Journey to Work:
Creating Pathways for Young Disabled People
in New Zealand
Discussion Document
Prepared for CCS Disability Action and Workbridge
Grant Cleland and Alexandra Smith
March 2010
CCS Disability Action/Workbridge/Creative Solutions © Copyright 2010
Journey to Work:
Creating Pathways for Young Disabled People
in New Zealand
Table of Contents
1.
Introduction .................................................................................................... 2
2.
Executive Summary ......................................................................................... 3
3.
What do we mean by disability? ......................................................................... 6
4.
What are the education and employment outcomes for disabled people? ................ 8
5.
What is the overall policy and legal framework? ................................................. 10
6.
How do we build a better foundation for young disabled people? ......................... 12
7.
Can young disabled people achieve better education outcomes at school? ............. 14
8.
Improving the transition of disabled students from school ................................... 25
9.
The role of post secondary education for disabled people .................................... 38
10. Developing better pathways to community participation ..................................... 44
11. Improving employment outcomes for young disabled people ............................... 47
12. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 57
13. Endnotes ...................................................................................................... 59
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1. Introduction
Disabled people in New Zealand are less likely to have secondary or tertiary qualifications
or to be employed when compared to any other minority group. In 2001 Statistics New
Zealand stated that the lower level of successful participation by disabled students in
secondary and tertiary education seriously impacts on their ability to gain employment.
And yet when disabled people do get qualifications, they are employed at about the same
rate as non-disabled New Zealanders with no qualification. Why is this? 1 2
This report provides background information to discuss the key issues and develop
specific action points for a way forward. It discusses the critical factors for young
disabled people making the journey to work. It brings together the key messages and
common principles from best practice literature, statutory requirements, policies,
guidelines, and services, and also draws on the experience of those with personal and
professional knowledge in this area.
It is clear that there is more research needed in the development of transition services
for young disabled people, such as best practice for disabled Maori and Pacific youth and
migrant youth, how gender and disability correlate in influencing education and
employment pathways, and how the educational outcomes of students who access
special education compares to those in mainstream settings. Research could also help us
understand why young disabled people at secondary school are not achieving
qualifications at the same rate as in post secondary education. This should include
research into the approach, funding and the provision of resources.
This project, developed and funded by the National Offices of Workbridge and CCS
Disability Action, has been completed by Grant Cleland and Alex Smith in association
with Paul Gibson and Ruth Jones from the National Office of CCS Disability Action and
Karen Beard from Workbridge National Office.
We would like to thank all of the people who have helped to develop this discussion
document. Your assistance has been invaluable.
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2. Executive Summary
According to Statistics New Zealand (2006):3 4
 The more qualified disabled people are the more likely they will get a job.
 Young disabled people are almost twice as likely as young non-disabled people to
leave school without a qualification.
 Disabled people with a tertiary qualification are employed at about the same rate as
non-disabled New Zealanders with no qualification.
 Seventy-five percent of disabled people do not require any extra equipment or other
modifications or support to work. Of those who do require support, the need for
modified hours is the most commonly reported requirement. Relatively small numbers
need equipment, building modifications, a job coach, personal assistant or
communication services and Workbridge and other agencies can assist with many of
these workplace supports.
The journey to work of young disabled people is a process, not an event. Along the way
young disabled people come up against all sorts of barriers. This report quite clearly
shows that more needs to be done if young disabled people are to reach their potential,
and we all have a role to play in making our schools, workplaces and communities more
inclusive.
This research provides an overview of how young disabled people have been faring at
school and in work. It also focuses on the solutions needed to develop more effective
pathways to social, academic and economic achievement.
The report highlights these key issues:
Starting early
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From our earliest moments, our expectations of life are shaped and encouraged by
those around us and brought to fruition by the provision of opportunities and support
to turn our hopes and dreams into reality.
A successful transition from school to work is a planned and coordinated journey that
begins in early life.
Positive expectations and attitudes extend what people can and do achieve.
At school
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Successful planning for transition from school to work begins at age 14 and needs to
be integrated into the curriculum.
Actively involving young disabled people in plans and decisions that affect them
increases their engagement, achievement and their self-management abilities.
Social contact and support from other students at school promotes the successful
participation of disabled students.
Teaching staff need specialised skills and knowledge to work effectively with disabled
students.
There needs to be more focus on developing the academic potential and functional
skills of young disabled people, from an early age.
Support funding for disabled school students is insufficient, particularly for those not
eligible for the funding available to students with very high and high needs.
One size does not fit all; support needs to be personalised, flexible and responsive.
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Post secondary education and work experience
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Qualification pathways and work experience need to be relevant to future career
aspirations.
A person’s goals are more likely to be achieved when families, schools, post
secondary education providers, government departments, employers and services
work together.
In employment
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Disabled people need tools to help them develop confidence and interpersonal skills
that are transferable to the workplace and which reduce the impact of a person’s
impairment on employment.
More leadership from the public sector is required in the recruitment, support and
career advancement of disabled employees.
Employers need assistance to understand how a person’s disability impacts on their
ability to do the job, rather than knowledge about particular impairments.
Negative attitudes are the major barrier for disabled people in gaining and retaining
employment.
Disability equity training can assist work colleagues to recognise and value the skills
of disabled employees and overcome negative stereotypes.
Research and evaluation of services and government initiatives need to focus on the
quality of the education and employment outcomes for young disabled people.
Service providers need to involve service users in service planning and evaluation.
A project team of Workbridge and CCS Disability Action staff has coordinated this project.
This report provides evidence of the need to have further discussion on:
(a)
How to develop solutions to improve the journey to work of young disabled people.
(b)
Why some disabled people are successful in education and employment and what
we can learn from this.
This discussion should involve young disabled people, other disabled people who have
successfully transitioned from education into employment, their family/whanau, key
Ministers and officials from the State Sector and non-government organisations.
Solutions from the Journey to Work Project include:
(a)
Concerted efforts are made to encourage appropriate communication, access to
forums and youth meetings that draw from the voice of young disabled people.
(b)
Better and coordinated leadership from Government agencies, so that all agencies
focus on lifting the performance of young disabled people in education and
employment.
(c)
More employer education and a public awareness campaign to promote the inclusion
of disabled people in community life, including education and employment.
(d)
Develop solutions to encourage more families/whanau to support young disabled
people to develop and implement hopes and dreams, from an early age.
(e)
Identify and overcome barriers that limit the educational and employment
achievement of disabled people.
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(f)
Develop an inclusive education policy, rather than a special education policy, that
drives the education of young disabled people in special schools, mainstream special
units and classroom settings.
(g)
The disability philosophy driving the education for young disabled people is a
strengths-based model rather than a deficit model, with particularly emphasis on
developing academic potential and functional skills and overcoming barriers to
learning support.
(h)
School charters specify how a school will improve the presence, engagement and
achievement of their young disabled people.
(i)
Ongoing training for educators so teachers challenge their own beliefs and raise
their expectations of disabled learners.
(j)
The development of a nationally recognised and consistent transition planning
process for young disabled people.
(k)
Appropriate access to information about learning options and career choices for
young disabled people and their families/whanau.
(l)
Set national standards to measure and increase the achievement of young disabled
people with National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and at post
secondary level. This should include having targets for the academic achievement of
disabled students in school charters for special and mainstream schools.
(m) Transition staff in all schools and Ministry of Social Development (MSD) funded
services should receive consistent transition training.
(n)
Develop strategies to increase and improve work experience and after school and
holiday work for young disabled people.
(o)
Develop and monitor a strategy and targets to significantly increase the numbers of
young disabled people employed in the state and private sector, with particular
emphasis on overcoming barriers to recruitment and retention.
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3. What do we mean by disability?
In this document the term ‘disabled people’ is used to illustrate that people can be
disabled by their environment. We have used the New Zealand Disability Strategy
definition of disability, which is compatible with the social model of disability. The New
Zealand Disability Strategy (2001) states that ‘disability is not something individuals
have. What individuals have are impairments. They may be physical, sensory,
neurological, psychiatric, intellectual or other impairments’. And it also says that
‘disability is the process which happens when one group of people create barriers by
designing a world only for their way of living, taking no account of the impairments other
people have’.5
Theoretical and practice models of disability influence services for disabled people in the
following ways: 6 7
Medical or Deficit Model
This has been the historical model for the development and operation of support services
for disabled people. It considers disability as a personal problem to be fixed. As a result,
many services have focused on the ‘clinical interests’ of a person’s impairment.
Using this model
 People are either rehabilitated or provided with a segregated alternative.
 If they can be rehabilitated they are cured.
If not, they are seen as being
permanently incapacitated.
 Service options include competitive job placement, sheltered work situations, and
institutional care.
Liberal or Consensual Model of Disability
This model sees disabled people as victims of misunderstanding and inappropriate
attitudes by other people. The general response is to change these inappropriate
attitudes and reduce any skill gaps experienced by disabled people.
Using this model
Service options include lifeskills programmes, pre-vocational or employment training
programmes, and placement of disabled people who are ‘job ready’ into employment.
Social Model of Disability (Critical or Political Model)
Like the New Zealand Disability Strategy, this model recognises that we must remove
barriers in our social and physical environment that prevent disabled people from
participating and contributing. Disabled people have impairments and experience
disability because of a disabling society. We must change the structures in society that
prevent disabled people from contributing.
Using this model
Service options such as supported and open employment and supported living
programmes have been developed. These services focus on trying to remove barriers in
the social and physical environment that prevent disabled people from gaining open
employment and living in the community.
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The Strengths Model8
This approach identifies and builds on a person’s abilities, achievements and aspirations.
Whilst not denying the personal challenges and societal constraints that exist, the focus
is on the possibilities open to a person and how to best access the resources to achieve
what they want. This is an alternative to models that focus on weaknesses and deficits,
which is part of the medical model.
Using this model
A strengths-based approach in disability services is built on facilitators who:
 Have positive values/assumptions about individuals, families/whanau, and
communities.
 Know, and are well connected to, the communities of the individuals and
families/whanau they work with.
 Get to know the person and their family/whanau over time and build a relationship of
trust.
 Start by asking what is a good life, and explore hopes and dreams.
 Build the capacity of the disabled person, their family/whanau and community to
realise that good life.
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4. What are the education and employment outcomes for disabled people?
Despite numerous legislative and policy initiatives in New Zealand over the last ten
years, disabled people are less likely to have school or tertiary qualifications or to be
employed when compared with anyone else, including other minority groups.
