COURSE OVERVIEW:

One in six Australians has a disability. As a practitioner or a support worker in the care and support sector, you interact every day with people with disabilities. Even if you’re working in other sectors, there is a good chance that you interact, perhaps without even knowing it, with somebody who has a disability.

Sometimes people are uncomfortable around people with disabilities because they don’t know how to act or what to say. Fear of the unknown and lack of knowledge about how to act can lead to uneasiness when meeting a person who has a disability.

Communicating with a person with disability can seem daunting to some. Some people are concerned that they will embarrass themselves or a person with disability by saying or doing the wrong thing. Though these concerns usually come from a good place, it is entirely unnecessary.

Disability etiquette is a set of guidelines dealing specifically with how to approach disabled people. The rules of etiquette and good manners for interacting with disabled people are slightly different than the rules for good etiquette in society.

In any workplace or service oriented place of business, being aware and conscious of Disability etiquette helps to create a healthy work environment. It allows employees and customers to relax and interact freely with one another. It also saves both the customers and staff or employees and employers from awkward situations that can arise from being ignorant of basic Disability Etiquette.

Disability etiquette is not limited to one aspect of life. Its guidelines on how to relate with people with disabilities across all aspects of life. It helps the world understand the best way to engage people with disabilities: as people, we come in contact with every day, as friends, as colleagues, and even as customers.

The most important part of interacting with someone who has a disability is seeing that person for whom he or she is, and not what disability that person has. What it boils down to is having a sense of disability awareness and disability etiquette.

Practicing disability etiquette is an easy way to make people with disabilities feel welcome. You don’t have to feel awkward when dealing with a person who has a disability.

Overall, disability etiquette has been gaining lots of attention in recent years, and this should continue because it will help people learn more about disabled individuals.

This course is for anyone who wants to interact more effectively with people with disabilities. It is a straightforward orientation to the basic rules of etiquette and language that can lay the foundation for respectful and courteous interaction with people with disabilities.

This course starts by explaining what is disability etiquette and why is it important. Then discusses the disability etiquette guidelines including the disability language guidelines. Then explores the do's and don'ts in the disability vocabulary. Then discusses in detail, the rules of etiquette for communicating with people with different physical and mental disabilities. Finally, examines the barriers to community inclusion for individuals with disabilities.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

·       What does disability etiquette mean and why is it important?

·       The disability etiquette guidelines

·       Why you should respect the personal property of a person with a disability?

·       Why you should ask before you help a person with a disability?

·       Why you should be sensitive about the physical contact with a person with a disability?

·       The disability language guidelines

·       Why you shouldn’t refer to people who are not disabled as "normal"?

·       The do's and don'ts in the disability vocabulary

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people who are blind

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with low vision

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people who are deaf or have a hearing loss

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with speech disabilities

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with persons of short stature

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with Cerebral Palsy

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with Tourette Syndrome

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people who look different

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with hidden disabilities

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with Epilepsy or seizure disorders

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and respiratory disabilities

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with HIV or AIDS

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with psychiatric disabilities or mental illness

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with intellectual disabilities

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with learning disabilities

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people with traumatic (or acquired) brain injury

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with people who use service animals

·       The emergency evacuation procedures for people with disabilities

·       The rules of etiquette for communicating with autistic people

·       Conflict management between people with disabilities

·       The barriers to community inclusion for individuals with disabilities

·       What are attitudinal, programmatic and architectural barriers?

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.

COURSE DELIVERY:

Purchase and download course content.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.