ANU - Disability Services Unit

ABILITY PLUS

March 1998, Issue No. 15
Newsletter for Students with Special Needs.

Hullo everyone and welcome back to another year of hard slog and I hope lots of fun as well.A particularly warm welcome to all new students ,I hope your time at ANU will be a happy one and that your disability will not cause you too many problems. Please remember that I am here to help when you do get in a mess .

My hours and contacts are as follows:
Monday to Friday 9am -1pm
Tel 62495036
Fax 62495582
TTY 62493008
email margaret.miller@anu.edu.au
The URL for the disability home page is http://www.anu.edu.au/disabilities/

Neil Rice the Information Technology Officer will work from 9am-12:30 pm each day from now on and can be contacted on 62492344.Please contact Neil for any computing needs you have including basic computing lessons. There will be more on this later in the newsletter.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR 1998

If you have taken on more units than you can manage remember you are able to withdraw without penalty as long as you do so before the following dates :

First semester units: May 22nd
Second semester units : October9th
Annual units September 18th

If you have to withdraw after these dates it would need to be on medical grounds for an unpredictable event. When you do withdraw you need to fill in a variation form at the Faculty office.

HECS census date is March 31 st which is the last date for adding or subtracting and changing units.

SURVEY OF STUDENTS IN 1997

I want to devote a good part of this newsletter to answering some of the points raised in the survey and to let you
know what I have done about various issues. Thank you to all those who did return them it is a great help to me to gauge how services are meeting your needs and what is still to be addressed.
I have compiled a list of common concerns about academic matters and sent them to the Deans of all Faculties requesting that they go to all heads of departments. As you know the survey was annonymous so there is no way any fingers can be pointed at an individual.
I have discussed issues such as seating outside lectures, heating of lecture theatres, heavy doors with the faculties business office.
I have sent any comments on the Library to the cluster head of Chifley library
Comments on examinations went to the head of exams.
Study hints see enclosure. You are also advised to contact the Study Skills Centre as soon as possible to discuss techniques for studying. They are located on the lower ground floor of the Chancelry annex
Information on grants contact the Research Services office ext 3696. If it is a grant of money to an individual for your needs in relation to your disability there are few places to refer you to . Try Service clubs like Rotary etc or ring the ACT DISABILITY PROGRAM on 62076404 but I am not aware of anything much in this line. Commonwealth Rehab Services may assist if you are taken on as a client of theirs.
Disability Card if you dont have a card identifying you as registered with the disability unit please call and see me and I will provide one .
Scholarships. I have a list of scholarships available at other universities and the Good Universities guide for Access and equity programs also lists them I have a copy of this guide if you want to call and see it.
Information for the hearing impaired : I subscribe to SHHHH the newsletter for HI people and you are welcome to read them in the office . There are also many other magazines on disability issues here including the RSI Support group. But I will try to do an issue on hearing later in the year time is the problem!!!
RSI I have a volunteer to run a support group on campus and if you want to join a group let me know your name and I can pass it on to the volunteer .I also receive the ACT RSI support group newsletter
Parking people with a disability that prevents them walking any distance without pain or discomfort may be elligible for a disabled sticker if they have a Drs certificate.Please see me.You may also get a copy of the map showing the disabled parking spots on campus.
IBM Computer There is a pc available in both Chifley Library and Hancock library special needs rooms . Ask at the desk for the key and show your disability card and if you need assistance with the computer contact Neil on the above number. Lockers There are lockers in the special needs rooms in both libraries you just need to ask for a key to them from the staff at the desk. These lockers are on the ground floor.
Assistance with computing; This was an issue that kept coming up and I have asked Neil to write a section for this newsletter on what is available. I hear rumors that the INFOPLACE in the Chifley library may not continue but this is not definite .That would be a great shame as it is heavily used. The Teaching and Learning Technology Support Unit (TLTSU) has information on what computer courses are available to students. If you are interested you can look up this information on the World Wide Web at the following URL, http://tltsu.anu.edu.au/StudentServices/Intro.html#Courses. If you are after more personalised tuition you can contact Neil for training from basic computing to voice recognition and adaptive software. Modems and computers are available for loan, and Neil can provide assistance with setting up dial-in facilities from home or how to access Type quick to teach yourself to type etc.
