Ann Heelan, executive director for the Association for Higher Education, Access and Disability, says there is a waste of potential in Ireland
AHEAD provides information through our telephone helpline and website to students, guidance counsellors and parents in second level about the rights and supports for students with disabilities in going on to third-level education.
A blind student may ring us about the direct entry scheme in universities. This scheme recognises that disability affects performance and allows able students with disability to compete more equally in the points race.
A student with dyslexia who has difficulty reading texts will take up to 50 per cent longer to carry out extensive research and write assignments.
Dyslexic students will be more confident making the decision to go on to college, knowing that they will have disability support services and that they will be able to get the extra support they need through the European Social Fund for students with disabilities. This fund is vital as it pays for note-takers, assistive technology such as voice recognition software and personal assistants.
Students with disabilities do not go to college often because parents and teachers have fairly low expectations for them in terms of jobs. Nobody wants to set the student up for a fall, so they are encouraged to take the easy option.
The student takes foundation maths instead of stretching to the harder pass maths needed for entry on to many courses, therefore limiting their choices.
Research by the Irish Deaf Society shows that many deaf students do not go to higher education and end up in low skills jobs. This is a pure waste of potential when Ireland Inc is crying out for talent.
AHEAD works with guidance counsellors to encourage students to recognise their ability and to think about careers.
This year, we ran 15 workshops with guidance counsellors around the State and the response was great.
Those attending changed their minds about students with disabilities and say they will see the person in future and not the disability. They are amazed by the figures which show that currently there are 2,700 students with disabilities in higher education and these students are leaving college every year with 1st and 2nd class honours degrees. We want to run the workshops again next year but this will depend on funding.
Get Ahead, the forum for graduates with disabilities, is working on a Willing, Able and Monitoring (WAM) funded programme with major Irish employers such as the civil service, Bank of Ireland, IBM, FÁS, Irish Life & Permanent and Hamilton Osborne King to provide graduates with the first step into employment.
Already in this project employers are examining changing their recruitment and selection practices such as the language they use in the advert for the job, to make sure they are open to a more diverse population of potential workers.
Words such as "dynamic and energetic" used in a job advert can give the misleading impression and put disabled people off applying.
AHEAD 01-7164395
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e-mail: ahead@ahead.ie
(In conversation with Ali Bracken)