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ABN 18 104 950 623Access Easy English

P.O. BOX 3052

Mentone, 31945 June 2015

DSE Review

Economic and Social Advisory

Urbis

Level 12, 120 Collins Street

Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Dear Reviewers,

Re: Submission to the 2015 Review of the Disability Standards for Education

To provide a context for my submission, the following information is provided.

- I am a Speech Pathologist with over 27 years experience supporting clients with

Complex Communication Needs and their families, in the development of supports for

them, individually, via school based curriculum supports, teacher and parent training

and community inclusion supports;

- I am an internationally recognised expert in the development and writing of Easy

English which is the process of writing information for people with low and/or non

functional literacy;

- I have previously, and continue to work to support students and their families in Special

Schools and Special Developmental Schools;

1www.accesseasyenglish.com.au

[email protected]

- I have experience in working with clients, their families, teachers, instructors and

assistants across all sectors, from Early Intervention , mainstream school environments,

Vocational training, supported employment and Adult Day training services;

- I have provided training across all areas provided by Speech Pathologists, including

Augmentative and Alternative Communication, social inclusion, Challenging Behaviours

Mealtime Assistance to name a few;

- I have trained teachers aides and teacher in the development and use of Easy English,

and implementing this strategy in mainstream schools;

- I am recognised by my peers as having the skills, knowledge and experience to submit

medico-legal reports for the school context;

- I own and operate my own business, providing specialist supports for people with

Complex Communication Needs and also Easy English. My website is

w w w . acces s e a s y eng li sh . c o m . a u

- My personal resume is attached.

My submission addresses, in particular, question 3.2 from the Discussion paper,

Questions for Providers of Education and Training, across the following areas:

1. To what extent is there awareness of the Standards, and their stated goals To what

extent do the Standards make clear the rights of people with disability? To what

extent do the Standards make clear the obligations of education providers?

and then

2a. Access and participation

2b. Knowledge and awareness

2c. To what extent are people in the education community aware of the barriers faced by

people with disability who want to access education?

2d. Understanding and advocacy

2e. Non-discrimination in education

Future improvements

3a What kinds of barriers remain for people with disability wanting to access

and participate in education?

3b. What ideas do you have about how the Standards (or information about them)

might be improved in future?


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1. To what extent is there awareness of the Standards, and their stated goals To what

extent do the Standards make clear the rights of people with disability? To what

extent do the Standards make clear the obligations of education providers?

The standards are written and developed in a very broad sense, with little content to

explain the obligations of all parties to the Standards.

I am aware of and have regularly used the Unitised Nations Convention on the Rights of

Person’s With a Disability, 2006. (UNCRPD) as a means to increase people’s awareness

and understanding of an individual’s rights to education, access, participation and social

inclusion. I am not aware of any particular person, school or organisation quoting or using

the current Disability Education standards to justify a position for their decisions. The

UNCRPD has been developed in Complex Language, Plain Language and Simple

English.

These have all helped to drive awareness of the standards. These can be accessed from

my website at h tt p :// acces s e a s y eng li sh . c o m . au / e a sy - eng li sh / l eg i s l a t i v e -fr a m e w o r k /

Unfortunately the way the information is written is still too complex for many people. I have

undertaken to develop a number of pages of the UNCRPD, which I use as examples in

training to demonstrate the importance of everyone having access to information they can

use and understand Please see attached document. Example pages of UNCPRD developed

by Access Easy English.

What are reasonable steps? What is access to specialised services?

The challenge with the Australian Government Disability Standards for Education there do

not appear to be any strong ramifications for schools and school settings not abiding by

these standards. What happens when a child cannot access the curriculum, what happens

when a child does not use speech to communicate? What happens when a school does not

provide a clear set of individual program goals for a child? What happens when the aide is

the only one instructing the child? What happens when teachers and aides do not have the

skills to assist a child with their mealtime assistance needs? Unless a family is prepared to

take the highly stressful, time consuming and usually highly combative approach of taking a

school to a higher administrative or other court situation they are left continuing to search

for “a best solution” from the local environment. Consequently there are only some schools

which are known as “a good school” for children with a disability. Consequently more and

more families with children with disabilities head across town searching for these avenues 3

www.accesseasyenglish.com.au

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of education for their children.

All schools should and must be able to cater for the needs of the students


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2a. Access and participation

2b. Knowledge and awareness

2c. To what extent are people in the education community aware of the barriers faced by

people with disability who want to access education?