The proportion of disabled people who are employed or have qualifications decreases
further as impairment and support needs increase. The Statistics New Zealand Disability
Surveys in 1996, 2001 and 2006 show that
 disabled people are less likely to be in highly paid or highly skilled occupations
 lower rates of labour market participation for disabled people are more pronounced
for women, Maori and older people
 people with intellectual disability, mental illness or multiple disability are less likely to
be in the workforce than other disabled people.9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
In 2001, Statistics New Zealand found that the lower level of successful participation by
disabled students in secondary and tertiary education affects their ability to gain
employment.
Education outcomes
In 2006 Statistics New Zealand17 identified the following trends relating to young
disabled people in education:
 Thirty-six percent of those in the 15-24 age group who were disabled during their
schooling had no qualifications. This is compared to 19% of other people.
 Seventy percent had experienced changes to their education due to disability,
including 36% who had their education interrupted for long periods.
 Seventy-eight percent of disabled children with high support needs and 50% of
disabled children with medium support needs had experienced some kind of limitation
in their school activities.
 Support and equipment was not available to the following percentages of disabled
school students who required this support: computer access (34%), specialist
teaching and therapy (32%), help with note-taking, writing and reading (25%), and
teacher aides (23%).
 In the 15–24 age group, only 12% of disabled people had post school qualifications,
compared with 16% of other people.
Employment outcomes
In 2006 Statistics New Zealand18 found the following in relation to employment:
 There was a positive association between the level of educational attainment and
labour force participation for both disabled and other people aged 15–64 years.
 The high percentage of employed disabled people with lower-than-average incomes
was associated with their lower educational attainment.
 Having a post school qualification significantly reduced the chance of being
unemployed. At every level of qualification, however, disabled people were less likely
to be labour force participants than were others.
 The participation rate of disabled people in employment with post school qualifications
(76%) was about the same as that of others with no qualifications.
 Disabled people with no qualifications were about two-thirds less likely than others to
be in the labour force.
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
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The likelihood of being unemployed was highest for Maori and Pacific People with
disabilities. Their rates were more than three times higher than those of other
disabled people.
Disabled people with high support needs were less likely to participate in the labour
force. Only 24% of people with high support needs were in the labour force in 2006,
compared with 44% of those with medium support needs and 53% of those with low
support needs.
Seventy-five percent of disabled people did not require any special equipment,
modifications or support to work. The need for modified hours was the most
commonly reported requirement and relatively small numbers required equipment,
building modifications, job coaches, personal assistants, or communication services.
The requirement for equipment, changes to the work area and workplace support
needs were the most common unmet needs.
Those who had been disabled for fewer than five years were more likely to be in the
labour force than those who had been disabled for longer periods.
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5. What is the overall policy and legal framework?
In New Zealand there is a policy and legal framework for providing education and
employment to disabled people, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the New Zealand Disability Strategy (2001) and the
Human Rights Act 1993. The UNCRPD details specific rights relating to education and
employment which the government is obligated to implement and monitor.19 20 21 22 23
In March 2009, the Disabled Persons Assembly (DPA) New Zealand drafted the document
‘Overcoming Barriers to Employment for Disabled New Zealanders: A Solutions Paper’,
written by Ross Brereton. 24 This paper states that the New Zealand Government needs
to develop and implement policy initiatives that lead to better labour market outcomes
for disabled people in line with the UNCRPD. It asks that initiatives to protect the New
Zealand economy and labour market do not neglect the rights of disabled people and
considers that education on its own is insufficient to explain the labour market
disadvantage experienced by disabled people. These poor outcomes may well reflect a
society that is yet to truly value the lives of disabled people and the contribution they can
make to New Zealand’s workforce.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
The UNCRPD was ratified by New Zealand in 2008 with the support of all political parties.
Ratification is the beginning of a process which has the potential to make a real
difference to the lives of disabled people in New Zealand, as disabled people must be
involved in monitoring the implementation of the Convention. Service providers may also
need to rethink the way they work with disabled people.
In the Convention, Article 24: Education, and Article 27: Work and Employment, are
most relevant to this discussion. They support children’s rights to an inclusive, free,
quality education, and to the reasonable accommodation of individual support needs.
People with disabilities are also able to access general tertiary education, vocational
training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal
basis with others. Under the Convention, people with disabilities also have the right to
work in an environment that is open, inclusive and accessible.25
New Zealand Disability Strategy
The New Zealand Disability Strategy, 200126 27 is an across-government policy. The
following objectives are most closely aligned with the journey to work of young disabled
people:
Objective 3: Provide the best education for disabled people.
Objective 4: Provide opportunities in employment and economic development for
disabled people.
Objective 5: Foster leadership by disabled people.
Objective 6: Foster an aware and responsive Public Service.
Objective 13: Enable disabled children and youth to lead full and active lives.
These objectives provide a good foundation for initiatives for young disabled people
making the journey to work. Implementation initiatives should aim to provide young
disabled people with good role models; access to quality teaching in both compulsory and
tertiary education; good quality career development; and full access to the social and
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economic areas of the society of which they are a part. They should also allow young
disabled people and their families to be informed consumers, and have a voice.
The New Zealand Disability Strategy Implementation Review (2007) reviewed initiatives
relevant to the education, employment and communication objectives and actions in the
Strategy. It is difficult to get a sense of the impact that the education initiatives have had
on creating successful outcomes and pathways for disabled students, as they journey to
work. The employment initiatives show projects that are having a positive impact on the
employment of disabled people. The review recommended:28
 Prioritising the Disability Strategy’s objectives and actions, in partnership with the
disability community, so that central government agencies have a clear understanding
of what their focus needs to be.
 Central government agencies placing a higher value on disabled people’s needs in
policy and programmes.
 Attaching centralised funding to the implementation of the Disability Strategy.
 The government investing in a public awareness campaign through social marketing
that aims to change negative attitudes towards disabled people and create positive
behaviour change.
 Identifying current levels of support for disabled students in tertiary education to
assist in targeting within this priority area.
 Implementing activities that encourage more private sector businesses to employ
disabled people in meaningful work.
Human Rights Act 1993
The Human Rights Act 1993 protects people in New Zealand from discrimination in a
number of areas of life. Discrimination occurs when a person is treated unfairly or less
favourably than another person in the same or similar circumstances.
The Human Rights Commission uses and encourages others to use a human rights
approach. This includes: linking decision making at every level to human rights standards
set out in relevant conventions; identifying all the rights relevant to a person, and
prioritising the rights of vulnerable people; emphasising the participation of individuals
and groups in decision making that affects them; promoting non-discriminatory actions
and respecting the equal rights of individuals and groups; empowering individuals by
legitimising their voice in decision making; ensuring accountability for actions and
decisions, and enabling individuals and groups to complain about decisions that affect
them adversely (see www.hrc.co.nz).
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6.
How do we build a better foundation for young disabled people? 29 30
Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Social Development (MSD) reports that are
discussed in this report indicate that involvement in early childhood education assists the
successful education of all children, including disabled children.
Feedback from CCS Disability Action staff in 2004 suggests that families of disabled
children often do not have the same expectations for their child as other people when it
comes to accessing and participating in early childhood education. Extended family and
other people who usually have contact with children are often less connected, and
families do not seek support until they are under stress. Referrals to CCS Disability
Action for family support are generally at the point of crisis, often when care and
protection concerns have been raised.31
The survey also showed that there are very few referrals for family support from general
practitioners and other health professionals. Referrals for families in need of intensive
support are predominantly received from Needs Assessment and Service Coordination
agencies, Child Youth and Family Services, parents or other carers and District Health
Boards.
Families often feel pressured to use facility-based respite or longer-term care. This
appears to result from the fear that if they do not accept this support they will not be
offered an alternative, or that in a time of crisis the child will have had no prior
experience of alternate care.32
Some research indicates that there is insufficient funding for, and access to, coordinated
family support services that are provided at an early stage following the birth of a child
with an impairment or at the point of diagnosis.33 Parents often become aware of
services over time through their own resources rather than from any coordinated attempt
to make them aware of all the options available to them.34
It is important that families new to the disability journey are linked to a support service
that is knowledgeable in disability, community development, inclusion and the strengths
model of practice. The family can then develop a positive future for themselves and the
disabled family member. This includes an expectation of their child contributing to and
benefiting from society like everyone else.
Part of this positive future is facilitating the successful transition into early childhood
education and connecting with other supports in the community that most other children
access. It is family and community connectedness, and ordinary hopes and dreams that
give families of disabled children the resilience they need through their life journey. Best
practice highlights the use of the social model, has holistic provision, is strengths-based,
focuses on what the child needs to thrive, and is delivered by skilled service providers.
There is general recognition of the benefits of individualised supports for disabled
children and their families and for retaining children within the family home wherever
possible. Many within the sector would like to see families have more information and
choice about the options available. There is also concern about a lack of coordination
when multiple agencies are involved and differing understandings of the role of a key
worker or lead agency.35
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Alongside this there is a lack of long-term planning for the futures of disabled children
and meeting their needs as their parents age and children progress into adolescence and
adulthood.36
The Early Support Framework of service provision 37
Families benefit from support as soon as an impairment is identified. The Early Support
Framework of service provision aims to link children with their family/whanau and
surrounding community. It is centred in a strengths-based approach to community
development and is based on the social model of disability. By utilising a family’s existing
knowledge and social networks, natural supports, and community resources at the first
diagnosis of an impairment, a child will have the most sustainable positive outcomes.
In this model the family holds a positive vision of their child’s future and enables the
child to hold a socially valued position in their community. This creates greater resilience
and less reliance on high-level specialist support.
Supports under this framework must be developed and delivered within a community
context. To ensure that families find or regain a place of belonging within their
community requires service staff with a high level of competency. They understand the
complexity of community and know how to develop skills and access resources. A range
of flexible and individually responsive supports is developed. These are designed with the
child and their family/whanau to enable them to live meaningful and valued lives, and to
achieve increased independence and enhanced social value.
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7. Can young disabled people achieve better education outcomes at
school?
Assisting young disabled people to achieve better education outcomes at school
‘Getting a quality education and the ability to live well in the community are two essential
preconditions for achieving a non-disabling society. When it comes to education, schools
are where the rubber hits the road. If disabled children and their families struggle to get
resources and responsive teachers, schools will remain an area of real concern … schools
need to be brought into the New Zealand Disability Strategy implementation and
reporting process. Until they are, progress in schools will remain unaccounted for.' (DPA,
2006)38
As previously noted, young disabled people are almost twice as likely as young nondisabled people to leave school without a qualification. Our national statistics also show
high levels of post-school unemployment for young disabled adults.
