The Contemporary Disability Landscape

• • What does an ordinary life look like?
  • Thinking about disability; framework and models
  • Understanding impairment and disability
  • Stigma and disability
  • Historical perspectives; life stories and policy contexts
  • Deinstitutionalisation
  • Kew Cottages case study
  • The road to reform in disability funding and support
  • The NDIS
  • The roll out and implementation of NDIS
  • Accessing mainstream services
  • People with disabilities living their lives

• Study resources

  • Instructional methods

    • Embedded Multimedia
    • Web links
    • Discussion forum/Discussion Board

  • Online materials

    • Resources and Links
    • Audio-Video streaming

Equivalent subjects

You cannot enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:

• LTU-DIS502-The Contemporary Disability Landscape

Special requirements

• OtherDetails -

  Class requirements

  1 x 10 hours unscheduled online class per week from week 10 to week 22.
  3 x 1 hour scheduled online class during semester, from week 10 to week 22

Note: This subject code is a part of the Graduate Certificate in Disability Practice. This subject is available as a postgraduate single subject as DIS502.

This subject provides the theoretical underpinnings of the current disability landscape. It gives students a strong conceptual foundation for thinking about the contemporary position of people with disability in society and its comparison with an earlier historic period, understanding the aims of current disability policies and the nature of specialist disability and mainstream service systems available to people with a disability. Students will consider different models for understanding disability and the way these frame the 'problem' of disability, policy aspirations and services. The key features of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the National Disability Strategy (NDS) as major reforms and their implications for professionals working in mainstream or specialist services will be explored. Students will examine the conceptual differences between impairment and disability, the interplay between these, and the rationale for impairment specific knowledge in adjusting social settings such as schools, places of employment or community groups to be inclusive of people with disabilities.

Concept discussion forum - Students to use online forum to discuss disability-related concepts. Marking rubric to specify the structure of the forum discussion. Historical perspectives forum - Students to use online forum to discuss historical perspectives. Marking rubric to specify the structure of the forum discussion. Disability Policy Report - Interpretation and evaluation of disability policies and how they apply to practice. Services Proposal - Proposal to Board of Management about suggested changes to mainstream services.

• Concept discussion forum (500- word equivalent) (10%)
• Historical perspectives forum (500-word equivalent) (10%)
• Disability Policy Report (2,000- word equivalent) (40%)
• Services Proposal (2,000-word equivalent) (40%)

Current study term (26 Jul 20 to 25 Oct 20)