Computing Facilities in the Library Resources Rooms; The are Resource Rooms in each of the main libraries. The Hancock Library resource room currently has two PCs, a Pentium 133 and 200, that both have voice recognition software installed. In late January early February we expect to have either or both of the continuous speech software packages, Dragon NaturallySpeaking and VoiceXpress. These packages allow the user to input text and data into a PC using speech. The user can speak in a normal conversational way without having to pause between words, as was required with older versions of the software. The Chifley Library resource room has been set up with a PC for Blind and Vision Impaired students, a Power Macintosh for the general user, a Closed Circuit TV for enlarging the printed text for the vision impaired and a laser printer to be shared between the two computers. The PC may be replaced with a more powerful Pentium PC in 1998, and the software upgraded to include either the latest version of Outspoken or Jaws, both of which are screen reading packages. The new PC will run Windows 95. We may also look at getting the latest version of Zoomtext which includes its own text to speech software, that runs when the screen magnification is switched on. The Menzies Library resource room has a Power Macintosh running word processing software and the screen reading software Outspoken. It also has an older version of the macintosh voice recognition software Power Secretary, but this hasn't proved to be as user friendly as the PC versions of the voice recognition software.
Rest Areas There are three places on campus The Women's room in the Crisp building ,G11 on the ground floor of A.D HOPE ( get the key from the Anthropology and Archaeology office nearby and if it is not occupied by a sick student there is a room in the health service that can be used.There is also a small couch in the special needs room in Chifley with pillows and a rug.
Heavy doors For some years we have had a list of these problem areas and Facilities and Services are working on them as funds permit. Some are being changed to unequal width some are being slowly replaced with automatic opening doors and some like the Manning Clark ones cant be changed as the pressure from the airconditioning applies force from the inside. In this area the door onto the Crisp passage is meant to be left propped open at all times if not let me know.
Part time work This year I will try and see if there is anything we can do with the industrial office to provide work experience on campus . There would not be any pay but if you are interested in such a thing let me know. Paid work may be sought through the Careers and employment service in the Chancelry Annex at Student Employment.
Lecture taping: It is not mandatory for lecturers to tape but if they are not doing so you can always tape yourself if you ask their permission. I have tape recorders for loan. It is usually indicated on the lecture time table on the web if a lecture is taped and you can also access this information through the library entry on the web by entering a course code. Ask the readers adviser or info place to show you how.I have been working with the library staff on having free copying of tapes for students with disabilities if you provide your own tape. This has not yet been ok'ed but I expect it will happen .If any one has difficulty paying for tapes I can help to a certain extent with free tapes but I dont have a bottomless budget!
Support Groups There was a little interest in this but only two volunteers one for CFS and one for RSI.I havent the time to run a group but I will make my facilities available to any one who does, such as computer ,mailing list ( I will address letters your name will not be given to anyone without your permission) and photocopying and postage. If any one in these groups wants to contact the volunteers let me know.,or if you just want to meet some one with a disability like yours I am happy to put you in touch with their permission.
Coping with stress See hand out . The Counselling service is available to assist you in this regard and the service is free .Tel 62492442

ERGONOMIC CHAIRS

Through the Occupational health and Safety unit I have a contact whereby you can purchase an ergonomic chair for as little as $100. I know this is a lot for any student but when you think that the normal price is between $200 and $400 it's not a bad offer. You could have a look at the chairs here in H block and then I will put you in touch with the company.

ROLE MODELS

Some students would like to know how others cope with their disabilities and I have included a letter written by an ANU student and a cutting from the paper that I hope will inspire others . This student is in Japan this year and as part of her studies will investigate provisions for people with disabilities in her host country. We all need role models and another student that springs to mind was some one with quadriplegia who completed a PhD here ,went on to another university and did further graduate studies, married and when last I was in touch had just landed a good job in a company.

Determination to succeed no matter what and a sense of humour are what I see in all of you.