The Road Ahead - Charles Darwin University

76 Pages·2013·1.65 MB·English

The Road
A H E A D
F
urther educatfioonr paenodp elem wpiltohy dmiseanbt ilgituyi dine t he Northern Territory
Funded by the Australian Government through the
National Disability Coordination Officer Programme
Contents
4
Introduction
5
Section 1 Get to know yourself
• your story
• what is considered a disability
• get to know your disability or medical condition
• Lyn’s story
• telling others about your disability
• disclosure worksheet
13
Section 2 Explore the possibilities
• planning for your future
• tips on how to build your skills, knowledge & experience
• transition services in the Northern Territory
• guidance and career advice
• Kieran’s story
• my life goals worksheet
• my skills worksheet
• Georgia’s story
23
Section 3 Make connections
• higher education
• vocational education and training (vet)
• Morgan’s story
• financial planning worksheet
• vocational education and training
• my needs while studying worksheet
• selecting suitable courses of study worksheet
• apprenticeships and traineeships
• Aaron’s story
• group training organisations
• Troy’s story
• employment services
• John’s story
• other options
• bringing it together worksheet
• action checklist worksheet
50 Service Contacts in the Northern Territory
Acknowledgements
4
Introduction
The Road Ahead is designed to assist you
to make informed choices regarding your
future career pathway. This workbook will
not necessarily have all the answers but it
will direct you to information on the options
and support services available, to guide you
in your decision making. It will assist you to:
t o k now y
t o
e
u
G r
s
.
1 e
l
Your Story f
Think about your personal
goals. Gather information
about yourself to
determine your
career path.
a k e connec o r e t he pos
M ti pl si
3. on Ex bili
Activities in this work s There are many t
i
book will encourage you . options to consider e
2
to share information with when deciding s
supportive people around you, your career path.
such as family, friends, community, Collecting information
teachers and lecturers to begin that is relevant to you
your chosen career is an important step in
path. Make contact with deciding on which
Service Providers. direction to take.
Throughout this workbook students have shared their experiences as they journeyed into postsecondary
education and employment. Each students’ story is different and demonstrates how they overcame difficulties
and the support they received to achieve their goals.
“Career/life planning is a lifelong journey – not a final destination”
Source: Guiding Circles http://www.aboriginalhr.ca/en/programs/guidingcircles
5
1 . G e t t o k n o w y o u r s e l f
Your story
STArT EArlY! How well do you know yourself?
Through our life we gain information, have unique
The following activities are designed to
experiences and make new connections with
people. We come up with new ideas. We change.
get you to start thinking about your own
Your family, friends and teachers get to know
you. They may know what you like, what you
story, to understand yourself and your
don’t like and what makes you laugh, angry or
sad. They may also be aware of how you best
personal strengths and abilities.
‘learn’ new things.
As you move into different environments it becomes
important to get to know and understand yourself.
Gain strategies and learn how to tell people what
you need and how they can better assist you in Discuss these activities with your family,
order to achieve your career goals. There is no
shame in asking for help or assistance. If you take friends, teachers and others. Talk about
the time to listen to other people’s stories, you will
hear that we all have to ask for help at some point your ideas with them and get their response.
on our career journey. Even famous people had to
get help from others to become famous!
6
my story
Think about your story.
What does it tell you
o u r d reams for uld y o u use to d
y y about yourself? o e
e o w s
ar ur s cri
f d b
t u r e
a t o
Wh ure at a r e your hob w you
? W h bies tah esr
? W ?fl
n it y respo w o rk with
m u nsi to oth
m bili ke er
mily or co ties hayv e e yo u e n joyed doing i Do you li s or alo?ne
af t h uo hav n yo
ahW ? da at ur
h il
f
W e
?
pe o p l e say you ar o y o u e njoy learnin
other e good at is im portant to What d g abou
h y t
o a W o ?
d t u
d ?
t o
a i
n
h
g
W ?
Section 1 Get to know yourself 7
uld y o u use to d
o e
w s
c
s ri
d b
r e
o What is considered a disability?
y
w o
u
t r
a s
h e
W fl
?
The definition of disability is broad and The DDA includes the Disability Standards in Education.
These standards set out the rights of people with
includes:
disabilities particularly in education settings. This
includes at school, university or registered training
• Chronic medical conditions eg. asthma, arthritis
organisation. The DDA requires education providers
and diabetes
to make reasonable adjustments to enable people
w o rk with • Intellectual disabilities eg. downs syndrome, with disabilities to participate in education on the
o ot foetal alcohol syndrome same basis as other students.
t h
e e
k r
li s • Learning disabilities eg. dyslexia Reasonable adjustments s.22(4) are changes and
u or alterations designed to assist a person with a
o
y alo • Mental Illness eg. depression, anxiety disorders disability to achieve equal opportunity. Although
o n adjustments are not specifically defined in the DDA,
D e • Physical disabilities eg. spinal cord injury, these are facilities or services, which a person with
?
cerebral palsy a disability may require that a person without a
disability may not require.
• Sensory disabilities eg. vision or hearing
impairment Having rights also means having responsibilities.
The best way to protect your rights in study, training
• Autism spectrum disorders, including
or employment is to also know and meet your
asperger’s syndrome
responsibilities. For example, it is your responsibility
to ask for reasonable adjustments if you need them
• Permanent or temporary
and to provide the appropriate documentation.
o u e njoy lear Your rights and responsibilities Contact:
y ni
o n The Australian Human Rights Commission website:
d g Get to know your rights. These are the laws that