Planning for the transition to adult life needs to begin early and be integrated into the
curriculum and classroom teaching (Bray, 2003; Mirfin-Veitch, 2003; Robinson et al,
2000; cited in McArthur, 2009).39
Special education versus inclusive education
The New Zealand Education Act 198940 41 legislates for people with special educational
needs, including those with disability or impairment, to have the same rights to enrol and
receive education in state schools as people who do not have these needs.
Government special education policies generally emphasise that the primary focus of
special education is to meet the individual learning and developmental needs of the
learner. What is not clear is how special education is evaluated in terms of students’
needs and outcomes. There is a strong indication that the current Special Education
Review needs to consider how to improve education outcomes for young disabled people,
with particular emphasis on the development of social, functional and academic skills that
prepare young disabled people for their journey to work.
The CCS Disability Action ‘2009 Community Briefing to the Hon. Heather Roy MP,
Associate Minister of Education’,42 stated the following key points:
 Some believe that New Zealand’s special education system has been based on a
‘selection and control’ model. The teacher’s task is to detect ‘difference’, and where
school personnel have legitimacy to act as gatekeepers they divert or reject those
considered too difficult for a school to accommodate.43
 A more effective system would have schools using a variety of resources flexibly to
achieve the personalised learning outcomes of all students. The evidence around
education and whole-of-life outcomes for disabled learners is overwhelming in
showing that a more inclusive education is in the best interests of the child.44 45 46 47
 Investing in the early years provides the best value for money and the best
possibility, coupled with a strong early primary schooling, of preparing young people
to use their human capital to further economic growth.48
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IHC believes that New Zealand needs to develop a national inclusive education policy,
rather than a special education policy, so disabled students can go to their local schools
and teachers receive support around inclusive education practice.
IHC launched ‘Learning Better Together’49 in 2009. Written by Dr Jude MacArthur, this
research was commissioned by IHC to argue the case for inclusive education. It
examines current thinking about inclusive education and advocates that disabled
students should be in regular classrooms. Dr MacArthur says that an examination of
research here and overseas shows that school students do better when they learn
together:
‘Disabled children and young people are advantaged socially and academically when they
attend regular classes … disabled children do better in maths and literacy, and in
friendships, if they are taught in regular classrooms. The advantages are even more
obvious when school staff work at including all students.’
IHC have been advocating for disabled students to be fully included in their local schools.
The issue has driven IHC to take a complaint to the Human Rights Commission against
policies and practices that prevent disabled students participating fully at their local
school. The Human Rights Commission has now asked the Ministry of Education to
respond to the complaint.
For this report, Dr McArthur provided the following about the role of schools with
transition of young disabled students from school to work:
‘Schools have an important role to play in ensuring students achieve their potential and
make a smooth transition to adult life. Research on students' experiences as young
adults in the community points to the benefits of learning in regular schools and
classrooms. These settings provide a natural environment with broad social experiences
and a relevant curriculum to develop the skills needed to live and work in the
community.’ 50 51 52
In contrast, special education settings are described as isolating students with disabilities
from their communities and from their non-disabled peers.53 DiGiacomo's (2002) study
of 100 students who had been out of school for between one and seven years revealed
that being in regular education, rather than having inclusive post school experiences, was
the key to vocational success for students with disabilities.54 Likewise, Sax et al (2001)
found that students who were educated in regular education settings had accessed more
useful curricula and wider social experiences that were relevant to future employment
and adult life. 55
New Zealand's national statistics show high levels of post school unemployment for
young disabled adults, and therefore it is necessary to ensure that disabled students
have access to relevant vocational curricula and to work experience. Planning for the
transition to adult life needs to begin early and be integrated into the curriculum and
classroom teaching (Bray, 2003; Mirfin-Veitch, 2003; Robinson et al, 2000; cited in
McArthur, 2009).56
Some believe that special schools still have a role to play, particularly for disabled
students with high and very high support needs. Colin Gladstone is the Manager of Lead
School Transition Service in Christchurch, which is located at the Allenvale Special School
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and is regarded by the MoE as an example of best practice for the transition of disabled
students. He has this to say about special schools:
‘We should be concentrating not perhaps on historical conclusions about the value of
special schools that in the past have perpetuated the ‘specialness’ of disabled students …
Instead we should focus on a new way of viewing special schools as specialist resource
centres that promote flexible pathways and arguably are providing practical solutions to
the systemic and attitudinal barriers to disabled students’ meaningful participation in the
wider community and life.
We need to be very clear about the particular supports that those young people with
profound and complex disabilities desire and require from the community. We need to
remember that true inclusion is the celebration of the unique difference of all people.’
Professor Garry Hornby and Roger Kidd wrote the journal article ‘Transfer from Special to
Mainstream – Ten Years Later’ (2001).57 This essentially states that whatever setting a
disabled student is in, the focus should be on helping them become independent and fully
included in society as adults.
Therefore, disabled students in mainstream and special school settings need:
 Functional curricula which teach them the skills they need.
 Comprehensive, well-supervised work experience.
 Effective transition planning which involves parents and the young people.
 Support networks of agencies to provide guidance to parents and the young people
themselves before and after they leave school.
Hornby and Kidd indicate that if disabled students with high support needs are to be
successfully included in mainstream schools then these schools need to develop the
ethos, resources and procedures necessary to provide appropriately for such pupils. This
includes transferring all that is best about special schools and units into mainstream
schools. They warn that if this doesn’t occur young disabled people will be included in
mainstream schools for their school lives, only to be excluded from the mainstream of
society as adults.
There is some anecdotal evidence of parents removing their disabled children and young
people from mainstream settings and placing them back into special schools, because of
a lack of support for students with high support needs in some mainstream settings.
The authors say that one of the major concerns with research on education for disabled
students is the lack of research on student outcomes. There is a need to identify what
tools young disabled people need to actively and successfully participate in education,
training and work. We also need to evaluate the outcomes of students who have utilised
special education support.
An Education Review Office (ERO) evaluation in 2008 of ‘Schools' Provision for Students
at Risk of Not Achieving’ involved 125 primary and 30 secondary schools. ERO found that
the majority of schools could identify at risk students, but there was a much wider
variation in the quality and effectiveness of how schools addressed the specific needs of
these students. Nearly half the schools needed to improve the way that they monitored
and evaluated their initiatives or interventions. 58
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Colin Gladstone (2009) believes that the education sector needs to look at creating
meaningful accreditation pathways for disabled students within the NCEA qualifications
framework. He also believes that we need a more situational approach to curriculum
development and the framing of goals and content in schools, particularly around
vocational education. 59
This discussion indicates that:
 Inclusion is not just about a ‘setting’. It is also about creating pathways for disabled
students in whatever setting they are in - special school, mainstream special unit or
classroom.
 We need to develop an inclusive education policy, rather than a special education
policy, that drives the education of young disabled people in special schools,
mainstream special units and classrooms.
 The disability philosophy driving the education of all young disabled people needs to
be a strengths-based model rather than a deficit model, with particular emphasis on
developing academic potential and functional skills and overcoming barriers to
learning support.
 We need to set national standards to measure and increase the achievement of young
disabled people with NCEA and at post secondary level. This should include having
targets for the academic achievement of disabled students in school charters for
special and mainstream schools.
Solutions to assist disabled students to achieve better education outcomes
The MoE’s ‘Better Outcomes for Children Plan’ (2006)60 aimed to develop quality services
by ‘putting in place specific service standards, with agreed service pathways for students
of special education services’. It recommended that this be achieved by having skilled
staff through training, supervision, reflective practice and research; a focus on learner
outcomes; and a commitment to the NZ Disability Strategy by valuing disabled people.
The report also states that the MoE should take the lead to ensure that:
 No child is denied access to their local school because of their impairment.
 Teachers and other educators understand the learning needs of disabled people.
 Disabled students, their families, teachers, and other educators have equitable access
to the resources available to meet their needs.
 Post-compulsory education options for disabled people are improved.
In the Minister for Disability Issues, Work in Progress: 2004-05/06 NZ Disability Strategy
Progress Report 61 the MoE highlighted the following about special education needs:
 Training of all staff, focusing on attitude change and skill building for those working
with students with special education needs.
 Better communication between parents and those providing services.
The Index for Inclusion in the United Kingdom (Booth & Ainslow, 2002, p.3)62 is a
resource that supports inclusive practice and development in schools. It states that the
key points associated with inclusion in schools are:
 Valuing all students and staff equally.
 Increasing the participation of students and reducing their exclusion.
 Reducing barriers to learning and participation for all students.
 Viewing difference as a resource to support learning, not a problem to overcome.
 Acknowledging the right of students to an education in their locality.
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
Emphasising the school’s role in building community and increasing achievement.
In New Brunswick, Canada63 all children, regardless of special needs, are educated in
mainstream schools. They have abolished special schools. Capacity to provide this
education in mainstream environments is built through: small classroom numbers of 2526 students; teaching assistants in place where necessary; a resource teacher at every
school; regular staff meetings; pre-service teacher education; ongoing professional
development; and good relationships between school, parents, and the community.
Person-centred planning, combined with individually tailored support, results in disabled
students achieving their vocational goals. Young disabled people should be encouraged
and supported where appropriate to play the lead part in the design of their individual
career plans. A teacher’s positive support and attitude, and family and student
expectations can have a positive impact on this.64
In the United Kingdom, Reid & Fielding (2007)65 provided key elements of effective
support with young disabled people: person centered; young disabled people as an equal
in the relationship; professionals using a facilitating approach; and the disabled young
person acquiring decision making skills. ‘Service Evaluation in Special Education’ (1997)66
states that special education should affirm self-worth and give appropriate opportunities
to grow and develop in relationships. It maintains that some special schools develop
fewer opportunities for social contacts for disabled students.
According to Keefe et al (2006)67, the term ‘disability’ itself contains preconceived notions
of what a disabled person can or cannot achieve. If we focus too much on individual
deficits, whether in a special education or mainstream setting, this may take our
attention away from the process of learning and what adaptations are needed to
maximise the achievement of disabled students. This research highlighted the need to
develop systemic measures so that students get access to consistent methods of
support, teachers resist discriminatory interactions, a peer culture develops in the
classroom that supports disabled students, and a national inclusion policy drives support
and consistency in schools.