2d. Understanding and advocacy

2e. Non-discrimination in education

I will address this in 2 parts.

Access to meaningful written information for people with low literacyReading and literacy

In 2013 the latest adult literacy data was released, The Program for the International

Assessment of Adult Literacy Competencies. w w w . abs . g o v . a u #4228. The data identified

44% or 7.3 million adult Australians has non functional literacy, which means these

Australians have difficult accessing most day to day written information in the public domain.

This is the broad literacy data statistics. The research also demonstrates people with non

functional literacy have a higher prevalence of health issues and poorer health outcomes,

have poorer financial management, poorer awareness regarding emergency services

issues, higher incidence of interaction and recidivism in the justice system, higher workplace

safety issues, and many other aspects of their day to day living. In addition there is a high

correlation between low literacy/non functional literacy and poor wages and low socio

economic status.

Why do the Education standards need to address the needs of adults with non

functional literacy?

Every child or young person accessing education, has a parent. Parents come from all

walks of life. Parents, being asked to be self managing in the current and future climate of

their child’s education, and the NDIS critically need to be able to access written information.

In addition people in Adult Day training services, being encouraged to be self managing also

need to be able to access written information. Most adults in adult training services have a


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significant level of non functional literacy.


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People with low literacy/non functional literacy may be the ‘man or woman in the street’

one’s neighbour, work colleague or friend, or it may be the person with a diagnosed

disability from lifelong disabilities such as Down Syndrome to Acquired Disabilities such as

car accident, or stroke. People from the Deaf community and people with a hearing

impairment are overrepresented in this cohort, as are people with poor educational

attainment. In

addition people who are time poor or highly stressed show higher levels of non functional

literacy. (parents of children with disability) All these individuals are people who are seen

in the Education sector.

People with low literacy are also overrepresented among those living with a mental health

issue, the unemployed, and underemployed, the homeless and the disabled. People with

English as a second language, as well as people from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait

Islander background are also significantly overrepresented in this data.

In addition, the 2013 ABS data investigated both numerical literacy and problem solving literacy in technology based environments (on-line). Both these significant areas of

reading in the 21st century, demonstrated even greater levels of non-functional skills and

abilities.

Non functional numerical literacy in the Australian environment was interpreted at 52%.

Numerical literacy involves the interpretation of numbers, time, and quantities to name a

few needs in this area. This is critical literacy for the correct administration in areas such as

meeting attendance, planning and time management.

Non functional problem solving literacy in technology based information (use of online

information) in the Australian environment was interpreted at 14% opted out of the tasks

altogether, with a total of over 62% being non functional in use of technology for

problem solving and information gathering. This is significant with regard to accessing

services, phone apps or other technology. Additional research from Canada has also

shown even those with higher computer literacy skills, are predominantly more capable

in the social media sphere, compared with researching information, completing forms,

and accessing services online, which is what is required in the current Digital/Computer

Economy.


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My work with people with low literacy/ non functional literacy has demonstrated again and

again the value of information being written in Easy English. These adults are able to

read


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and understand particular issues of import to themselves, and gain insight into how the

information relates to themselves when it is written in Easy English. Significant barriers to

information and life choice outcomes are removed. Consequently more meaningful

decisions are made and acted upon.

It must be noted, people with low literacy are a significant cohort of people who are

vulnerable and will not “reach out” for the support and assistance they need.

Family members and support staff are additionally vulnerable when faced with large

amounts of written information, and then other factors such as being time poor, and

stressed. These influential members of an individual’s support network also benefit highly

from having written information provided in a more accessible manner. In addition people

who live with other variable issues are known to often have variable functional literacy,

due to the variable nature of their coping and management strategies.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012, is also critical data to

consider. If 20 % of all 14-15 year old students in mainstream schools have non functional

literacy, how do they access the curriculum? My experience has shown that students

struggle to even understand the assessment matrix required of them to complete a task, eg:

A task may require research in a particular domain. The students are offered a number of

means of presenting this, such as “Develop a photographic diorama to explain the outcomes

of your research.” Then students are given a scale of what they would achieve if certain

additional elements are included in their work. How many students understand what a

“photographic diorama “really is particularly if this is offered as an alternative to writing a

500 word essay. Using Easy English process more students would have a greater grasp of

the requirements of a task.

