November 2009 Vol. 1, Issue 10 (PDF - 16.2Mb) - Department of ...

Australia’s employment rate for
people with disabilities recently
ranked 13 out of 19 OECD
member countries surveyed
(OECD 2007). It was also the lowest of 16
countries for employment of people on a
disability-related benefit, and the highest of
the 16 countries for failing to engage people
on a disability-related benefit in paid work.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 requires
that students with a disability are treated ‘on the
same basis’ as other students and that ‘reasonable
adjustments’ be made to provide these students
with the opportunities and choices comparable
to those available to students without disabilities.
However, a national inquiry into employment
and disability found that in 2003 only 53 per
cent of people with a disability participated
in the workforce (Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission 2005). Of particular
concern are the findings that people with a
disability were under represented in
vocational training and training systems, and
that there were poor links between school and
post-school programs.
The Australian Association of Special Education
(AASE) and the Principals’ Association of
Specialist Schools Victoria (PASS) addressed
these issues at the nation’s major special
education conference, Transitions: Facilitating
Change for Students with Special Needs, held
in Melbourne earlier this year. The conference
provided educators and policy makers with high
quality research to drive best practice in student
transitions from early childhood to adult and
post-school options, not only in Victoria but
across Australia.
Dr Denis Meadows examined the Australian
transitions in the Des English Memorial Lecture
entitled Where did all our students go? Postschool
outcomes for students with a disability
(Meadows 2009). He discussed his report to the
Queensland Government looking at outcomes
for students who had left Queensland schools
from 2000–05. He found a gap in the research
literature on this subject for Australia, and while
there were some project reports, they were mostly
descriptive with little outcome data.
Making your way in a cold world – promoting
the school-to-community transition success
of adolescents with emotional or behavioural
disabilities was the keynote presentation by
Professor Michael Bullis, Dean of the College of
Education and Sommerville-Knight Professor
of Education, Secondary Special Education and
Transitions Research at the University of Oregon
in the United States. Prof. Bullis highlighted the
current research relating to vocational transitions
and employment for adolescents with disabilities
and emotional and behavioural disorders. He
advocated a developmental approach for schoolto-community
transition with five vocational
phases: learning, responsibility, transition,
independence and employability.
The key components in the final school year,
for a successful transition to post school
options, are: year-round services; consistent
routines; high expectations; academic learning;
competitive work; a realistic focus; and real-life
decision making. Prof. Bullis argued for a wellplanned
approach, wide ranging educational
strategies that encompass key program
structures and components, educators who
specialise in transition, community partnerships,
administrative challenges, multi-agency
collaboration and staff training (Bullis 2009).
The workshop, Should you always agree with
the boss? Job-related social skills training for
adolescents, addressed the essential elements
of work: social skills, communication, body
language, interaction with supervisors and
co-workers, and problem solving, within a
framework of Working at Gaining Employment
Skills (WAGES). Prof. Bullis maintains the
importance of foundation skills and attitudes:
locus of control, teamwork, communication,
problem solving, enthusiasm, dependability and
honesty as the essentials in building social skills
and resilience for the workplace. This, coupled
with instruction and on-the-job training, is the
hallmark of a successful transition to work.
The 1960 initiative of Montague Special
School in South Melbourne to create the first
work experience program in a Victorian school
established a model and process for all schools.
Heatherwood School in Donvale is just one
of many schools now using this model. The
school has 250 school-age students with a mild
intellectual disability, many of them having
another underlying disability such as emotional
or behavioural disorders.
Heatherwood offers in situ training models
in the community (for example, at Waverley
Industries and Boronia Gym) covering work
experience, work placement, traineeships, and
apprenticeships. Mark Walker, the transition
work placement coordinator and author of the
Learn to Work program, has developed a range
of employment opportunities for more than 40
senior students in Years 11 and 12. The strength
of the program is its emphasis on individual
students’ aspirations, the strong collaborations
with students, families, employers and agencies,
the intensive training and negotiations with all
stakeholders, as well as targeted skills instruction
in the classroom. The program produces
successful outcomes and there are similarities
with the research that both Bullis and Meadows
have presented. Heatherwood collaborates with a
broad range of employers, providers and agencies
so that all students experience a range of work
experience as they progress through the school.
In preparing all adolescents for a future life, it
is important to provide the vital pathways and
transitions that young people need in order to
grow into well-rounded adults. Work provides
opportunities for practising friendship skills,
community and lifelong learning. Both the
research and experience show that by improving
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Research
preparation and planning, the outcomes are
improved. The emphasis on emotional and social
learning and interpersonal development, not
only in the latter years, but from an early age, is
central to positive student outcomes in all areas
of learning. A systematic approach in training for
work and life, where practice is research based,
where standards and opportunities formulated
under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992
are embedded, allows young people with a
disability to live ‘an ordinary life’.
Prepared by Lesley Foster, president of the Australian
Association of Special Education Victorian Chapter
and assistant principal of Heatherwood School,
Donvale; Tony Thomas, executive officer, Principals’
Association of Specialist Schools; and Wendy Castles,
special education consultant, DEECD Latrobe
Valley Network Student Support Services team.
References
Commonwealth of Australia 2006, Disability Standards
for Education 2005, Attorney-General’s Department
& Department of Education, Science and Training,
Canberra. Available at www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_
education/programmes_funding/forms_guidelines/
disability_standards_for_education.htm
Bullis, M. 2009, Making your way in a cold world:
promoting the school to community transition.
Proceedings of the 2009 AASE/PASS National
Conference, Melbourne.
Bullis, M. & Fredricks, H.D. (eds) 2002, Vocational and
transition services for adolescents with emotional and
behavioural disorders: strategies and best practices,
Research Press, Champaign IL.
Johnson, M. D., Bullis, M., Benz, M. R. & Hollenbeck,
K. 2004, W.A.G.E.S. Working at Gaining Employment
Skills, A Job-Related Social Skills Curriculum for
Adolescents, Sopris West, Educational Services,
Longmont, Colorado.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
2005, WORKability II: Solutions - People with disability
in the open workplace. Final Report of the National
Inquiry into Disability and Employment, HREOC,
Sydney. Available at www.humanrights.gov.au/
disability_rights/employment_inquiry/index.htm
Meadows, D. et al. 2006, Quality outcomes for
students with a disability. Research project – Executive
Summary, Queensland Government Department for
Education, Training and the Arts, Brisbane. Available
at http://education.qld.gov.au/studentservices/learning/
disability/qualityoutcomes.html
Meadows, D. 2009, Where have all our students
gone? School to post-school transition in Australia.
Proceedings of the 2009 AASE/PASS National
Conference, Melbourne.
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and
Development 2007, Sickness, disability and work:
breaking the barriers – Australia, Luxembourg, Spain
and the United Kingdom, vol 2, OECD, Paris.
Roberts, E. & Griffin, P. 2009, Profiling transitions in
emotional development for students with additional
learning needs. Proceedings of the 2009 AASE/PASS
National Conference, Melbourne.