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Do we undervalue and have a low expectation of disabled students?
There are common structural and intra/interpersonal barriers that impact on disabled
students’ ability to journey to work. Just focusing on overcoming structural constraints,
such as adding a ramp to access a classroom, will provide only limited gains in increasing
participation and achievement of young disabled people.
It is intra/interpersonal barriers that need to be dealt with first as they condition the
motivation or will to act. These include anxiety, fear of the unknown, uncertainty about
the ability to cope, shyness, embarrassment and self consciousness, perhaps due to
physical appearance or the perceptions of what others may think of one’s impairment.68
Overcoming intra/interpersonal barriers such as the undervaluing of disabled students’
potential and the low expectation many schools have of disabled students, will have a
greater impact on the education and employment outcomes and the journey to work of
young disabled people.
The 2007 article ‘Disabled Children Negotiating School Life: Agency, Difference and
Teaching Practice’,69 suggests that ‘teachers need to reflect on how their actions with
disabled children support their learning, their social experiences, and their sense of
belonging in the peer group at school. A limited view of a disabled student’s ability to
participate in the classroom can lead to poorer educational outcomes for the child. Some
teachers construct difference through deficit-oriented positions that view disabled
children as incompetent’.
The Best Practice Guidelines70 developed by the National Centre on Physical Activity and
Disability in the United States ask us to consider the importance of valuing the
contribution disabled people can make to our community. To improve the journey to
work of young disabled people, we need to ask whether we really value their
contribution.
The undervaluing of disabled students can influence how young disabled people feel
about their own ability to achieve socially, academically and economically. Lucas (2008)71
suggests that disability-related challenges impact on young disabled people as they
journey through life. Burchardt (2005)72 found that ‘having a strong belief in your ability
is even more important for young disabled people’.
The Self-Determination Synthesis Project in the United States of America73 found that
people with self-determination skills have a better quality of life and more positive
outcomes. Barriers to self-determination included lack of administrative support, studentrelated factors, and the resistance of parents and professionals to changing roles. It may
be tempting to make decisions for young disabled people in order to shield them. But in
the long term if they do not learn to make decisions and choices for themselves this will
impact on their quality of life.
In 2008 the Evaluation of Pathways to Inclusion Strategy74 also recommended more
vocational services need to enable disabled people to be active partners in service
development and monitoring.
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How can we value disabled students more?
‘When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get them, but you won’t come up with
a handful of mud either.’ (Leo Burnett) 75
Doverston and Keenahan (2006)76 found that valuing disabled students requires teachers
to:
 Have a positive purpose for the group.
 Create events to work towards.
 Ensure everyone is consulted and their contribution acknowledged.
 Make it safe to contribute.
 Develop peer support between disabled students and other students.
 Use a developmental approach to learning and the development of cooperative skills.
 Keep solution focused.
In the United States, a number of researchers recommend that young disabled people
have a greater voice in decisions about their schooling and transition planning.77 78
Barton (2003)79 talks about recognising the equal status of disabled people as citizens,
rather than as recipients of goodwill. Listening to the voices of disabled people and
promoting their rights is important. It is suggested that special schools exist because of
the limitations of mainstream schools for disabled students. With time restrictions and
demands placed on teachers and educators there is a risk that disabled students end up
in the ‘too hard’ basket.
Ruef and Turnbull (2002)80 recommend peer buddies to encourage peer support and
learning between disabled and other students. Having these ‘natural supports’ available
enables the young person to interact in classroom life more effectively and lessens
disruption. They also suggest that if a disabled student is capable of doing something on
their own, they need to be encouraged to do it, even if that means the student may not
always succeed at first, or that it may take more time.
The Youth Development Strategy Aoteoroa (Ministry of Youth Affairs, 2002) makes
special mention of the importance of relationships in the journey to work of young
disabled people and echoes the need to provide young people with more opportunities for
connections with peers, along with meaningful work and ongoing education.
Strategies for Maori and the implications for young disabled people
Massey University College of Education (2002)81 found the most helpful strategies for
supporting Maori students were one-to-one teaching or small group instruction, parent
and family/whanau consultation, inclusion of Maori content, and the utilisation of rewards
and activities that build self-esteem. Schools stated that they had not begun any new
programmes for Maori with special needs, citing difficulties in obtaining parental support
and participation, funding, and finding specialist staff with cultural expertise. Negative
attitudes and beliefs of educators about Maori achievement and the need for culturallyappropriate services provided barriers to service.
‘Ka Hikitia: The Maori Education Strategy’ 82 establishes a basis for successful learning for
Maori in secondary school and into tertiary education. This recognises that the
prerequisite for young people’s ongoing engagement in education is a strong learning
foundation in early schooling and meaningful and relevant learning as they progress into
secondary school and beyond. While Maori students are well represented in tertiary
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foundation-level courses, and gain certificates and diplomas, their study is often
concentrated in areas that they could have achieved during their compulsory schooling.
Many of the barriers and solutions identified for Maori in this strategy are relevant to
young disabled people and would also improve education outcomes for young disabled
people:
 Collaborative planning across government agencies and schools, including sharing of
best practice.
 Quality teaching and higher expectations for achievement.
 Ensuring support for Year 9 and Year 10 Maori students to make decisions about
future education pathways.
 Strengthening school planning and reporting processes by expecting schools to set
goals in their charters for improving Maori student presence, engagement, and
achievement.
 Piloting new approaches to support Maori students and their family/whanau to make
decisions about future education choices.
 Using consistent and well-researched evaluation strategies to make sure initiatives
are working for Maori students.
 Increasing student, parental and family/whanau understanding of the NCEA and the
choices necessary for building useful qualifications.
What do teachers need to successfully assist young disabled people?
The MoE Best Evidence Synthesis for Diverse Students (2003)83 highlights a best practice
framework for working with diverse students such as disabled students. Most relevant to
the journey to work of disabled students is that quality teaching includes: a focus on
student achievement; caring, inclusive and cohesive learning communities;
responsiveness to student learning processes; links between learning and students’ other
cultural contexts, including how a student feels about their disability or impairment; and
a focus on student-teacher negotiated goal-orientated assessment.
In 2004 the Special Education Division of the MoE published the ‘Enhancing Effective
Practice in Special Education (EEPSE)’ Pilot Study Findings.84 This found:
 Effective pedagogy for disabled students requires effective professional development
for all teachers and specialist staff.
 Effective practice requires collaborative planning between those teachers, specialists
and family members important in the life of the student.
 Adapted curriculum and adapted teaching strategies need to align with student need,
for outcomes to be effective and successful.
 Peer support systems for disabled students should occur in the overall school culture.
 Outcomes should be life-orientated, incorporating functional curriculum that blends
academic and social skills.
 Support should be delivered within the overall goals of the disabled student.
 Schools need to promote policies and structures that accommodate difference.
This Pilot Study also identified five key characteristics for effective professional
development and learning:
 Learning must be based on immediate needs and build upon existing knowledge.
 Teachers must become facilitators.
 Teachers require support to meet the needs of diverse learners.
 There needs to be school-wide planning for raising disabled student achievement.
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
Collaborative planning leads to goals that require ongoing monitoring, adaptation and
review.
As mentioned previously, a 2007 New Zealand journal article, ‘Disabled Children
Negotiating School Life: Agency, Difference and Teaching Practice’,85 suggests that some
teachers need to reflect on how their actions with disabled children support learning,
social experiences, and a sense of belonging in the peer group at school. A misinformed
view of a disabled student’s ability to participate in the classroom can lead to poorer
educational outcomes for the child. Some teachers have a deficit-oriented framework
that views disabled children as incompetent because of their impairment. Some lack
knowledge and support and are unsure about their actions in relation to disabled
children.
Of particular note is the lack of any mandatory component on inclusion in current teacher
education. Teachers often acknowledge their own lack of experience and insight when
teaching disabled students, and may lack confidence to apply strategies that would work
for all, including disabled students.86
Some teachers have a poor understanding of children’s impairments and the effects of
these on their school experience. They view them as ‘different’ and less deserving (than
their ‘normal’ peers) of quality teaching and learning experiences in the regular
classroom. Many schools believe they have fewer obligations to teach disabled learners
unless there is a tagged funding component.87
Kearney and Poskitt (2001)88 note that some principals and teachers believed that their
professional development around the inclusion of disabled students was insufficient.
However, when training was considered relevant to their current classroom, they were
more confident in their teaching of disabled students. Thorburn (1994)89 noted that
principals who emphasised the social aspects of disability rather than relating to personal
deficits were more aware that creating an inclusive school community depended on them
taking a leadership role in this process.
Colin Gladstone (2009), who is a teacher and also the Manager of the Lead School
Transition Service, has this to say about teacher training around inclusion:
‘If we are truly committed to equipping our teachers with the tools, knowledge and skills
to respond effectively to a diverse range of learners then initial teacher training requires
a far larger allocation of time on not only the theoretical but practical application of the
craft. Qualified teachers also require compulsory targeted professional development built
into their career development and salary provision.’90
Can the curriculum assist disabled people to feel valued and achieve better outcomes?
The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum91 includes two competencies of particular importance
to the journey to work of disabled students: managing self, and participating and
contributing. Social isolation, low expectations and the undervaluing of young disabled
people are key barriers impacting on a disabled young person’s ability to achieve these
competencies. The curriculum is also thematically driven by ‘values’ and ‘inclusion’.
Because ‘being the same’ and ‘fitting in’ are important for young disabled people,
individual education needs must be met in a way that does not interfere with living an
‘ordinary’ life.
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Special education funding
Dr Cathy Wylie’s major review of special education policy in 200092 recommended
expanding the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS) to include more
students. The MoE modified the entry criteria, but because access to ORRS funding is
restricted to students with high needs, there is an apparent gap in funding for those with
mild to moderate support needs. Although there is funding to support these students,
accessing this can be confusing and some schools use this funding in areas that do not
target improving educational outcomes for young disabled people. A lack of knowledge of
how the funding works and available alternative resources may also contribute to an
over-dependence on the system, resulting in severe disruption if the funding is removed.
This suggests that an investigation should be conducted into funding systems that are
more tailored to individuals. Wylie (2000)93 also reviewed special education funding and
service delivery that moved from Specialist Education Services to Group Special
Education (GSE). Resource teachers were established to support students with special
needs. Other recommendations from this review included: having inclusive education as
a core paper in pre-service teacher education; provision of ongoing professional
development; increasing funding for professional development of teacher aides; and
provision of resources and staff in schools. Wylie also recommended resource provision
for children with moderate needs and a special education coordinator in every school to
support inclusion and coordinate education support. They would require good connections
with the wider community and provide ongoing professional development for schools.