I note there has been a late addition to the information to the 2015 Review of the

Disability Standards for Education website, which includes Easy English information. I

congratulate you on your attempt to be inclusive in this way. However, there are a number

of issues I need to raise regarding the document provided:

- Under the UNCRPD it states written information should be provided in the same time

frame as the original document. This clearly was not the case for this Review.

- People with limited or non functional literacy take longer to read information, understand

what it means for them and take more time to develop a response, and then put it

together.9


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- In addition, as noted earlier with the higher incidence of non functional computer based

literacy, how do people with non functional literacy locate and find this information. Where

was the information available, besides on the website? What was the time frame for

people to comment on the submission, starting from an Easy English reading of the

issues?

- The content of your Easy English paper is nonexistent. Someone reading this version

would have no idea of the issues or questions being asked by your review. Reading your

Plain Language version of your Discussion paper, allows the reader to consider issues

more broadly, and consider other points of view. It also ensures responses are directed to

what you, as the reviewer, is wanting to specifically hear about.

- There are some basic tenets in writing Easy English for readability and legibility. These

include use of sentence case throughout and use of a san serif font.

- Additionally consumer review of the written information with people who would be the likely audience is a critical step to implementing good quality Easy English.

Below are a number of recent examples of work I have completed in Easy English, which

will give you a greater understating of how information should be written. I have been doing

this work for over 10 years, and these current documents have been well tested in the

community. There are many other examples of information written in Easy English for all

spheres of relevance. There are also numerous examples, particularly from the UK and

some from the USA, of documents written for education or learning environments, social

inclusion, participation and advocacy. Examples from the UK and USA can be provided

upon request.

Recent examples developed by Access Easy English include:

1. Your Guide to Survival Country Fire Authority

h tt p :/ / ww w . c f a . v i c . g o v . au / a b ou t/ e a s y - eng li s h - v e r s i o n s /

2. Training support package NSW Boarding Houses New Laws and Rules 2013. Book

1- 4. See attached 1 book (Book 4) Rights.

3. Think Safe Act Safe. A document for men leaving court with an IO; See attached.

4. Voices against Violence, Book 7. Report on research completed in Victoria about

Women with Disabilities, the prevalence and issues with regard to Violence.


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h tt p :// w d v . o r g . au / do cu m e n t s / V o i ces % 2 0 A ga i sn t % 20 V i o l ence % 20 P a p e r % 2 0 S e ve n %20 Eas y%2 0E ng lish %20 Summa ry%20 %28 PD F%2 03 MB %29 .pd f

5. Proof of Contact Receipt, Victoria Police(i) Questions About receipts(ii) Receiptsh tt p :// ww w . po l i ce . v i c . g o v . au / con t en t. a s p ? D o cu m e n t _ I D = 4 3 7 5 8 The Easy English

is currently not available to the public, but will be available within days.

Any written information can be developed into Easy English, from letters, to admission

forms, student reports, school newsletters, websites, support plans, student tests, or

assessment tasks, Powerpoint, facts and fact sheets to training packages.

In my work with government departments and government funded organisations, I am also

constantly confronted with the lack of awareness of the UN Convention on the Rights of

Person with a Disability, 2006, by staff, and its implications for people who need to access

written information from the government, and government funded organisations. In addition,

I will often talk with clients who require information written in Easy English about this UN

Convention, and what it should mean for them regarding their right to access written

information in a way they can read and understand. Unfortunately, most complaints

processes and forms are not presented in a way these particular clients can use, to raise

their concerns about access to written information.

Australia was one of the first signatures to the UN Convention on the Rights of Person with a

Disability(2006). I developed the original and consequent Australian guidelines for writing in

Easy English. These are regularly refereed and cited, by organisations that use Easy

English in their communications with clients, families and the public. I also regularly present

papers

at National and International conferences on this topic.


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Communication for people with Complex Communication Needs

The Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2012 stated “The number of Australians with disability

remained steady at 18.5 per cent of the population or 4.2 million people. Of these, 1.4

million Australians had a profound or severe limitation affecting their mobility, self-care or

communication.” ww w . abs . g o v . a u #4430 Speech Pathology Australia states 13,000

Australians use electronic communication aids to communicate.

ww w.speec hpa tho log yyaus tra lia .o rg .a u

With these damning statistics the needs of people with disability, but most particularly

those with communication difficulties, and complex communication difficulties needs to be

addressed. These students and learners are often the most vulnerable in our community,

many requiring particular advocacy to assist them to speak up, or be supported in speaking

up for themselves. Some people have Complex Communication Needs due to lifelong

disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy or Autism, others from acquired disabilities such as car

accident, or mental health issues. Others again have specific language difficulties,

developmental delay, pragmatic or social issues. Their Rights need to be addressed.

