Inclusive Education for Disabled Students

In Australia, it is a legal requirement that children aged six and over attend school. Any child with disability is still entitled to attending a mainstream government, independent or Catholic school. There are also specialist schooling institutions which are either government or independently run, the decision lies with the parents on which option would be best for their child and their family.

Regardless of their ability, children’s education rights are protected by a law called the Disability Standards for Education 2005. This law is part of the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and provides Standards as to how education providers, like schools and universities, must help students with disability.

The main aim of the Disability Standards for Education is to give students with disability the same educational opportunities and choices as all other students, no matter the school they attend. These schools must adopt adjustments such as changing seating arrangements in a classroom so that a student with a wheelchair can move around independently or using videos with captions for a student who has a hearing impairment.

Depending on which school they attend, your child may also be entitled to extra support such as teachers aids, specialist equipment or therapy services. 

With the introduction of the Government funded Inclusion Support Programme (ISP), assistance is becoming increasingly available to education and care services to best include children who may have additional needs to their peers. 

“The ISP assists Early Childhood and Child Care (ECCC) services to build their capacity and capability to include children with additional needs in mainstream services; providing them with an opportunity to learn and develop alongside their typically developing peers.” – www.education.gov.au 

In each state and territory, there will be an Inclusion Agency to facilitate Disability Inclusion Programs and Activities, including one here in Perth. These will aid ECCC services to provide a quality inclusive environment for children with additional needs, including children with disability, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, children from a refugee background and Indigenous children.

 

Disability Management Programs in Perth, like the “Range of Motion” program offered by the WA disabled Sports Association are a great example of how to Coaching staff can be trained to modify exercises for the Individuals with a Disability to best suit their fitness needs and goals. 

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