The ERO ‘Evaluation of the Special Education Grant’ (June 2005)94 found that although
some schools were using this funding to make a positive difference to the achievement of
students with moderate learning needs, there was considerable variation in its
effectiveness. Many schools’ assessment practices for identifying students were poor, the
focus on literacy needs and programmes was narrow, and they were delivering Special
Education Grant (SEG) activities that were contrary to good practice in special education.
Many schools fitted students into predetermined programmes funded by their SEG,
irrespective of their needs, instead of using assessment information to effectively design
programmes tailored to individual student needs.
The Supplementary Learning Support (SLS)95 aims to better support students with
special education needs who don’t receive ORRS funding, including students with
significant and ongoing learning needs. SLS provides an individual student with access to
a learning support teacher employed by the school, as well as one-on-one specialist
support. Learning support teachers are trained to provide classroom teachers with
assistance to adapt teaching programmes and resources to individual students. The
specialist support is provided by the MoE's special education staff.
Schools that have a significant number of students with moderate special education
needs on their roll are eligible to apply for a supplementary grant called the Enhanced
Programme Fund (EPF).96 The EPF is a supplementary grant which applies to a group
programme, not to an individual student.
Individual Education Plans (IEP)
In 2008, the MoE led a review of Schools Plus.97 They found that the Individual Education
Plan (IEP) used with disabled students was not seen as youth friendly, the student ‘voice’
was not apparent in the IEP process and an IEP process should be centred on the
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student’s needs and facilitated by a group of skilled people. It was recommended that the
process may include family/whanau, teachers, employers, tertiary providers, community
providers and support services. This review also found schools need a whole-of-school
commitment to inclusive practice driven by the leaders within schools.
This review also indicated that an IEP should consider:
 The individual supports a student needs to access the general curriculum.
 An awareness of other resources, such as a young disabled person’s peers, that may
be utilised to add value to the student’s education.
 Aspects to enhance the likelihood of young people transitioning successfully into work,
such as the provision of relevant work experience, starting earlier on transition,
flexible funding and transport assistance.
 Using teaching practice to create an inclusive classroom environment - social
interactions, learning through joint activity and group participation, ensuring disabled
students are not excluded from learning or their peers.98
The MoE Individual Education Plan Guidelines (2008) 99 differ from the ‘Best Practice
Framework for Transition of Disabled Students’ developed in 2007 as part of the Wayne
Francis Charitable Trust (WFCT) Transition Project. For example, the IEP guidelines
suggest parents and professionals meet, whereas the framework advocates for the active
involvement of disabled students. Data from Statistics NZ (2006)100 indicated that only
21% of disabled students had an IEP. There also appears to be inconsistency in how the
plans are implemented.
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8. Improving the transition of disabled students from school
What do we mean when we talk about transition?
Transition is the ongoing and cooperative process used to assist a student to move from
school to the next stage in life. This next stage could involve further study, employment,
community participation or other meaningful activities.101
What is the policy framework for transition?
The 2004 Ministry of Education Schooling Strategy102 includes improving support for
students as they make transitions to further education, training or work and improving
the ability to monitor student participation. This is also reinforced by the Tertiary
Education Strategy 2002-07.103
The MoE Statement of Intent 2007-2012104 states that: ‘Too few students make the
transition from schooling into higher levels of education and training…’ It talks about
‘increasing the presence and engagement of all students leaving with meaningful
qualifications’. It further states that:
‘Research indicates that where educators assume that all students can and will achieve,
and their teaching relates effectively to the backgrounds and aspirations of students,
outcomes significantly improve.’
This is very relevant to the success of disabled students. The most straightforward way
to achieve this is to have high expectations of a positive outcome and overcome the
barriers to learning support so that young disabled people can achieve their academic
potential and go on to lead active, productive lives.
In 2003 the MSD Strategic Social Policy Group identified key success indicators for the
education, training or employment of young people:105
 The later an intervention, the harder it is to tackle factors that affect school success.
 Tailored interventions have the largest impact on academic performance.
 Involving parents and family members increases the impact of programmes.
 Peers who support/encourage each other in academic and life goals achieve success.
 Support from key adults is associated with good results.
 Positive changes in one environment can lead to positive changes in another.
 Increasing a young person’s skills, qualifications and support is more important than
simply placing them in jobs without making them more employable.
 Young people need to gain recognised qualifications to become more employable.
 Subsidised work seems to have a stronger effect on future employment chances when
it includes on-the-job training or specialised training relevant to the work.
The ‘Youth Guarantee Programme’ now replaces ‘Schools Plus’.106 Prior to the 2008
election, the National Party had this to say about the Youth Guarantee Programme:
 All those under the age of 18 should be in work, education, or training.
 To make this possible, National would provide a universal educational entitlement for
all 16-17 year olds.
 This would allow them to access, free of charge, a programme of educational study
towards school-level qualifications.
 Most students would continue their education at school, but others might achieve
more if given the opportunity to learn in a non-school setting.
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



They might choose to continue their education at, for example, a polytechnic,
wananga, private training establishment, or through an apprenticeship.
Courses offered under the Youth Guarantee would have to meet strict quality criteria.
This new entitlement would be on top of, not instead of, the education entitlements
young people have now.
16-17 year olds who are not working, and who fail to take up this new entitlement,
would not be eligible to receive a benefit.
These new initiatives would cost an estimated $65 million a year.
What do disabled people and their networks think of the current transition services?
‘Transition should be looked at for all students identifying as disabled … people need to
see cases of where transition has worked and what individuals, teachers, employers and
families have gained from it’ according to CCS Disability Action, Southern Region,
2009.107
The ‘Leap into the Future Transition Workshop’ at the 2006 IHC Conference108 involved
students with intellectual disability and their parents. They provided this feedback:
What works?
 Listening to personal experiences.
 Knowing who to talk to and what is available.
 Having links with other families.
 Feeling safe that you can say what you are feeling and people understand.
 Someone to share the load.
 Knowing what support and services are available.
Solutions:
 Coordination between services and government agencies.
 Having trained staff to support.
 A buddy system to support learning.
How to involve people with intellectual disability:
 Ask them and those they trust.
 Provide independent advocacy.
 Involve people who know what is out there.
 Expo of vocational options from people who have done it themselves.
 Start young sowing the seeds and provide training.
 Use plain language/visual tools/communication aids.
In 2008, 77 people participated in focus groups about the transition of disabled students
in Canterbury, as part of the WFCT Transition Project. Of those who participated in these
focus groups, 26 were disabled students with a range of impairments, 30
parents/primary caregivers, 13 agency staff and eight staff from schools. The people who
registered were associated with 15 schools. To prevent the students’ voice being lost in
the hierarchy of influence, the disabled students were interviewed first and their
feedback provided a framework to focus discussion in the focus groups with
parents/primary caregivers, school and agency staff.
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The key findings from these focus groups were:
 Some students were eager to leave school and saw this as a real opportunity to get a
job and live independently, while many of the parents/primary caregivers feared
transition. One parent described transition as “falling off a cliff”.
 Most students wanted inclusive community based options such as open employment,
while most parents/primary caregivers and school/agency staff wanted more day
services, social and life skills programmes.
 Little emphasis was placed on the development of academic skills.
 Much of the feedback reflected themes similar to those of national and international
transition literature.
Disabled students’ feedback:
(a) Most wanted jobs in open employment to give them a ‘valued role’.
(b) Many also wanted to live independently and to do other things - travel overseas,
have income, buy a house, have friends, get married and have children.
(c) There were some who wanted to do further study to get more skills.
(d) Some were eager to leave school, while other students had real concerns.
(e) Work experience was popular with many of the students.
(f) Many struggled to think about the additional support they would need to prepare to
leave school and barriers to this preparation – ‘I don’t know what else there is.’
(g) Most wanted to start transition somewhere between 15-17 years.
(h) The students thought the following would enhance their transition experience:
 More planning well before they leave school.
 More jobs, more community participation support, mentors, career days/expo.
 Someone to match their ability with jobs and support them at school and work.
Parents/primary caregivers wanted:
(a) An independent advocate to coordinate transition services.
(b) More information about transition options.
(c) More programmes that develop life and social skills.
School/agency staff wanted:
(a) More coordination, information about transition options, plus further research.
(b) More programmes to change attitudes of employers and other people.
(c) Supported housing so disabled students could learn to be more independent.
(d) Parents/primary caregivers to be less cautious about transition options.
(e) Better quality work experience and more current day services meeting the transition
needs of disabled students.
Simon Baldock, a transition coordinator, provided a summary of feedback from 2008
about the Expect Success service in Wellington.109
What works?
 Good relationships between young people and transition coordinators.
 Acknowledgement that families provide the major support for transition students.
 Family members receiving support.
 Good collaboration between disability services - meeting monthly.
 Setting up a transition programme/organisation in the school.
 Communication between professional services.
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The gaps and next steps:
 Non-ORRS students fall through the ‘funding cracks’.
 Funding should be for longer – two years.
 There is a lack of knowledge of what is available ‘out there’
 Schools are not approaching transition services until the last term of the school year.
 Limited age-appropriate services available, especially in rural areas.
 Transition meetings need to include transition coordinators.
 Communication between the school and home not always adequate.
 More cooperation between various government departments needed.
 Young disabled people should be encouraged to dream and plan ahead.
 Begin general transition support at age 13 – 14 years.
 There should be intensive support from transition services in the student’s final year.
 Extend the student’s sphere of knowledge and experiences.
In August 2008, IHC hosted a seminar series on transition: ‘Stepping into the Future’,
held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.110 The seminars were attended by young
people, parents, schools, government and disability agencies. From these seminars, it
was felt that the period of transition could be enhanced by young people having
meaningful access to youth workers, mentors, careers advisors and other support;
starting early with dedicated funding for implementing transition plans; families knowing
how the system and funding process works; and meaningful work experience.
It was acknowledged that from the age of 18, young disabled people should be in adult
settings, and there need to be more dedicated vocational bases for young people. More
access to therapies such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy is needed for young
people once leaving school. There is also a gap when changing over from child and youth
services to adult services. The cost and provision of transport, including access to public
transport, was frequently mentioned as a barrier for transition, particularly around
accessing work experience. Participants expressed confusion about who is responsible for
payment of costs incurred.