Some students with Complex Communication Needs can eventually use literacy, to

communicate, eg: a voice output device, where they can use word predict, and other

features to create individualised messages for any situation. However people without literacy and with Complex Communication Needs are a far higher proportion. Some people

use predominantly images to communicate others use signing or key word signing. Others

again use less formal means of communication such as their gestures and behaviour and

people knowing them, well to communicate. Irrespective of the person’s means of

communication, their messages need to be heard. These students must be included in all

school and the education curriculum.

Barriers can be subtle, but many times the barriers to access to communication and

Rights is obvious.

Subtle barriers can include: Not allowing time for the person to communicate;


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Aides, teachers and instructors being unaware of how to communicate with someone

who does not talk. This may be because workers have never met someone who

communicates in this way before;

Dismissing changes in behaviour as being insignificant;

Dismissing communication unless it is done using speech;

Lack of modelling by teachers, aides and peers in the classroom of how to use

the communication system;

Aides working with the student with a disability; the student never having direct

teaching from the teacher;

The student being isolated within a classroom setting, so the Aide is always with the

child, rather than their peers;

Specific topic language/images/objects/signs may not be available to the student as

part of their communication system – these need to be provided as part of the

preparation for a student in the classroom.

Less subtle barriers can include:

Individual program goals are not written, or followed;

Lack of support for learning and use of Key Word Sign and Gesture;

Lack of awareness of the breadth of skills and knowledge from a Speech Pathology

intervention, from Pre – intentional Communication to Symbolic Communication in the

areas of Complex Communication Needs, Behaviours of Concern, Curriculum Inclusion

and participation, language and articulation, specific language delay, hearing

impairment, pragmatics, literacy, and Mealtime Assistance to name a few.

Speech Pathology intervention strategies are ignored by staff altogether;

Teacher training does not address areas of communication and complex

communication needs;

Teacher training does not address the area of Mealtime Assistance;

Participation is seen as the goal, rather than attainment of skills and

educational outcomes;

Not using the person’s communication system;

Aides are trained by RTO’s who have no specific specialised trainers in communication.

To be allowed to train in an RTO, one must have a Certificate IV in Assessment and

Training. Speech Pathologists have these skills inherently in their undergraduate training,13


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however, we are not allowed to provide the specialised communication training to

students in Disability Support Workers courses. Often only a single presentation is

allocated to “communication” in their training. As an experienced Speech Pathologist in

this area, I have regularly seen Disability Support Workers and Aides have no

knowledge of Complex Communication Needs, but have an understanding of the

importance of communication (with parents, teachers and other support networks).

Using an Ipad as a panacea for all communication needs, in that, “give them an

iPad,” and some Apps and “she’ll be right” Assessment via a Speech Pathologist is

not undertaken or supported as part of a person’s individual package;

Seeing that a piece of technology ‘is communication.” It requires time and support for

the student and their support team to become an independent communicator;

Access to Speech Pathology service is restricted to 1 -2 , 1 hour sessions per term,

if you are lucky, and only then for younger students; Older students rarely see a

Speech Pathologist for ongoing consultation and support;

Training for staff is ad hoc due to the lack of time available for specific and

specialised training. Sometimes it may occur in the teachers Preparation time, or a

lunch break, rather than provided in quality Professional Development training

opportunities;

Employment of Speech Pathologists expert in the area of Complex Communication

Needs is undermined, in specialist schools and also mainstream schools. If a school

employs a therapist directly mostly only new graduate/Grade 1 positions are advertised

or funded. (Victoria)

These are just some examples. There are many more barriers with regard to access,

inclusion in the curriculum and non discrimination of students in their educational

journey.


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Future improvements3a What kinds of barriers remain for people with disability wanting to access

and participate in education?

3b. What ideas do you have about how the Standards (or information about them)

might be improved in future?

1. A whole of department approach to Accessible Information.

All information to be provided to families and students needs to be available in Easy

English. This includes

a. information for parents about schools, curriculum, Standards, Rights and

Complaints;

b. School reports;

c. Notices and newsletters;

d. Integration student support plans;

e. Medical and assessment plans;

f. Student materials.

