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this week in social inclusion & diversity

National Monday Update Issue: 
Edition 368, 31 May 2010

 

1. Communities of Practice Conference 2010

2. Note - taking services for deaf and hard of hearing students: a case-study

 

Communities of Practice Conference 2010
The National Disability Services (NDS) Queensland Communities of Practice Conference 2010 will seek to set new benchmarks in collaboration, innovation and participation within the disability community at conference later this year. Delegates will collectively explore shared challenges and visions for a brighter future. The conference will take place on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 October 2010 at the Brisbane Sofitel Hotel. A preliminary program is now available. Conference keynote speakers include authors/ consultants, Margaret Wheatley and Bernard Salt. Ken Baker, CEO of NDS, will speak about the proposed national disability insurance scheme. Cheryl Kernot, Associate Professor and Director of Social Business at the Centre for Social Impact, will also speak. Conference themes include National Health reforms; Growing stronger reforms; Compliance and legislative review; Local government: access and universal design; and Local and international social enterprise. Registration is now open at: http://communities-of-practice.eventsbot.com/  Early bird registrations are available until 1 July 2010.

Note-taking services for deaf and hard of hearing students: a case-study
Recently, ACPET Qld’s Executive in Residence, Donna McDonald, received a simple enquiry about note-taking services.
Donna takes up the story: The student described herself as ‘profoundly deaf’ and explained that she is currently studying for her Certificate 111 in Community Service Work. Having recently relocated to Queensland from another state, she was unfamiliar with the services that might or might not be available to her. Most tertiary institutions provide for support for disability and funding is available to them to do so. However, this student is undertaking her course at a private RTO. In her home-state, there is a register of note-takers that she could contact. She could not find such a register in Queensland. Could I put her in touch with a note-taker please?
Ah! Did I say ‘a simple enquiry’? Apparently not as I discovered in the unfolding days. I called upon my extensive network of colleagues and encountered diversity in action . . . but it was not the diversity that I had in mind. Rather, I received a range of replies such as ‘I don't know of any note-taking register, but will ask around’; ‘there might be possible funding through the VDSS program’; ‘if the student’s RTO is State-funded, she should be able to get access to funding’; and ‘surely in this day and age, there must be something out there in the technology field that converts spoken word to text’ (which I agreed is a reasonable assumption).  
In the meantime, the student wrote back to me; she had learnt that in Queensland funding assistance may be available if the RTO is state government funded and falls into one of the following categories: VET Revenue General (TAFE institutes only); Skilling Queenslanders for Work (DEIR); Strategic Purchasing Program (DETA); and User Choice. The student was told she needed to complete an on-line "Vocational Education and Training Disability Support application form" and forward any relevant attachments on her behalf to the Vocational Education and Training Disability Support Service.  However, the web-link that she was provided did not link to the application form and so she had to ring the service for a hard-copy of the application form to be mailed to her, thus incurring further frustration and delay.
Her quest for a note-taker continues.
I learnt some lessons from this exercise (and am likely to learn more in the coming weeks):
1.  1. Students with a disability continue to confront daunting difficulties accessing essential study-support services in a timely, responsive manner.
2. Service providers (including educators) and support services (including myself) are not sufficiently au fait with the services and supports that are available. The most likely reason for this is that they find the task of accessing the necessary information as difficult as the student. It is a skill in itself to track down exactly the right information in the most expeditious time possible. In addition, if the nature of the inquiry is infrequent, the service provider or education institution either forgets or ‘loses’ (ie through staff turnover and resignations) specialist knowledge. An accompanying reason could be that the urgency of such requests is not fully understood nor appreciated by service providers. To this end, I have attached an extract from an interesting article on the significance of note-taking services for deaf students:
Notetaking for deaf and hard of hearing students: an article by Donald Hastings, Kim Brecklin, Sandy Cermak, Rondalyn Reynolds, Harlene Rosen and Jimmie Wilson
‘The provision of notetaking services in crucial for most deaf and hard of hearing students at the post-secondary level in classes designed for students with normal hearing. Collectively, more deaf and hard of hearing students in mainstreamed postsecondary settings use notetaking services than any other available support service. It has been said that having an interpreter guarantees equal access to the classroom, but having a notetaker guarantees equal access to the information from the class. Like tutors and the use of assistive listening devices in the classroom, each serves its own useful function: they are not redundant. [. . .] A deaf or hard of hearing student must get information by looking at a speaker or an interpreter and will probably find writing notes at the same time difficult.’ Read more at:
 