Participants believed that disability awareness education was required to challenge
perceptions and assumptions and to prompt communities to be more inclusive. There
was a suggestion that all local governments need to develop a local response to the New
Zealand Disability Strategy. Education in the workplace could focus on opportunities,
highlight the benefits of hiring disabled people and address issues of occupational safety
and health that potentially hinder the employment of young disabled people.
There were a number of comments on funding. These included:
 ORRS funding criteria being too strict, and discriminating against those young
disabled people who do not meet the criteria, but still have needs.
 The bulk funding contributory model for MSD-funded vocational services not providing
adequate funding for individualised programmes and support.
A number of comments were also made about the one-year duration of the MSD contract
for transition services. It was felt that one year did not reflect best practice guidelines
and people needed more time to build rapport and develop a meaningful plan. Issues of
understanding how the contract works, transparency and the skill of transition staff were
also raised. The use of ORRS funding as the criteria to access MSD-funded transition
services was seen as too restrictive and specific funding was needed to ensure
meaningful transition occurred.
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Staff from the Canterbury Branch of CCS Disability Action111 provided this feedback:
 We look at all aspects of a young person’s goals and work towards overcoming some
of the barriers that may arise.
 Finding work experience can sometimes prove to be difficult. Using the school careers
advisors did not have an outcome and generally they were unwilling to assist with
finding work experience for young disabled people. One school’s gateway coordinator
was willing to assist once the work experience placement was set up.
 Part of the process of transition includes trialling work experience, coaching the young
person along the way, visiting tertiary providers, talking to people in similar work
situations, assisting the young person with accessing other agencies for disability
support funds and arranging mentors for the young person to talk to about some of
their experiences in depth.
 Using teacher aide hours for work experience can be a selling point to an employer as
sometimes employers think they will have to provide the support and that having the
student will increase their workloads.
 The funding limitations with non-ORRS funded students can be difficult when a young
disabled person needs support to access work experience or community options.
There is some school funding, but this is often very limited within a school.
 Many young disabled people need support to attend community options, as they are
often in unfamiliar settings.
 Disabled students are often the ones seen as ‘falling through the cracks.’ Schools are
sometimes reluctant to try and reapply for ORRS funding as this is quite a long
process and isn’t always successful.
 Listening to the young disabled person’s goals, working alongside them to overcome
barriers, and assisting them with all of the above-mentioned leads to more successful
work placements.
Solutions for improving transition for young disabled students
Considerable attention has been focused on the successful transition of disabled students
in NZ into further education, employment and other community settings.112 113 114
The MSD has developed guidelines and funded specific transition services for disabled
students.115 Anecdotal evidence from some schools indicates a review of these services is
required.
The Best Practice Framework for Transition of Disabled Students, developed as part of
the WFCT Transition Project (2007),116 provides a structure for enhancing the transition
of disabled students. This is being used by the MoE to develop operational guidelines for
schools for the transition of disabled students.117 118 119
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The Best Practice Framework for transition of disabled students includes the following:
1. Transition starts to occur no later than the age of 14 years and is part of a specific
transition planning process that aims to develop academic potential as well as
functional transition skills.
2. This process is driven by the student and family/whanau and the student is actively
engaged in determining and implementing their future goals.
3. Partnerships between the school and community supports are developed at least two
years before the young person leaves school.
4. The transition programme is integrated within the structure of general education
rather than as a separate and parallel programme.
5. The process identifies and overcomes barriers to the disabled student’s learning
support.
6. The students and family/whanau are offered information and support that opens the
door to a wider range of inclusive community-based options.
7. A clear distinction is made between the transition needs of the young person and
those of their family.
8. Functional transition skills are in the curriculum and practised at home.
9. Those at school after 18 years of age receive services in adult settings.
10.The outcomes of the transition planning process are regularly evaluated.
(Cleland and Gladstone, 2008)120
This framework is also being used in Christchurch to develop the ‘Lead School Transition
Service’ to build capacity around the transition of disabled students.121 This is being
funded by the MoE, eight special and high schools in Christchurch, and WFCT.122 123 124 125
It will use a consortium approach that develops collaboration and partnerships between
disabled students, parents and representatives from the MoE, Group Special Education
(GSE), tertiary sector, MSD, Ministry of Health, other State Sector partners, school
principals, the disability community, and the Chamber of Commerce.
The support priorities include:
 An information service
 Training
 Support and advice
 Communication
 Developing generic and consistent documentation processes.
It is intended that this service will provide advice and support to staff within the
participating schools, to disabled students and their parents, family/whanau, and to MSD
transition services. If this pilot is successful, the lessons learnt could be applied to other
parts of New Zealand.
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In the Special Education Review document the Lead School Transition Service has been
described as the example of best practice. This service is also being marketed this way
by the Transition Officials Group with the Ministers Committee on Disability Issues.
In New Zealand, various studies and resources have supported the findings of the WFCT
Transition Project. Robinson, D, Bishop, K, & Woodman, B (2000)126 also found that
better job matching occurred when transition staff and the students they supported had
effective transition training. Supervised work experience was also an essential part of
this process. Dr Garth Bennie, in his article ‘Effective Transitions from School to
Employment for Young People with Intellectual Disabilities in New Zealand’127 suggested
a range of ideas very similar to the best practice framework.
Cameron Scott (2007),128 a disabled person who is a teacher and a previous disability
advisor for GSE in Christchurch, wrote a guide for GSE staff and schools. He suggested
the following was needed for the transition of disabled students:
 A clear mission statement.
 Clear and manageable goals.
 Strong leadership.
 Support structures such as consistent planning tools and advice.
 A commitment to service user involvement.
 GSE and school staff possess the knowledge of both vocational and disability related
issues – barriers to work experience, post secondary education and employment.
 An honest evaluation of work placements.
 Closer relationships with the local community.
The Greater Wellington Transition Expo Project Steering Group developed ‘Exploring
Futures – 2007 and Beyond’ (2007).129 This booklet and an associated expo in Wellington
were developed for young disabled people and their families to support them to transition
from school to the adult world. Included were transition ideas relating to education and
employment; person-centred planning; housing, social and recreational opportunities;
useful websites; checklists for preparation; and information about organisations
supporting transition. The MoE, IHC, Emerge Supported Employment Agency, Capital
Support and the Wellington City Council supported this initiative. The booklet has been
used as a basis for transition information produced in other areas. In Christchurch
Disability Support Services have been integrated into the Coca Cola Careers Expo and in
the future this will occur in Wellington and Dunedin.
The CCS Disability Action Schools Plus Review Submission (2008)130 suggested that:
 Young disabled people may find it more challenging to access work experience.
 IEP and transition processes are not consistent across schools. Some disabled
students are not actively involved or engaged in the process. This should be more
flexible, with the student at the centre of the process.
 There is a range of skills that disabled students need for transition and the journey to
work. These skills must be sustained to meet and overcome barriers and challenging
situations over time.
 Funding and support should be more personalised and reflect the needs of young
disabled people.
 Work experience should ideally match students’ career interests. Transferable skills
should be identified that will educate towards employment or training.
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



Learning goals that are agreed upon jointly by the student and the teacher have a
better chance of being accomplished. If students are not involved in decision making,
this can lead to disengagement and confusion.
Students making a successful transition to post secondary education require an
awareness of their academic and social strengths, service needs, and have the ability
to request assistance.
Having a relationship with a central person/s with transition planning skills is crucial.
Using group work and utilising classroom peers to support young disabled people can
build important relationships for the future and help to practise social and relationship
skills that are transferable to the work or study environment.
The 2008 CCS Disability Action Skills Strategy Submission131 stated that:
 Transition services should aim for coordinated and consistent approaches across
service providers and school-based transition support.
 Young disabled people would benefit from a range of accessible job and career-related
information, a good support network, and opportunities to develop work skills in reallife work contexts while at school and studying.
 These services are difficult for young disabled people to access due to barriers with
funding, opportunities, and other resources.
 Young disabled people may not be given the opportunity to practise self-management
and self-awareness skills and take an active role in job planning and decision making.
As a result they are less likely to be clear about their future goals.
 Employers may need assistance to recognise what support disabled workers need in
order to work most productively.
 Young disabled people, especially if it is their first job, might be unsure of what
support they need in the workplace and how to ask for assistance.
The Mainstream Employment Programme, when based at the State Services Commission,
carried out a transition pilot with Emerge Supported Employment Agency.132 In his draft
report about the outcomes, Doug Trigg suggested that this pilot had a positive impact on
the disabled students involved. He recommended that the process should start earlier;
many State Sector organisations would not consider the possibility of a student
placement and it was even difficult to secure an appointment with some of these
employers.
If more disabled students are to have work placements in the State Sector it appears
that more employers will need to be accommodating and the MSD may need to consider
a fee for service for employment agencies supporting disabled students with work
placements/experience. This currently falls outside of the current MSD funding model.
Doug Trigg also recommended that this work experience should be available to ORRS
and non-ORRS funded disabled students. A Mainstream subsidy for work experience, for
between 5-14 hours per week for a maximum of two six-week work placements, should
be available for 50 disabled students in schools. Although this recommendation may not
be possible under the current structure, the Programme may waive the 6-month
unemployment stand-down period for students who are otherwise eligible for the
scheme, on a case-by-case basis, to help students with disabilities move directly into
their chosen employment.
Simon Baldock from Expect Success in Wellington spoke to the New Zealand Federation
of Vocational and Support Services (VASS) conference in October, 2008. 133 He suggested
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that traditional transition models focus on vocational training or instruction in skill
development, and research suggests there is little benefit in using these approaches in
isolation.134 He provided components of successful transition programmes which were
similar to the Best Practice Framework mentioned earlier.
IHC has developed some useful fact sheets for disabled people and their family/whanau.
One focuses on ‘Future Planning’135 and includes some simple steps to take – build a
vision, create a plan, identify personal networks, etc. It also includes some other areas to
consider – housing, money matters, etc. The other fact sheet focuses on transition from
school and home136 and looks at transition planning, funding, areas to consider and a
checklist of where to start.
CCS Disability Action, Northern Region137 staff identified these success factors for work
experience for young disabled students:
 Work experience in the area the student lives.
 Find out what interests and skills they have.
 Bus coaching between home and work.
 Provide job support, don’t act ‘teacherish’ or mollycoddle the students.
 Students are better off in an individual placement as natural supports tend to build up
better that way.
 A fully-immersed placement for a fortnight is more successful than a couple of hours
once a week over a term or a year.