Priorities include:a. Training for staff in Regional and Head offices to learn to develop key

documents and proforma’s in Easy English, including why this is

necessary. Or

Contract to have Best Practise critical public domain Education documents

developed into Easy English.

b. Developing Best Practise example documents in all areas of

parent interactions and student learning.

2. Improve funding for all students with Communication difficulties/delays to access

Speech Pathology services in educational settings;

3. Ensure teachers working in Specialist schools have quality under - graduate

training in Complex Communication Needs and Mealtime Assistance;

4. Support teachers and teachers aides to access ongoing training on how to

integrate students and communicate with students with Complex Communication

Needs;

5. Provide improved awareness for appropriate employment of specialist and

experienced Speech Pathologist in specialist education settings;


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6. Support Adult Day trainings services to improve the skills and knowledge of

disability support workers in their implementation of Communication Strategies.

With my expert knowledge and insight into Easy English, I would be interested in

pursuing further dialogue with the 2015 Review of the Disability Standards for Education

about how to implement Easy English.

I would be pleased to share my expert skills and knowledge about communicating with

people with Complex Communication Needs with this Review to improve the outcomes

for students with Complex Communication Needs on tier educational journeys.

I thank you for this opportunity to submit comment to the 2015 Review of the Disability Standards for Education

Cathy BasterfieldCathy Basterfield

Speech Pathologist

Owner, Access Easy English.

C a t h y @ a c c e s s e a s y eng li sh . c o m . a u 0466 579 855

Further attachments and links

Access Easy English website h ttp ://acce sse as ye ng lish . c om .au /

Access Easy English Blog h ttp ://acc es se as yeng lish .b logspo t.c om .au/

Personal Resume. May 2015. (following pages - from page 14)


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References

K Bloomberg, H Johnson - Augmentative and Alternative 1990. A statewide

demographic survey of people with severe communication impairments

Communication Impairment in Australia

h

tt p :// ww w . spee c hpa t ho l og y aus tr a li a . o r g . au /l i b r a r y / 2013 F ac t s h ee t s / F ac t s h e e t _ C o mm un i ca t i

on_ I m pa i r m en t _ i n_ A us tr a li a . pd f

Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: w w w . abs . g o v . a u #4430

Program for the International Assessment of Adult Literacy Competencies

data. w w w . abs . g o v . a u #4228.

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 h tt p :// w w w . ace r. edu . a u / o z p i sa /


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Personal Resume June 2015

Cathy Basterfield

Internationally recognised expert writer in Easy English

Expert and dynamic trainer

Consultant Speech Pathologist

Expert skills and knowledge in Augmentative and Alternative communication

Expert skills in mealtime management for people with dysphagia

Medico- Legal Consultant in use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Personal DetailsName: Cathy Basterfield

Address: available on request

Business Address:

P.O. Box 3052, Mentone East 3194.

Phone: 0466 579 855

Email: ca th y@ac ce sse as ye ng lish .c om .a uQualification: Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) 1988

Years of Experience: 27 years.

Professional Affiliations

Speech Pathology Australia

AGOSCI – (formerly Australian Group on Severe Communication Impairment)

Key Word Sign Australia (Vic)

PLAIN – International Plain Language Association


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Awards

2011 Victorian Government Ethel Temby scholarship.

Employment History

Owner & Operator

Access Easy English

2009 – current

See website ww w.acces se as ye ng lish .c om .au

Develop and write documents of all types tailored for the end user, in particular people

with limited or non functional literacy.

Private consultant with consumers and clients specialising in Augmentative and Alternative

Communication.

Invited plenary panel speaker to the 2013 International PLAIN conference.

Vancouver, Canada.

2005- 2013

Consultant and Senior Clinician, Speech Pathologist. Part-time position.

Coordinator, Accessible Information Service, Communication Resource Centre. My

primary achievements and ongoing roles included

– Raising awareness and building capacity in government and non-government sector in

the area of Accessible Information, in particular Easy English;

– Identifying and managing partnership opportunities;

– Identifying key network frameworks, and working with them;

– Driving strategic change within the organisation and with external partners;

– Coordinating and maintaining quality writing processes;

– Coordinating complex and multiple projects;

– Managing the day to day team environment;


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– Working within budgetary guidelines;

– Identifying research opportunities;

– Developing training packages.

