Disability Services Newsletter

May 2016

If you require this newsletter in an alternative format please contact us on +61 8 9266 7850 or e-mail

Receiving this newsletter:

Each semester we send this newsletter to all students who tick the box in eStudent under 'My Disability Details' requesting information about Disability Services. If you do not wish to receive information or newsletters from us in future, please untick this box. You can access your record through ‘OASIS’ (My Studies and Evaluate; eStudent; My Disability Details).

Please complete your 'Disability Details' on eStudent

If you haven’t done so already, please complete ‘My Disability Details’ on your student record as this assists us to improve services for students with disabilities and medical conditions.

To update your details go to ‘OASIS’ - My Studies and Evaluate; eStudent; My Disability Details.

Equity Examinations

End of semester examinations

This semester’s deadline for arranging end ofsemester Equity Exams is

Friday 20th May 2016.

Note: This deadline only applies to Semester 1 centrally scheduled exams. Different deadlines apply for Trimester or Open Universities Australia exams.

New students:

If you are making Equity Examination arrangements for the first time you must make an appointment to see a Disability Advisor before the deadline. Please make a phone appointment if you are based at a campus other than Bentley, or unable to attend for health reasons.

Documentation from your treating Health Professional will be required in most cases. More information about what’s needed is available here:

Students already registered:

Agreed Equity Exam arrangements will be in place for the duration of your Curtin Access Plan.

Please ensure that you have signed the Student Declaration form which is valid for the duration of your Curtin Access Plan.You can get copy of the Student Declaration form atour Receptionor e-mail

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Curtin Counselling and Disability Services on 08 9266 7850 or email .

Campus News

Message from new Student Guild Disabilities Officer

Hey,

I'm Joshua, the Students with Disabilities officer at the Curtin Student Guild.I am pictured here with George the Therapy Dog.

The Students with Disabilities department is an all-inclusive collective that represents the interests of all students identifying as having a disability or mental illness. We provide a strong support network for students with disabilities on campus, and will always be available to address any students’ questions or concerns.

This is the first year of the department and a big part of my job is establishing a students with disabilities collective.

If you are interesting in getting involved, have an idea to contribute or just want to say hi, feel to drop in to the equity space anytime.

Email:

Consultation hours: Thursday 1-3pm

Building 106F Curtin Student Guild Building

Curtin Mentoring Programs

Disability Peer mentoring has been expanded in 2016 in response to the increasing number of students with a disability or medical condition enrolled at Curtin.

The two Disability Peer Mentoring Programs at Curtin are the Curtin Specialist Mentoring Program (CSMP) for students on the Autism Spectrum and related conditions, and the Curtin Disability Mentoring Program (CDMP) for students with a disability or medical condition unrelated to Autism.

These peer mentoring programs assign students a peer mentor who is a successful student from Health courses in Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Psychology, Speech Pathology and Nursing.

If you are interested in getting a peer mentor or would like more information follow this link

Emergency Evacuation for people with disability

Do you have any specific requirements related to evacuation in case of emergency? This could be related to being able to use stairs, see well enough to get to a place of safety or hear an alarm. If so, you may benefit from a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) to ensure that the relevant people are aware of your requirements.

To find out more about PEEPS please contact:

Emergency Planning Manager, Nadine McLoughlin

E-mail or phone 9266 2653.

If you haven’t already downloaded the free Safezone app we recommend that you do so. It provides a direct link to Security in case of an emergency who will know your location on campus.

Your Disability Services team

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Useful Information

LeadAbility program

LeadAbility is a course specially designed for people with disability, sector employees and ambassadors in the disability sector.
As a participant in the program, you will gain the confidence and capacity to:

Lead and assert influencein the community.
Create links between thedisability sector and the widercommunity.
Be a reputable voice forpeople with disability.
Affect positive change.
Assume greater leadershiproles in your life, professionand community.

“LeadAbility gave me the confidence to realize that I could be a leader and help others.” 2015 LeadAbility Participant

LeadAbility is a uniquely targeted free 5-day course with interactive, engaging activities, presentations, workshops and a group community project.
There are two LeadAbility courses for 2016 running from 9 June to 30 August and from 6 September to 9 November. More information is available at:

ADCET website:

This website has a lot of useful information and latest resources relevant to disability in the higher education sector.

Youth Disability Advocacy Network (YDAN)

The Youth Disability Advocacy Network (YDAN) is a network of young people with disabilities, their families, friends, supporters, youth workers, disability sector workers, organisations and others from around WA who support young people with disabilities. We aim to support the advocacy, rights and inclusion for young people with a disability in WA.

Anyone can join the network, and it’s as easy as following the directions here to join our mailing list. It’s also the best way to stay up to date and find out about any events such as our launch (which will take part in the coming months). You can also follow our goings on by hitting ‘Like’ on the Facebook page -

If you would like more information, or would like to talk to someone about YDAN, call (08) 9201 8900 and ask for either Eloise or Jess. You can also email with any questions.

Audionote App

Do you have difficulty taking useful notes in lectures? If so, AudioNote notepad and voice recorder may help.

AudioNote allows you to take notes at the same time as making a linked audio recording. AudioNote combines the functionality of note-taking and voice recording apps to create a tool that can save you time and improve the quality of your notes.
AudioNote synchronizes your notes with the audio recording. Your text and drawings are highlighted whilst you playback the lecture, helping you to remember the context in which notes were taken. And you can tap a note to seek that place in the audio recording, taking you instantly to what you want to hear.

AudioNote has cross-platform compatibility with PC, Mac, iOS, Android

Features include …

Ability to import lecture slides as background
Automatic audio amp for recording in large classrooms
Highlighter for key terms

You can find more information about AudioNote at…

Pathways 13 conference

The 13th bi-annual Pathways conference will be held Wednesday 30 November - Friday 2 December, 2016 at the Hotel Realm, Canberra. The conference brings together disability practitioners, and a range of other professional, academic staff and students with disability to identify and remove barriers for people with disability participating in higher education and training.

Registrations are now open and heavily discounted student rates are available. View the event website »

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Employment

‘Stepping Into’ 2016 Program - paid internship opportunities for students with disability

The ‘Stepping Into’ program has amazing opportunities for students with disability, including internships in Perth with NDIS and the Department of Agriculture.

They currently have 65 internships across Australia, with the list growing daily. If students are interested in finding out a bit more about the program and the opportunities, please contact Steph Littlewood on 02 8270 9200 or email , or you can visit their website .

Feedback:

We would love to hear your feedback, both positive and constructive, about your experiences at Curtin as a student with a disability/medical condition. Please drop us an e-mail or phone us – see our contact details below.

And finally, don’t hesitate to contact a Disability Advisor if you have any queries about services or supports available.

Location:Building 109, Level 2 (Bentley campus)

Telephone:+61 8 9266 7850

Freecall:1800 651 878

Fax:+61 8 9266 3052

Email:

Website:disability.curtin.edu.au

1 Disability Services Newsletter May 2016