t a protect your rights as a person with a disability.
a
b http:// www.hreoc.gov.au
h o
W u
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) is
t
? The Education Standards 2005 website:
designed to ensure that people with a disability are
not treated less fairly than other people because of
http://www.ddaedustandards.info/
their disability. It covers a range of life areas, including
access, education, employment, activities and sport.
Contact:
http:// www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/
dda_guide/dda_guide.htm
8
Get To Know Your Disability
O r M e d i c a l C o n d i t i o n
Having insight into the impact your disability may Is your disability or medical condition:
have on your study and further education is beneficial
❒
to overcome any barriers or hurdles you may face. It
Noticeable?
may be helpful for you to discuss this with others.
❒
Not Noticeable?
Think about what assistance you currently receive at
❒
school and what assistance you may need to ensure Recurrent – keeps coming
you have the best possible start to your future study
❒
or employment. Temporary?
❒
Here are some questions that you may find useful to Permanent?
get a clearer picture of your needs.
❒
Likely to get worse?
Does your disability or medical condition have
❒
a name? Terminal?
❒
_______________________________________________ Episodic (has an effect every so often)?
How does your disability or medical condition impact on your ability to study? (Eg. Tire easily; can’t sit at a desk
for a long time; need instructions repeated or written down)
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
What impact does your medication have on you? (Eg. Loss of concentration, easily tire)
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Section 1 Get to know yourself 9
What strategies do you have/use to overcome your disabilities?
(eg. Sit at the front of the classroom to hear lecturer; assistive technology.)
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
What assistance or adjustments have you received at school?
(eg. Help with organising my assignments, time frames. Note taker)
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you receive Independent Support Assistance (ISA) in class? What assistance do they provide in class?
(eg. Help me to stay on task; organise my work etc.)
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
What assistance do you need to complete a course at University or VET course or
apprenticeship/traineeship?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
10
Lyn’s story
“
Hindsight is a wonderful
thing. If I only knew what I
know now!”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If I only knew what I had. I didn’t visit the University before commencing
know now! I have suffered two acquired brain injuries. my study to see what was involved with getting to
The first ABI was due to a car accident which resulted and from class, where all the other facilities were eg:
in a closed diffused injury with a haemorrhage to the library, café, loos etc. I didn’t ask for assistance or
corpus callosum. This left me with many neurological study aids.
problems including, double vision,major depression,
a form of epilepsy along with memory, speech, For my first course I was positive from the first day.
reasoning, balance and walking problems. Vision and Then I had my “rude awakening” that all this was well
noise overload have a massive impact on my brain above what I was capable of achieving, it all came
resulting in brain fatigue. There were other issues too. crashing down. My brain fatigue was just too much
My brain did not know where I was in Time and Space, and I could not be in the classroom environment
this is kinda weird! (vision and noise overload) for long periods of time.
I attempted two courses during the last 6 years. The I was disappointed as I couldn’t do my study the way I
first being an ‘Arts Degree’ and then ‘Train the Trainers’ wanted to. Why didn’t I just try and complete one unit
course – both at University. to see how it was for me? I wanted to be NORMAL
not brain injured. I wanted to be useful. I wanted to
Neither of these courses were a success for me! belong in society. I wanted my old life back.
“What was I thinking?”
Since this experience, I have been determined
I was not fully aware of the impact my brain injuries to seek out information, be more aware of the
had on my ability to return to a study environment or entire environment (transport, social, academical
the social aspect of getting back into (main stream) and personal events) and I am now linked with
society. Prior to this I had spent many years in my a Disability Employment Service. I have learnt
home environment. strategies to overcome my limitations and I now have
the confidence, knowledge and skills to successfully
I had problems with forward thinking which meant I achieve my goals. I am now an artist and an
didn’t plan, I did not discuss my disabilities and my ambassador for people with disabilities. I also enjoy
needs with my lecturers or with the Disability Liaison public speaking.
Officer at the University. I did not know about a
Learning Access Plan and the assistance I could have
lyn’s Tip: “In the future I would PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! I would discuss the course with the
lecturers and check in with the Disability Liaison Officer at the university to discuss what I
would need to do to make my study experience positive.”