– Other achievements

– Supporting the implementation of the Communication Access Symbol;

– Developing new and dynamic training packages for various audiences in all aspects of

Augmentative and Alternative Communication;

– Presenting regular workshops for support staff or undergraduate students;

– Peer mentoring.

June 1996 – February 2002

Contract work

Private Consultant – Carronbank School – now Aurora School

Private referrals

Data Collection Officer – Spastic Society,

Senior Clinician, Speech Pathologist, Functional Communication Outreach Service.

Member of Makaton/Key Word Sign and Gesture Victorian Committee

- Organising committee and Mentor for new Makaton Presenters 1999 -> ongoing.

1993-1996

Grade II Speech Pathologist, Functional Communication Resource Centre

1990 – 1993

Grade II Speech Pathologist, Nepean Special School

1989-1990

Speech Pathologist, Dandenong Valley School

Speech Pathologist, Cranbourne – Narre Warren School Support Service

Private Speech Pathologist, Early Intervention Program, South Melbourne Special

Developmental School


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Volunteer position related to professional role.

1996 – current

Member Victorian Executive Key Word Sign Australia (Vic), formerly

Makaton Australia (Vic)

Some key achievements

Publications (see below);

Biannually plan and manage a 3 ½ day conference;

Planned and developed a public community launch of “The Footy Book “at Etihad

Stadium, for over 100 people, including 50 people with a disability.

Active planning and development in activities such as

- Developing Memorandum of Understanding;

- Marketing;

- Developing and managing the Key Word Sign Victoria website

h tt p :// ke y w o r ds i gn v i c t o r i a . o r g /

- Professional development updates;

- Managing the organisations movement to an Incorporated organisation;

- Conference presentations;

- Peer mentoring;

- Resource planning and development;

- Developing Best Practise for training new trainers, and the teaching of community

members.

Positions held – public officer, vice chairperson.

Current Publications Basterfield and Starford (2014) Plain Language for Access to Democracy and Citizenship.

Clarity.

Basterfield (2009 ) Raising awareness of the importance of functional literacy skills.

Australian Communication Quarterly Vol. 11 No. 2

Images for Easy English (2008), Scope.

h tt p :// sco pe v i c . o r g . au / i nde x . php / c m s /fr on t end /r e sou r ce / i d / 19 4

Easy English Writing Style Guide (2005, 2007), Scope.

h tt p :// sco pe v i c . o r g . au / i nde x . php / c m s /fr on t end /r e sou r ce / i d / 19 3

Let’s Play with Sign (2006) Brownlie, Basterfield and Bloomberg


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Other Publications

Consultant to InterAACtion manual (2004) – Scope

Joint Editorial Coordinator – Key Signs – A Supplement to the Makaton Vocabulary

Auslan Edition (2002)

Editorial Panel – The Makaton Vocabulary – Auslan Edition (2001)

Conference Presentations

2014

1. Speech Pathology Australia Conference. May 2014.

Connections in our Communities. What happens when consumers have non functional

literacy?

2. Having A Say Conference, Geelong. February 2014.

Basterfield. “Why information must be accessible.The case for Easy English.”

2013

International PLAIN conference Vancouver, Canada

Basterfield, Cathy and Starford.“Plain Language for Democracy and Engagement”

h tt p :// ww w . s l i desha r e . n e t/ 2 0 13 P L A I N C o n f e r en c e / p l a i n201 3 - d e m oc r a c y- en g a ge m e n t - c -

bas t e rf i e l d - m - s t a rf o r d

2012

2nd World Congress on Adult Guardianship. Guardianship and the United Nations

Disabilities Convention: Australian and International Perspectives, Melbourne.

Basterfield. Poster – “I don’t understand what it says. What do I do now?”

Basterfield. “Access to information. Everyone’s human right.”


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2011

1. International PLAIN Conference, Stockholm, Sweden

Basterfield. “Where is the Framework? A synopsis of research when writing for people

with limited literacy.”

Basterfield. “Plain language, Easy English. Is this part of the framework?”

2. AGOSCI Conference, Adelaide

Basterfield and Rezzani. “Ask Consumers? Absolutely!”

Basterfield and Caithness “Key Word Sign – a community launch of a football resource.”

2010

1. ISAAC, Barcelona

Rezzani and Basterfield. “How to achieve effective community engagement through

consumer testing.”

