Getting Started - Students with Disabilities
The Learning and Teaching Unit (LTU) Disability Service provides students with disabilities or medical conditions information and services to assist them in achieving their learning goals.
Students who have a physical or sensory impairment, a medical condition, learning disability, or a psychological condition that affects access or participation at University, are strongly advised to contact a Disability Adviser in the LTU on their home campus for confidential advice or information as early as possible.
Overview
- Service Eligibility
- Disclosure
- Making contact
- Supporting Documentation
- Accessing services
- Access Plan
- Reasonable Adjustments
- Other useful resources
Eligibility
A disability includes any impairment or medical condition which may affect a student's ability to undertake a program of study successfully. The definition of disability is broad and is defined in the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) which includes:
- hearing impairment
- learning disability
- mobility difficulties
- vision impairment
- medical condition
- psychiatric illness
A disability may be permanent, short-term or episodic in nature.
Disclosure
From experience we know that some students can find it difficult deciding whether to disclose that they have a disability or medical condition. There are many reasons for this, however you may be relieved to know that:
- there is no record of your disability on your academic transcript
- future employers will not be notified of your disability unless you tell them
- your information is kept confidential.
The University has policies in place which aim to protect and support students with disabilities and eliminate discrimination wherever possible.
You do not need to tell the University that you have a disability. However, if you do need study adjustments or other support services you will be required to disclose this to relevant staff and provide supporting documentation about your disability. Please discuss any concerns you have regarding disclosure with a Disability Adviser.
The following web resources provide more information about disclosure:
- To Tell or Not to Tell
- Choosing Your Path: Disclosure - It's a Personal Decision
- Mature Study
- UniSA Confidentiality of students' personal information (Policy No: A-46.5)
Making contact
It is important that students with a disability or medical condition, whether permanent or temporary, who may require assistance, make contact with a Disability Adviser as early as possible, preferably before the study period begins.
Making contact early is particularly important in the case of those students with high support needs, to ensure that support is available before the start of the academic year. Various support services may take time to organise whilst others can be put in place quickly.
If you acquire a disability during your studies, or if you become aware that you need assistance during your studies, you can contact a Disability Adviser at any time to request assistance.
Students who require disability services should identify this in the personal details section of 'MyUniSA' You are asked, “Do you have a disability?” and "Would you like to receive information about disability services?" Your answer to both these questions remains confidential but if you answer yes to both these questions you will be sent information about support services.
Supporting Documentation
To access Disability Services you will need to provide supporting documentation from your doctor or specialist to verify your disability and provide the University with relevant and useful information in assessing appropriate study adjustments or accommodations. The documentation should include:
- the nature and duration of your disability
- functional impact of your condition on study
- effect of any medication on your studies
- recommended adjustment and support strategies
To help you acquire documentation, Disability Services has created a letter that is from you to your doctor or specialist explaining what kind of information is required. A specialist can include a doctor who is qualified in a specific area of medicine, as well as a psychologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist or dentist. Click on the link below to obtain a copy of the letter.
Letter requesting information for access to Disability Services at UniSA (PDF 20kb - download Adobe Acrobat)
Accessing services
Prior to receiving services, students requesting accommodations or adjustments must meet with the Disability Adviser on their campus and develop an Access Plan. Contact with a Disability Adviser can be made via a drop-in or short appointment. Phone appointments are available to students who are not able to come on-campus. Please refer to Contact Us below for details.
Disability Advisers can assist you to access services such as:
- assistance resolving access issues and information about your rights and responsibilities
- information regarding alternative forms of assessment and curriculum modification
- Access Plans which inform University staff about your eligibility for disability related services
- specialised equipment and print materials in alternative format
- note takers and sign language interpreters
- finance and scholarship information
- access to Adaptive Technology Suites
- web accessibility
Access Plan
An Access Plan provides information about your disability or medical condition to those people you choose, gets you access to services that you and the Disability Adviser work out together and helps you to negotiate reasonable adjustments with University staff so you can study successfully at UniSA.
Your Access Plan is based on:
- information you provide to the Disability Service
- documentation you provide from an appropriately qualified practitioner
- information provided by relevant services (ie Royal Society for the Blind)
- information provided by relevant University staff.
Who gets to see your Access Plan?
- Your Access Plan is a tool for you to use in negotiating arrangements with academic staff in your courses so you decide who sees it
- You are provided with an electronic copy of your Access Plan so that you can use it to inform University staff about your requirements
- A copy is generally sent to your Program Director for information.
Updating an Access Plan
You can arrange to update your Access Plan at any time. You may need to do this if the impact of your disability or medical condition changes. Your Access Plan can stay in place for the duration of your studies if it is permanent and stable, or until a review is required of changes to a fluctuating or temporary medical condition or disability.
Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable adjustments are changes to course content, delivery and assessment which are required by law to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities.
- Reasonable adjustments should be aimed at accommodating the impact of a student's disability or medical condition on their study and based on information about the impact of the student's disability provided in a Disability Access Plan.
- Reasonable adjustments should be negotiated in a timely manner. Students can be expected to meet the terms of the agreed adjustments once they have been established. Additional extensions for an assignment would not be considered a 'reasonable adjustment' unless the student's circumstances changes significantly, in which case additional supporting documentation would be required. (ie hospitalisation or other unforeseen health problems)
- Reasonable adjustments should not lessen the genuine academic standards of the course being taught and assessed. Genuine academic standards relate to the inherent skills and knowledge required as opposed to non-academic or non-essential skills such as an ability to read or write at a prescribed speed. Genuine academic standards should be described in course handbooks.
- Reasonable adjustments should not give a student with a disability an unfair advantage over other students.
- Adjustments such as extra time in tests and extensions to deadlines would not be considered an unfair advantage where they are designed to accommodate the impact of a student's disability.
- Reasonable adjustments should seek to maximise a student's participation. Adjustments should be sought which do not preclude a student from interaction with the mainstream course material, other students and the learning environment. Reasonable adjustments which impact on the structure or content of exams are negotiated with the Course Coordinator. A Disability Adviser may assist in this negotiation or the student may communicate independently with their Course Coordinator.
- Where agreements are reached between a student and their Course Coordinator to modify exam arrangements or curriculum for a course, the Course Coordinator should notify the Disability Adviser indicated on the student's Access Plan so that the agreement can be incorporated into the student's Access Plan. LTU Disability Advisers can provide advice on reasonable adjustments.