The Trinity College Dublin Disability Service has produced a placement planning guide that aims to aid students with disabilities on professional courses.
This guide is part of an overall strategy by the Disability Service to offer support to students with disabilities through placement and on to employment. It is the first stage in a project within the Disability Service titled “A model of support for students on professional placement in College”, which will help ensure that both students and staff are in compliance with the College Fitness to Practice Policy (2011).
Disability Officer in Trinity, Declan Reilly, is aware of the increasing number of students with disabilities in professional courses in College. In 2012/13, 6.4% of the college’s student population were registered with a disability. The Disability Service said that feedback from both student and staff revealed a shortage of advice and information on how to support and accommodate for these students.
The guide concerns courses with a practice element or a clinical placement in a public setting, including Deaf Studies, Dental Sciences, Education and Medicine amongst many others. It deals with issues such as disclosure, confidentiality and fitness to practice, and helps to ensure that both students and staff are able to identify a student’s needs while maintaining academic and professional standards and ensuring the safety of all involved.
The document aims to communicate to staff that greater numbers of students with disabilities have been succeeding on professional courses, and in most cases their needs are small and easy to identify. It also strives to make students aware that supports relevant to their needs can be put in place.
The Disability Service recognises the importance of planning professional placements. Students meet with staff in the areas of academia, placement and the Disability Service before their placement begins to “develop a plan of action”, in which suitable supports will be made available for them on-site. The guide also emphasises the necessity of feedback throughout the placement, not just at the end of the process. It states that, if required, a review meeting will take place annually with all parties to ensure the student is fully adjusted.
The guide encourages students with disabilities to contact the Disability Service in order to investigate what supports and accommodations may be available and relevant to them. Its focus is to “encourage disclosure through a supportive process that involves all parties concerned”.