2. International World of Footballs Conference , Melbourne

Basterfield. “Football – let’s talk about it………”

2009

1. International Plain Language Conference, Sydney

a. Basterfield & Lang. “Making Written Information Accessible. Voting in Victoria.”

b. Invited speaker. Basterfield & Stephens. “ Access is a Human Right”

Dialogue presentation.

2. Disability and Justice Conference, Melbourne

Basterfield. “I don’t understand what this says...Making Written Information

Accessible.Everyone’s Human Right.”

3. Speech Pathology Australia, Adelaide

Basterfield. “I don’t understand what this says...Making Written Information Accessible.”


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4. AGOSCI Conference, Canberra

Basterfield. “Powerful Easy English research.”

Basterfield. ”Easy English is Powerful.”

2008

1. Australian Council of Adult Literacy, Gold Coast

Basterfield. “Reading for today... Planning for tomorrow.

What is Easy English?”

2. Workplace , Employment Language and Literacy Conference, Sydney

Basterfield. “Writing in Easy English. An Introduction.”

3. CP Australia, Brisbane.

Poster – “State Government Elections. Accessible Information Service and Victorian

Electoral Commission.”

4. ISAAC, Montreal

Poster – “State Government Elections. Accessible Information Service and Victorian

Electoral Commission.”

2007

1. AGOSCI Conference, Melbourne

Basterfield and Mauritzen. “Easy English and the Internet. An introduction.”

2. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Conference, Melbourne

Invited to Panel discussion. “Access to Information. “

Other1. 2009 - National Disability Service – invited to attend one day forum on Accessibility and

Communication, Canberra.

2. 2007, 2011 – Presented to the Electoral Matters Committee, Victorian

Parliament, Melbourne.


[email protected]

1

NSW Boarding Houses

New laws and rules 2013

Book 4Rights.

The New South Wales Government

made this book.

The New South Wales Council

for Intellectual Disability

and

some people who live in Boarding Houses

helped make the book.

2014 The book was made in 2014.

If you need help to read this book, you can ask

a worker

an advocate

or

someone else you trust.

This information is based on a new NSW law.

The law is the Houses Act 2012 and

Boarding Houses Regulation 2013.

Your Boarding House must follow this law.

Laws are like rules.

There are 4 books you can read.

This is book 4.

All the information you read in these books is

about your Rights. Like, you have the Right to

your own bedroom

healthy food.

This book tells you about all your other Rights.

? What is in Book 4 ?

1. Stay Well page 8

2. Stay Safe page 10

3. Say no to abuse and neglect page 12

4. Emergency help page 16

5. Make choices page 18

6. Boarding House workers page 22

7. Your personal information page 24

8. Privacy page 29

9. Make a complaint page 31

1. Stay Well

You have the Right to have regular health checks

See your doctor if you see any change in

your health. A worker can sometimes see this, like

you have a bad sore. It is not getting better. He

may say you need to see your doctor.

You can choose

your doctor

your dentist

the chemist

any other specialist, like an eye doctor.

The workers will write this information in your file.

The workers can help you

make appointments

help you plan how to get to appointments.

Accidents can happen at home, like

you have a nose bleed

or slip over in the bathroom.

Workers must give you First Aid.

Workers must call an ambulance, if needed.

A poster about ‘How to Resuscitate you”

must be on the wall.

2. Stay safe

The workers must help you be safe.

You have a key for your bedroom door.

You know how to tell a worker if someone

hurts you

makes you feel bad

does bad things to you.

Fire Drills

You know where to go in a fire drill.

This will help you get out quickly.

There is a map of the Boarding House

The map

is on the walls

and easy to read.

Everyone in the Boarding House must practise

the fire drill lots of times. Then, everyone will

know what to do if there is a fire.

! 3. Say no to abuse and neglect

Abuse is when somebody

hurts you

or makes you feel bad.

Neglect is when people do not care for you

properly

You must not be abused or neglected in any way.

Tell another person if someone

hits you

yells at you

threatens you

swears at you

makes you feel unsafe or scared.

Tell another person if someone

stops you eating what you want

stops you seeing who you want

stops you doing what you want to do

uses or breaks your stuff when you said no.

You must tell another person if someone

locks you up

or

makes you take drugs or medicines.

! These are not drugs or medicines from

your doctor. You do not want to take these

other drugs.