 When you go only 2-3 hours a week, you often don’t really belong in the workplace,
you don’t get to know the other staff the same, you don’t build up the natural
relationships and you don’t really get to know the job.
 Encourage parents to let students have their own cellphone if possible. It’s ‘cool’ and
there are various uses a cellphone can serve (one student wanted to take photos of
where he needed to get off to show the driver instead of having to speak).
 Learning to text increases communication and reading skills. Parental concerns can be
managed by restricting calls if necessary.
Barriers to work experience:
 Sometimes the family is not confident their child can do this.
 Problems with buses – too fast, different colour or number.
 Look for a work placement close to the school so it is easier for the student and
teacher aides to get there.
 The recession limiting work experience opportunities.
 The MSD transition service is based on the idea that all ORRS funded students have
access to teacher aide support. This is not always the case.
 Health and Safety regulations are often cited as a reason by employers for not
providing work experience.
 Schools usually allocate one particular morning per week for work experience. ‘If I
have more than one transition student at a school, you can’t be with all of them.’
 Doing unpleasant jobs for free.
What is happening around transition in other countries?
Australia
There have been various initiatives such as the Youth Servicing Strategy for Centrelink
and the Career and Transition (CAT) Pilots, Transition Support Networks and Transition
to Work Guidelines, which are similar to what is happening in New Zealand. The CAT
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Pilots included some good ideas - community partnership committees and testing ways of
tracking the transitions of young people for 18 months post school. These pilots included
‘Learning Pathways Plans’ for young people aged 13 – 19.
The Government of South Australia (2008) State Transition Programme138 is operating
over four school terms to assist students with a disability to make a smooth transition
from school to the workforce. This is for a range of disabled students in their final year at
school who have the capacity to work in open employment.
These students attend a training programme one day per week where they:
 Learn to work effectively in a team
 Visit various worksites
 Prepare a resume
 Learn workplace communication skills
 Practise interview skills.
They also do Vocational and Educational Training (VET) where they can complete level
one certificates in a range of occupations – animal studies, automotive, engineering,
construction, hair and beauty, hospitality, IT, meat processing, retail and printing.
Students participate in work experience placements in the same industry sector as their
VET training. One major outcome for disabled students has been the acquisition of
technical skills through accredited industry training.
This project has identified the following critical success factors:
 Individualised case management.
 Employment preparation training and career guidance.
 Industry-specific vocational training.
 Linkage to an agency to provide jobseeking assistance and ongoing support.
 Programme coordination by a post school provider.
The Disability Employment Network is a network of employers in Australia who support
disabled graduates into open employment.139 Suellen Murray has written an article on
transition for disabled students in Australia. As in New Zealand, starting early is
recommended. The extent to which staff are well trained and well informed also
enhances the likelihood of successful outcomes. Acknowledging that parents and their
children are experts also makes transition more responsive and flexible.140
In 2007 the Department of Education and Children Services with the South Australian
Government wrote an ‘Evaluation of the State Disability Transition Programme’.141 This
evaluation suggested that coordination of transition should sit outside the school sector
with an agency or agencies that have expertise in transition and employment preparation
and placement. It also recommends ideas similar to the WFCT Best Practice Transition
Framework.
Other ideas were:
 One state policy for skilled assistance for transition to employment of disabled people.
 A dedicated transition programme and resource.
 Flexibility for programme coordination to meet local needs.
 More emphasis on part-time school combined with part-time vocational training,
school-based apprenticeships and traineeships.
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The Disability Services Commission in Western Australia (2003) has ‘Local Area
Coordination’142 support. This is provided in the Perth metropolitan area and throughout
all regional areas of Western Australia. The programme has been operating since 1988.
Local Area Coordination (LAC) is available to people with physical, sensory, neurological,
cognitive and/or intellectual disability who are under the age of 60 at the time they apply
for LAC support.
Local Area Coordinators (LACs) are based in local communities and each provides
support and assistance to between 50-65 disabled people. This enables the support to be
personalised, flexible and responsive. LACs aim to build and maintain effective working
relationships with individuals and families in their local area. They operate as service
coordinators rather than service providers, assisting the disabled person and their
families/carers where appropriate to plan, select and receive needed supports and
services. LACs also contribute to building inclusive communities through partnership and
collaboration with individuals and families, local organisations and the broader
community. The overall aim of the LAC programme is to support disabled people to live
within welcoming and supportive communities.
Colin Gladstone (2009), the Manager of the Lead School Transition Service in
Christchurch, believes:
‘The general lack of cross-sectoral, inter-agency collaboration and cross government
department initiatives are an area of concern for disabled people’s journey to work. The
need for critical examination of initiatives like local area co-ordination in Australia and
regional partnerships in the UK are needed … A combination of policy intervention and
local initiatives generalised out across the country would be useful.’ He goes on to say
‘We need to consider innovative solutions to the inclusion debate in schools through
schemes like the Young Enterprise that specifically targets building student capacity and
capability on work, commerce and business related knowledge and skills. Crucially, the
Young Enterprise Scheme also provides an effective model of inclusive practice between
disabled and non disabled students.’ 143
Winna and Hay (2008)144 stated that research conducted in the United States of America,
the United Kingdom and Australia has highlighted the inequality of vocational transition
and the need for constructive transition programmes and frameworks for disabled
students leaving secondary schools.
They recommended the following:
 Organisations need to articulate and work together and share resources, because the
evidence is that post school education and training programmes for disabled people
have significant long-term cost benefits.145
 Given that many disabled students leaving school have not yet achieved the
necessary academic, social and living skills required to live independently there is a
place for ongoing education for these individuals to occur past the compulsory years
of schooling.
 Educators, disability professionals, employer groups and legislators need to determine
how to enhance this critical bridge so that there is an increased probability that
disabled people acquire skills that are work relevant and develop the confidence to
cope within society.
 Transition into employment is not only the responsibility of disabled people, their
families and the educational authorities, but also that of legislators and employers.
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
Disabled people still have to combat deep-seated prejudices in the labour market at
times, even when a fully functioning school-based transition process is in operation.146
147
United Kingdom
In 2007 the Department of Health in the United Kingdom completed a study ‘The
Transition of Young Adults with Disability - A Study of the Effectiveness of Inter-agency
Transitional Planning’.148 It stated that for disabled school leavers, successful transitional
planning requires close cooperation between agencies and service users in the planning
and delivery of services.
Other Ideas for Transition from the United Kingdom149 150
 Restructuring to respond to diversity; reducing barriers to learning and participation
for all students; and viewing difference as a resource, not a problem to overcome.
 Affirming self-worth and giving appropriate opportunities to grow and develop in
relationships.
 Disabled people need to be an equal in the relationship, professionals use a facilitating
approach and the young disabled person acquires decision-making and other skills.
 Listening to the rights and voices of disabled people is important.
 With time restrictions and demands placed on teachers and educators there is a risk
that disabled students end up in the ‘too hard’ basket with problems that seemingly
cannot be solved.
 The transition process must provide young people with a life, rather than services.
United States
Dr Karen Wolfe (2007)151 also supports the idea for starting transition early. She says it
is too late to start thinking about work when a student is over 16 years old. Transition is
a process not an event, with the following key goals:
 Conveying high expectations
 Encouraging socialisation
 Developing competency skills
 Providing realistic feedback
 Promoting opportunities to work.
Other ideas from the United States suggest: 152 153
 Having a job during high school is one of the strongest predictors of post school
employment success, as well as a factor supporting school completion.
 Improving the academic and functional achievement of the disabled students.
 Having a long-term vision of future goals, courses of study at high school and a threefive year plan specifying the strategies that will be used to help the student reach
their goals, is important.
 It is important for disabled students to have role models at primary and secondary
school of people in various career roles, to learn good work habits, interact with
peers, and have part-time jobs, hobbies and special interests.
 Parents should be encouraged to optimistically plan for post secondary education and
employment and be welcomed into the active transition process.
 Young disabled people need to develop ‘self-determination skills’ - making decisions,
problem solving, setting and achieving goals; developing self-awareness, selfknowledge, management, independence and interdependence, safety; self-advocacy
and leadership skills; take calculated and educated risks.
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
Plans based on what students are motivated to learn are more likely to be effective.
Other Ideas for Transition from Canada 154 155
 Shift the focus of services from therapy to supports in schools and for transition.
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9. The role of post secondary education for disabled people
New Zealand post secondary outcomes for disabled students
In 2006 Statistics New Zealand156 identified the following trends about disabled people:
 In the 15-24 age group, only 12% of young disabled people had post school
qualifications and 36% had no educational qualifications.
 In the 25-44 age group, only 33% of disabled adults had post school qualifications
and 30% had no qualification.
 Like the other age groups, disabled people aged 45–64+ were also less likely than
other people to have post school qualifications.
 Only 17% of disabled adults had used career guidance or information services.
 Forty-seven percent of disabled people thought they did not need these services or
these services did not offer them anything.
Statistics New Zealand and MoE findings indicate that between 1996 and 2009,
Government funding to universities and polytechnics for support of tertiary disabled
students with high support needs contributed to a significant increase in the number of
disabled students participating in tertiary education. However, the rate of participation by
disabled people is still estimated to be less than a quarter of the participation rate for
other students.157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164
When comparing disabled students at polytechnics and universities in 2006 with the 2001
data, it appears that the numbers of disabled students attending either universities or
polytechnics decreased. Recent anecdotal evidence from some tertiary providers
suggests the numbers of disabled students with higher support needs is still increasing,
while the total number of disabled students has plateaued.
Some tertiary institutions are seeing increasing numbers of disabled students who have
come either directly from school, or soon after, for example, at Victoria University of
Wellington.165 This may be due to their greater expectation of inclusion, more marketing
and better support. Other factors could include effective identification of impairment in
some schools and the more varied assessment, offered through the NCEA, working well
for some students.
Some MoE data also indicates that disabled students in tertiary education perform
similarly to other students.166 This is pleasing to see, but begs the question why the
achievement rates of disabled students are so different when you compare those at
school with those in tertiary education. It would be easy to assume that this is because
the disabled people accessing tertiary education have more academic skills. However,
these achievement rates include disabled people at polytechnic and university who have
struggled to get qualifications at school, who then pass diplomas and degrees in the
tertiary education system.
Support and resources available in tertiary education
Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) Equity Funding has provided support for disabled
students with high cost support needs in tertiary education. Because this funding has not
grown at the same rate as the numbers of high need disabled students, it has an impact
on the support that tertiary institutions can now provide.
