We are a part of the research team working together with Disability Strategy Implementation team from the NSW Department of Education.
This project aims to create tools that will allow students with high-support needs to talk about their school experience.
Julie presenting at UNSW
Who do we mean by students with high-support needs?
High-support needs is a term often used in Australia, and describes:
Students who have moderate and severe intellectual disability and who need some support in their daily activities
Students with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities who need a lot of support throughout each day and who have more than one disability.
Why is this exciting?
Students with high support are usually last to be thought of and included. They usually do not have much say in their education and school experience. This is also due to their limited communication skills, with some students not using words at all.
This project is important, because people with high-support needs in schools quite often do not have their needs met in the following:
Transitioning from primary school to high school
Transitioning from high school to employment, day program, etc.
Having a say in what they want
Learning confidence skills
Having available resources that suit them individually
Having a person centred plan that they agree with
Feeling included
We are delighted that the NSW Department of Education values students with high-support needs. We are happy to see many current efforts to:
Improve school experience of students with high support needs
Give these student a voice about their school experience
What do we plan to do?
We will be working together with 22 special schools and two mainstream schools with support units from metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas.
We will be using tools like:
An Easy Read survey
Photovoice and
Body-mapping
We have already used these tools at Chalmers Road School. The students enjoyed the process and told us what they like about their school.
We cannot wait to hear from students with high support needs from the 24 schools that we will be working with.
Our team
Our research colleagues in this adventure are:
Dr Joanne Danker (University of New South Wales)
Professor Leanne Dowse (University of New South Wales)
Dr Brydan Lenne (Disability Strategy Implementation)
Amazing school team from Chalmers Road School – Michelle Davies (school principal), Natalie Anagnostopoulos and Brooklyn Smith (relief principals)
Ann-Marie Smith, Willow Dunn, and hundreds of thousands of people with disability… Things need to change!
On May 30 Australians are being asked to hold a one-minute vigil for Ann-Marie Smith, a tragic story of abuse of a woman with a disability.
Ann-Marie Smith was a 54-year-old Adelaide woman with cerebral palsy, who lived on her own. She relied on her carer to support all her needs. She died this April with the following issues: severe septic shock, organ failure, sores, malnutrition. She had spent more than a year in a cane chair, 24 hours per day. Yet she was funded for six hours a day of disability care and support a day. Thankfully the carer was sacked, is being investigated by police, and should not be allowed to support people with disability again.
Ann-Marie Smith will always be remembered
But this is not a story of one neglectful carer. This is a story of a major issue with our disability care system across Australia. On May 28 news came of a little girl with Down’s Syndrome, called Willow Dunn, allegedly murdered by her own father. This prompted an online candlelight vigil. Abuse keeps on happening. People with disability are simply not being supported in our society. Indeed, this story highlights how little communities value people with disability. One minute is all it would have taken for neighbours to check in on Ann-Marie. Or Willow for that matter. Thus the call for one-minute’s silence.
The COVID-19 context demonstrates that this is not a rare case. Consider the shocking percentage of deaths in care homes worldwide, and the fact that people with intellectual disability were refused testing for COVID-19 in some countries, though they are among the most vulnerable populations. What does is say about us as a society?
Abuse of people with disability should not be ignored and reports should be sent to authorities. Review of practices should be strongly implemented to make sure this behaviour is stopped.
We are heartened by some of the responses on our personal Facebook pages to news of these shocking cases. From Alex Strike: “This is wrong! I don’t understand why people act this way towards people with disability. How dare they get away with it!” And from Angelo Hatz: “It’s absolutely disgraceful that people with physical and intellectual disabilities are treated like this in this day and age. More needs to be done now to ensure that this type of abuse and neglect does not happen… people with physical and intellectual disabilities need to be treated like human beings and valued members of our community.”
And this is why the Disability Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability is so ESSENTIAL. We need to hear the voices of those who have been silenced for centuries. We need to stop the abuse. We need to put in preventive measures, so that abuse and neglect of people with disability does not happen again.
That is also why it is so important to REMEMBER. To remember that lives of some people, like those with intellectual and other disability continue to be treated as if they are worth less than others. The blog by our dear friend Jan Walmsley is a great reminder of that: https://janniewannie.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/remembering/
On May 30 Australians are being asked to hold a one-minute vigil for Ann-Marie Smith, a tragic story of abuse of a woman with a disability.
Ann-Marie Smith:
54-year-old
lived on her own
had a carer to support her in all her needs for 6 hours per day
had a disability (cerebral palsy)
died in April 2020.
Ann died because:
severe infection,
organ failure,
sores,
hunger,
spent more than a year in a cane chair, 24 hours per day.
Thankfully her carer was sacked. This is being looked into by police.
Her carer should not be allowed to support people with disability again.
Also, in May we learnt about a little girl with Down’s Syndrome, Willow Dunn. She was allegedly killed by her own father.
This story is not about one carer who was careless. Or about one parent who killed their child.
It is about:
major issues people with disability have with care system across Australia.
Abuse keeps on happening.
People with disability are not being supported in our society.
Communities do not value people with disability.
It does not take long to check on your neighbours and how they are.
The COVID-19 situation shows this is not a rare case.
Think about the deaths in care homes worldwide.
People with intellectual disability were refused testing for COVID-19 in some countries. But there are among the most at risk people.
What does is say about our world?
Abuse of people with disability should not be overlooked.
Reports should be sent to authorities.
Review of practices should happen, so this abuse does not happen again.
This is what some people said about this on our Facebook pages:
Alex Strike: “This is wrong! I don’t understand why people act this way towards people with disability. How dare they get away with it!”
Angelo Hatz: “It’s absolutely disgraceful that people with physical and intellectual disabilities are treated like this in this day and age. More needs to be done now to ensure that this type of abuse and neglect does not happen… people with physical and intellectual disabilities need to be treated like human beings and valued members of our community.”
Iva Strnadová and Julie Loblinkz are research partners and friends. They host the blog Disability and Me. Both are strong advocates for people with intellectual disability.
It’s timely that the Stella prize for literature should go to a writer highlighting domestic violence. This is a pressing issue for many women, but especially those with an intellectual disability.
It’s a sad fact that people with intellectual disability lack quality sexuality and relationship education. Girls and women with this disability are often left unprepared for relationships, unsure how to recognise the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, or how to recognise what is and what is not abuse.
Furthermore, they are also often not protected by police, as their statements are not always taken seriously.
The social isolation of Covid-19 only exacerbates the situation.
But there are places where girls and women can get support. If you are a family member of a women with intellectual disability or know of someone who is in this situation, please share these important resources:
They can call 1800RESPECT for support, counselling and referral (phone is 1800 737 732).
1800RESPECT and the Women with Disability Australia co-designed an app called SUNNY for women who experience abuse and violence. It is free to download and use on a smart phone for free:
Download Sunny from the App Store for iOS
Download Sunny from Google Play for Android phones
Knowmore also provides free legal advice to survivors of abuse – their phone is 1800 605 762
NSW Rape Crisis provides 24 hour support line for people who have experienced sexual assault and can be contacted on phone number 1800 424 017
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