You can tell

a case worker

an OCV or Official Community Visitor

a Home Care worker

or

a friend

advocate

your ALI worker

someone else you trust.

The Manager and workers must not hurt you.

They must help you. You can tell another person

if the Manager or worker hurts you or does not

help you.

4. Emergency help

An emergency is when you need help right now!

There must be an easy way for you to

call for help. This can be a Call Bell.

There must be a call bell in

all bathrooms

the kitchen

all living rooms.

Other rooms you use can also have a Call Bell.

The Call Bells must work all the time.

The Manager must check the Call Bells work.

5. Make choices

You decide what you do each day.

You cannot be forced to do things.

Workers do not choose for you.

Your family and friends can visit you or talk

to you anytime.

You choose your own friends.

Workers must not stop you making friends.

Work in the Boarding House

You can not be forced to cook or clean or

do washing

! But

You can do this if you do want it.

This is OK.

Do you need help to make choices and decisions?

Yes.

Workers must help you get the help you need.

You can use

an advocate

guardian

a support service.

Your Boarding House must give you information

about advocates and other services.

This may be phone numbers.

The numbers are

near the phone

and

easy to see.

Workers can help you find the numbers.

or

Workers must find someone who can help.

This can be advocates or OCV’s.

X ?

6. Boarding House workers

Boarding House workers are there to help you.

The Boarding House must have

the right number of workers for everyone that

needs help

rules. Workers must know what to do, like

- what is a healthy meal

- how to help you leave in a fire.

The rules are on a poster on the wall.

There must always be a worker in the

Boarding House who

knows how to do first aid

knows what to do in a fire.

All workers must have the right skills

to do their job.

The Manager must check the workers

have the right skills

are doing their jobs

have not been in trouble with the law before.

7. Personal information

Your Boarding House must keep clear

information about you. Sometimes this is called

your personal file or your file or

your records.

Everyone else who lives in the Boarding House

has a file too.

This information must be kept private.

It must be kept in a safe place.

Your personal information helps the workers to

make sure you get the help you need

know who to call if you are sick

know what you want to do in the future.

You can read your personal file.

Your file will have

your name

date of birth

pension number

Medicare number.

Your file will have a list of all the things you own

when you came to the Boarding House

new things you have.

It will have your health information. This can be

your doctors name and phone number

what medicines you take

history about your health

any food that makes you sick.

Workers must write in your file

when you get hurt or get sick. It will help them,

if you are sick another time.

Your file will say

when you started at the Boarding House

and

any tests you did then.

your answers to the questions then.

Your file will also say what help you need to

shower or go to the toilet

dress or undress

eat or cook meals

take your medicine

do things in the community

make choices

do any other things.

Your file will have information about people in

your life. This can be

your next of kin. This is the person in your

family who is close to you, like

your mum or sister.

your advocate

support services you use

the person who looks after your money, if any

your guardian.

You can write down anyone else who is important

in your life. Like, a friend, or people

you used to live with.

8. Privacy

Information about you must stay private.

Workers must not talk about you to others

without your say so.

Your file must be kept in a safe place.

Like, a locked filing cabinet.

Boarding Houses can have a private room.

You can talk without other people hearing you.

You can talk to

your advocate

anyone else you want to talk to.

9. Make a complaint

A complaint is speaking up when things are

not right.

It is OK to make a complaint.

Information about your complaint must be private.

Your Boarding House must have rules to help you

make your complaint

listen to a complaint

make any changes after a complaint.

The Manager must check you know how to

? make a complaint.

You must get the help you need to

make a complaint.

Your advocate or guardian can help you too.

The Manager must decide about

any complaint in a

fair way for everyone

short time.

After you make a complaint you

cannot get into trouble from anyone

cannot be made to leave the Boarding House.

This is against the law.

The Manager must keep records of

when people complain

what he did to fix things.

Sometimes a complaint is something

very serious.

Like,

abuse

neglect

sexual assault

a big accident when help is needed.

Other people need to know about the

big complaint. Like

police

and

ADHC.

36

Images in this book

Most of the pictures in this book are from

Photosymbols. www.photosymbols.com

Mayer–Johnson says we can use their

PCS pictures. www.mayerjohnson.com

MicroSoft Clipart. www.microsoft.com

Sclera. www.scelra.com

The Government said we could use their logos.

NSW CID wrote this book.

www.nswcid.org.au

Access Easy English helped NSW CID write the

Easy English. August 2014


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