On reading this article, I thought again about one of my colleagues’ responses, that is: ‘surely in this day and age, there must be something out there in the technology field that converts spoken word to text’ and had a belated ‘aha!’ moment. I Googled ‘real time translation’ and found the following information:
CART: Captioning and Real Time Access Real Time Translation Services
Captioning and Communication Access Real-time (CART) is the instant translation of the spoken word into English text using a stenotype machine, notebook computer and real-time software with the text appearing on a computer monitor or other display, such as a projector screen.  CART is also often referred to as real-time captioning.
CART offers word for word translation and is provided by a professional who is skilled and trained in using the stenographic equipment. Many captioning services offer remote CART and internet captioning where the stenographer is not physically present at the event but can listen-in through a telephone line.
Communication Access Real-time Translation is an evolving and maturing profession, and the available technology associated with CART is rapidly advancing.
(Caption It 2008; Communication Access Information Center 2008; Job Accommodation Network 2008).
People who are deaf or hard of hearing may benefit from the use of Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) services during small and large group communication situations when verbatim conversation is essential to effective communication.
This technology is primarily used by people who are late-deafened, oral deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have cochlear implants. Culturally Deaf people also make use of CART in certain situations.  CART may also be of assistance to people attending large gatherings, conferences and those for whom English is a second language.
Shorthand reporters reproduce the spoken word either in real-time (viewable by you on a laptop), captioning (on your Teletext television), or as a hard-copy or email-copy transcript. The Website of the Shorthand Reporters Association of Australia (SRAA) lists those of its members that offer CART services around Australia (see Related Links on this page).
(Job Accommodation Network 2008; Shorthand Reporters Association of Australia 2008)
Suppliers: All States
3.  3. In addition, Queensland VET Development Services (formerly Products and Services and now incorporating the Strategy and Research- Equity Team) has developed an excellent training and work resource for employers, trainers and students who are deaf or hard of hearing. This can be found at:
This site includes information about ‘speech to text’ technology which converts spoken words to text using computer software at:
This site also provides information about live remote captioning which is a text version of audio or spoken information. It uses a stenocaptioner in a different (remote) location, headsets and the internet to provide one-way communication. You might use this service if you are confident in reading English. See: http://www.training.qld.gov.au/individuals/students/training-and-work/live-remote-captioning/index.html
4.  4. Finally, I learnt that Griffith University in Queensland delivers a note-taking course. Education Queensland provides notetaking support to deaf/hearing impaired students who are in years 9 to 12 and are currently verified with a hearing loss. Education Queensland also sponsors fifteen (15) eligible applicants financially to complete the Notetaking for deaf/hearing impaired students course at Griffith University. The course is designed to be an interactive course which is accessible to teacher aides around the state. The course runs in the first semester of the academic year. Application packages become available in the last term of the previous year. However, the catch is that to be eligible for support financially from Education Queensland, you must be an Education Queensland employee who will be note-taking for a deaf/hearing impaired student. 
For further information regarding the Griffith University Course contact either Griffith University (07) 3875 6894 or Disability Services Support Unit (07) 3240 9300
At present, I have still been unable to ascertain whether similar government funding assistance or sponsorship is available to support deaf students and trainees who would benefit from note-taking services while undertaking studies at a private RTO.
I welcome any substantive advice in this regard.