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This ADCET podcast is the audio version of our webinar: Mental ill health in the student population and the impacts for educators presented by Brandon Taylor (Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy Manager, TAFE Queensland).
ADCET was delighted to welcome back Brandon Taylor (Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy Manager, TAFE Queensland) for another hugely popular and informative presentation. In this webinar, Brandon asks four key questions to determine what has changed for adolescents in Australia over the previous two decades and what this means for tertiary educators and support services.
Are more students disclosing and displaying mental health problems?  How can we support and refer students who are experiencing mental ill health?  Why and how we can maintain our boundaries?  What are some simple proactive self-care measures that protect and maintain our own well-being?Educators and support services are not immune to mental health and well-being challenges, both professional and personal.
Brandon reviews the trends and data from Mission Australia Youth Surveys and reflects on key elements of the latest report from The Black Dog Institute: Turning the tide on depression. He then reflects on what this means for educators and practitioners and our personal values and purpose.

Q&A was included in this webinar and can be accessed through the webinar recording.

View the webinar and associated resources. 

The Talking Tertiary (TT) podcast series invites leading disability advocates from the community to share their expertise in supporting people with disability in tertiary education. We ask our guests to reflect on the changes they have seen in the sector and what the future of disability inclusion looks like.

In this episode of the podcast, we speak to Graeme Innes, Chancellor at Central Queensland University, about the importance of having people with disability in senior leadership roles in tertiary education. We discuss how senior leaders and education providers can better meet the needs of their students with disability, drawing from Graemes' personal experiences while he pursued his Bachelor of Law.
We explore whether the experiences of students with disability in tertiary education have improved over time and what advice he would give to embarking students or current students in today's university context. Graeme shares the thing that made the most difference to his completion of tertiary education and offers one or two things tertiary providers can do to ensure success for students with disability.
We delve into the adoption of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in tertiary contexts and discuss whether there is a risk that specific expertise relating to disability in tertiary education beyond UDL will be lost. We also explore whether it is time for a review and reform of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and the Disability Standards for Education (DSE) to give greater protection of the rights of people with disability.
Graeme shares his thoughts on how well matched our domestic legal responses to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are relating to education, and what we as a sector can do together to advocate for improvements. We discuss the need to help leaders understand how important it is to invest in tertiary education for people with disability and how to ensure that people with disability leaving school have meaningful access to career advice and supports post-school that focus on the value and impact of tertiary education.
Overall, this episode provides valuable insights into the experiences of students with disability in tertiary education and what can be done to better support their needs. The conversation between Darlene and Graeme is engaging and informative, offering practical advice and thought-provoking ideas for educators and leaders in the tertiary education sector.

This podcast is the audio adaptation of an ADCET webinar presented by Jax Jacki Brown OAM in November 2022. 

You’ll hear Jax explore the experiences of LGBTIQA+ people with disability through a social model of disability and intersectional lens. Jax utlises their lived experience as well as drawing on research into LGBTIQA+ people with disability to unpack the key issues of access and inclusion for this group.
Jax also provided practical ways you can be supportive and affirming when working with LGBTIQA+ people with disability. They explored pronouns, how to use them and why they are important.

Jax Jacki Brown (OAM)
Jax (they/them) is an esteemed disability and LGBTIQA+ rights activist, writer, educator and consultant. Their tireless commitment to LGBTIQA+ disability human rights and advocacy has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
Jax utilises their experience as a queer non-binary wheelchair user to explore intersectional identities. They view disability as a socio-political question and wants to see solutions with an intersectional lens and equality, access, and human rights at the heart of it.  
Jax has served on the Victorian Disability Advisory Council, Victorian Government’s LGBTI Taskforce Health and Human Services Working Group, and the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Disability Reference Group.
Jax is interested in how we can build a just and equitable society which fosters resilience, pride and community for LGBTIQA+ people with disabilities.

View the original webinar: https://www.adcet.edu.au/resource/11185/adcet-webinar-affirming-lgbtiqa-people-with-disability

We asked friends of ADCET to reflect on the last 20 years with ADCET. We asked them two questions:
What has been the most significant change/s you have seen occur in the sector in the last 20 years?What change/s would you like to see happen in the next 20 years?Here's what they had to say...

Alison Nuske, PhD candidate at Flinders University, provides an overview of a systematic literature review exploring the experiences of transition to higher education for Autistic students, as reported by Autistic students and family members of Autistic students. Alison discusses the findings of this review and their implications for future practice in university settings to improve the first-year experiences of autistic students in higher education.
Using a bioecological theory model approach the review outlines the various interacting factors which influence the transition to higher education for Autistic students. Examining these systems highlights the complex nature of the transition experiences of Autistic students and the varying elements impacting on the first-year experience. The current study seeks to explore these complex systems by investigating the transition experiences of Autistic students in Australia.

The podcast provides information about Phase One of the study examining the barriers and facilitators to transition to university for Autistic students. Phase one of this study involves an online survey for autistic university students, family members of autistic university students, and professional/academic university staff members in Australia.

This research has incorporated input from Autistic community members in the development of research methods and research tools. This podcast discusses the processes involved and highlight the importance of involving Autistic individuals in the research process. Further information is also provided regarding current opportunities for participation in this study for Autistic students, their family members, and professional and academic university staff.
This podcast provides an excellent opportunity for disability practitioners, in particular university and TAFE disability services staff to hear about current research with implications for supporting Autistic students in their transition to university.

Disability practitioners will learn about the current evidence to inform best practice supports and services for helping Autistic students during their transition to university and considerations for potential barriers that may be impacting on disclosure and consequently on support provision. University disability services staff will also have the opportunity to find out more about the current research study and ways in which they, their fellow university staff, and their students can be involved to help us to better understand the barriers and facilitators for Autistic students in their transition to and first year of university in Australia.
 
View the original webinar: https://www.adcet.edu.au/resource/10293/webinar-transition-to-higher-education-for-autistic-students

Michele Toner outlines common challenges faced by students with ADHD in the tertiary sector and provides practical strategies for supporting students to overcome these challenges and achieve their academic goals.
The tertiary sector presents many challenges for students with ADHD. For those enrolling straight from school, the move requires the transition from a highly structured to a relatively unstructured environment. Whilst this can be liberating at first, the novelty soon wears off as the work builds up. For mature age students, challenges are different, as they are often juggling several commitments, including children and full-time work. Either way, students can become overwhelmed and feel tempted to withdraw. But there is much that can be done to make tertiary study ADHD-friendly. Ideally, changes need to occur on two fronts – the university/TAFE and the student. While the support available at university and TAFE is significant, students with ADHD need to learn the best way to utilise what is on offer and need support in developing self-awareness and self-advocacy. They are often reluctant to seek support for fear of stigma.

Michele Toner OAM has been supporting people with ADHD since 1995, starting her coaching practice in 2009. Her PhD investigated Uni students with ADHD. She is a faculty member of the ADD Coach Academy in New York where she trains coaches. Michele works to promote ADHD Awareness. She held inaugural board positions for ADHD Australia, and The Australian Association of ADHD Professionals (AADPA). She is Chair of the Board at ADHD WA and member of their Professional Advisory Body. In 2017 she co-authored “The ADHD Go-to-Guide” with Professor Desiree Silva. Michele was awarded an OAM in 2021 for her work in ADHD.

Watch the original webinar: https://www.adcet.edu.au/resource/10844/adcet-webinar-supporting-students-with-adhd-in-the-tertiary-sector