalise.
Some students with disabilities require special equipment or additional
learning support staff, others require none. Adaptations may be one-off
and low cost. For example:
A paraplegic student used a window-washer's
belt hooked to the chemistry work bench to allow her to stand with both
hands free.
A lecturer with short-term memory impairment
due to a medical condition uses a cassette player to remind her of tasks
she has to do.
- Students in other faculties may often
welcome the challenge of designing or manufacturing modifications
to equipment or furniture.
- Campuses that are accessible for students
with mobility problems may be safer environments for other students
and staff.
- Students and staff may sustain injuries
that result in temporary or permanent disabilities and will benefit
from greater consideration for the individual needs of people with
disabilities.
Myth People with disabilities
are less likely to get jobs because employers won't want to employ them.
Reality Research studies suggest
that people with disabilities value their work role, have fewer injuries,
are more efficient, and lose fewer work days than people working with
them who do not have a disability.
For example:
- Du Pont Corporation: of 1452 workers
at all organisational levels with a wide range of disabilities, 90%
were average or above in job performance and safety. This exceeded
the percentage for employees without disabilities.
- GMH, Melbourne, 1981: the 3% of the
workforce that had disabilities had marked superiority in attendance,
productivity and work practices.
Myth Students with disabilities
would be better off studying through external or distance-learning courses.
Reality There are advantages and
disadvantages to external study. Many students with disabilities prefer
on-campus study so they can enjoy the stimulating social and intellectual
interaction with other students and staff. Others prefer distance learning
or a mix of distance learning and on-campus study. This is a personal
choice and people with disabilities should be free to make that choice
for themselves based on their own circumstances, personality and preferences.
Flexible learning may suit some students
with disabilities, as it would for any student.
the language of disability
Avoid:
- using 'the' with an adjective to describe
people with a disability; for example, 'the deaf';
- terms that are no longer acceptable
such as 'able bodied', 'physically challenged', 'differently abled',
'handicapped';
- terms that imply people are powerless
victims or are to be pitied, such as 'AIDS sufferer', 'polio victim';
- describing people as more heroic, courageous,
patient or special or using the word 'normal' in contrast. At best
this can seem patronising, at worst it gives the person the status
of an outsider;
- terms that define the disability as
a limitation, such as 'confined to a wheelchair' or 'wheelchair-bound'.
Say instead 'uses a wheelchair' or a 'wheelchair user'. The wheelchair
may provide new opportunities for the person, rather than confine
them.
Putting the person first
The term 'people with disabilities' stresses
the essential humanity of the individual by putting the person first,
and the disability second.
That means, for example, referring to:
- People who: are blind, have a vision
impairment, a hearing impairment, are deaf, have an intellectual disability,
a speech impairment.
- People with or who have: cerebral palsy,
Down’s syndrome, mental illness, paraplegia, quadriplegia, epilepsy,
a learning disability, a speech impairment, aquired brain injury.