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Equity Funding has been available to polytechnics and universities with the overall aim of
improving equity of access and achievement of disabled students in tertiary education.
It is intended to provide for high cost support needs of domestic students.
Kia Orite Achieving Equity 167
The Kia Orite report, jointly funded by ACHIEVE, MoE and TEC, aims to assist tertiary
education providers to create a fully inclusive tertiary environment for disabled students,
through the ongoing identification and removal of barriers in all areas of campus life.
It includes best practice standards and examples of solutions covering activities relevant
to disabled students in tertiary education and their journey to work. If tertiary
institutions reviewed these areas using Kia Orite, they would potentially improve access
to tertiary education and the journey to work for disabled people.
Like Kia Orite in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom have Codes of Practice
for supporting disabled students in post secondary education.168 169 However, they are
compulsory to implement and the standards are linked to disability discrimination
legislation. For example, the United Kingdom Code of Practice is linked to the Disability
Equality Duty and there is an expectation that the post secondary educational attainment
levels of disabled people will significantly improve.
Barriers in post secondary education for disabled People
The Deaf CANterbury Vocational Project Team (2000) completed research to identify the
education, training and employment needs of the Canterbury Deaf community.170 This
pilot project aimed to identify the education, training and employment needs of the Deaf
community and identify barriers that Deaf people face in Christchurch. The Deaf
CANterbury Vocational Project Team gathered information to form a local and national
Deaf community profile.
The key barriers to employment were:
 Communication (83%)
 No interpreter (77%)
 Don’t understand lip-reading (74%)
 Lack of confidence (69%)
 Feeling isolated (60%)
 No support (56%)
 No help (57%)
 Don’t know where to go for training (45%).
The key barriers to education and training were:
 Communication (75%)
 Not understanding lip-reading (73%)
 No interpreters (72%)
 Lack of confidence (64%)
 Feeling isolated (59%)
 No help (59%)
 No support, and skills (49%).
Dixon and Hills (1990) looked at the perceived barriers to meeting the vocational and
tertiary education needs of young intellectually disabled adults in New Zealand.171
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This study found that:
 Most people could not meet the basic requirements essential for obtaining and holding
down a job in open employment.
 The lack of skills was not only a result of limited ability but also there were several
intertwining factors which created significant barriers, such as rejection by peers and
teachers in the mainstream school system and a lack of support with employment
placements.
 Despite this, the study showed that many of the people with intellectual disability
were very capable and had the ability to learn new coping strategies.
Barton (2003)172 investigated the perceptions of students with hidden impairments in
higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom. The findings suggested that:
 Despite the Disability Discrimination Act these students were not receiving the
appropriate information, advice and support during the transition phase to enable
them to experience HE in a comparable way to their peers.
 The impact of previous poor school experiences on the disabled students, subsequent
experiences of HE and the fact that some disabled learners are given the impression
that they are not ‘university material’, can impact on their confidence but could also
be used as an incentive to prove staff with these assumptions that they are wrong.
 Engaging in pre-entry activities tended to influence the disabled students’ choice of
HE provider and aided understanding of what HE would be like. Proximity to home
was a significant factor in students’ selection of an HE provider.
 There were variations in staffing, policy and practice across the HE providers.
 Disabled students spent considerable time informing and negotiating with
departments and organising support, leaving less time for study and social activities.
 Students were often unprepared for the shift in academic expectations from school to
HE. They were required to be independent learners too quickly, with insufficient
support for transition.
Solutions to enhance post secondary education for disabled people
New Zealand
The Deaf CANterbury Vocational Project (2000)173 suggested these ideas to overcome
employment, education and training barriers:
 Equipment for the Deaf.
 Employers aware of Deaf culture/needs.
 Having a support person.
 A work-based training course for the Deaf Community.
 A dedicated Workbridge Placement Coordinator for the Deaf Community.
 Small business training provided with an interpreter.
 A survey of employers and education evening.
 A video of Deaf employees’ experiences.
In 1995, the National Foundation for the Deaf wrote ‘Deaf and Hearing-Impaired
Students – Access to Post Secondary Education’.174 This recommended that the
government and MoE recognise the resources that need to be provided for Deaf post
secondary students by completing research about retention rates, qualifications and
employment trends of Deaf people.
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The foundation also advocated that funding mechanisms need to be developed for
allocating resources. At the same time, a handbook was written for supporting these
students. Written by Sonya Logan, this suggested:
‘Deaf people must be participants at all times and at all levels in order to identify
problem areas and participate in the creation, implementation and evaluation of
solutions. In each case, the goal should be the creation of a campus where all services,
settings and activities are fully accessible to all students, and decisions about when and
how to participate made by students from a position of choice and equal opportunity.’
John Grant, the Manager of SkillWise in Christchurch,175 has this to say about post
secondary education for people with intellectual disability:
‘Adults with intellectual disability remain marginalized from appropriate and meaningful
training and education programmes…vocational services need to build the quality and
capacity within training and education programmes offered. In tandem with this
mainstream tertiary education providers need to look at ways in which adults with
intellectual disability can be integrated into the tertiary curriculum.’
This is supported by Colin Gladstone (2009) who states:
‘The tertiary sector needs to play a bigger role in creating meaningful pathways for
disabled students into, through and on to employment and other meaningful and
purposeful activities. Too often programmes for disabled students are discrete and do not
provide momentum to the next step.’
Jude Charlton (1997) wrote ‘Key Factors in Attracting and Retaining Students with
Disabilities at Tertiary Institutions’ in New Zealand.176 She found that many factors
attract these students – location; reputation for providing support; physical, information
and communication access; information about special provisions; subject choice; and the
cost of courses.
Charlton recommended:
 These students have a place that they can call their own.
 Advisory committees.
 Smaller classes so better support can be provided.
 Funding information about support and the availability of assistive technology.
 Library support.
 Assisting students to solve practical problems – transport, parking, accommodation.
 Easily adapted classroom desks and chairs.
 The availability of accessible distance learning programmes for all disabled students.
 Publishing a directory of supports within post secondary education.
 Deaf advisors within tertiary institutions.
 More funding for supporting Deaf students.
 Standardising questions and data collection around disabled students in post
secondary education.
 Offering disabled school students in their final year of school a standardised
programme, to attract them to tertiary education.
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In 1999 the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind developed a Tertiary Education
Information Pack.177 This provides ideas for supporting blind or visually-impaired
students in post secondary education. It also has many suggestions relevant to school
students.
Australia
Information written in 2004 about the New Apprenticeships Access Programme states
that this programme worked with job seekers who experience barriers to employment,
by providing pre-vocational training, support and assistance. This provided formal
training followed by a two month job search period in which participants were assisted to
find a new apprenticeship or general employment. The website link to this information is
no longer active and it is unclear whether this programme still exists in this format.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2002), transport access is a major
barrier to community participation. This is a significant aspect of access to university.
Inclusive attitudes in others can also be a key factor in generating work and volunteer
opportunities for disabled students whilst studying.178
United Kingdom179
Under UK disability rights legislation, higher education (HE) institutions are expected to
anticipate the needs of disabled students and prospective students and make reasonable
adjustments both for individual students and in anticipation of students’ needs. They are
also expected to involve disabled people at all stages in the development of institutional
disability action plans, a key tool in promoting the social model of disability. Where
possible learning, teaching and assessment practices should be designed to be accessible
from the outset so only minimal adjustments are required. Practitioners must ensure that
disabled students are targeted for recruitment and included in activities.
Receiving encouragement to succeed in HE from key advisers was described as being an
important aspect of the decision to apply to HE by over 70% of the disabled students.
Low expectations of disabled learners’ potential by school teachers had a motivating
effect on a small number of the students.
Visits and open days were significant in helping both disabled and other students make
decisions about HE. This also consolidated their ambitions. Support with application
processes was also important. Findings indicate that a lack of understanding of the
requirements of HE study, when combined with the fact that disability support might not
have been put in place, can cause quite severe academic problems for new HE disabled
students. This indicates a need for information during the transition period.
Career services need to provide better support for disabled students and develop existing
links with local employers. Promotion of work experience could also help to ensure that
this group has parity of opportunity for self-development during HE. It could be beneficial
to develop national resources for career advisers and students, highlighting the resources
available and sharing case studies and personal experiences of disabled people at
different stages of their careers.
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United States
In the United States, Benz, Lindstrom & Yovanoff (2000)180 found career-related work
experience and completion of student-identified transition goals are highly associated
with improved graduate and employment outcomes. Madaus (2006)181 identified that
internships, mentoring programmes and specific courses/seminars would improve the
transition to careers of students with learning disabilities. The students also
recommended that career and transition services on campus should support disabled
students, and increase their knowledge of supporting disabled students. Work
placements are another method of support to provide important skills for disabled
students. It may be harder for disabled students to find work experience and get the
experience needed to make informed choices about their careers.
Syracuse University182 in the United States is an academic community that values
diversity and seeks to promote meaningful access to educational opportunity for all of its
students. The Office of Disability Services facilitates access to programmes and activities,
coordinates auxiliary aids and services, provides access to adaptive technology, and
when necessary, advocates on behalf of students with members of the campus
community. Their website includes an overview of these services.
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10.
Developing better pathways to community participation
The CCS Disability Action Community Participation Project
This project183 tried to find out what community participation meant for disabled people
attending CCS Disability Action services and how to provide the sort of support they
wanted.
Feedback from the disabled people included:
 The idea of ‘community’ was more complex than a simple notion of place.
 How one was treated was more important than the setting. People wanted to feel
safe, supported and valued in all settings. They also wanted to contribute.
 People wanted more community participation – new friends and more activities in
community settings.
 Employment was really important, particularly for those with high support needs.
 Most considered that they had few friends, and were restricted to the contexts in
which they participated. Family was important to most and those in more contact with
family tended to participate in more activities.
 Some were afraid of becoming isolated from disabled friends if they participated more
in the community.
 Most faced community, service and personal barriers to community participation.
This research indicated that:
 More resources and expertise need to be put towards employment.
 Supports need to be designed to meet the needs of individual disabled people, rather
than the needs of service providers.
 People need to feel safe when they go into unfamiliar community settings.
 Care needs to be taken with the closure of vocational centres.
 Service users need to be fully consulted and involved in any service changes.
 People want more community participation. They also want more personal control
over decisions about community participation.
 Services need to support people to make and sustain new friends and to get out.
Inclusive Communities Guidelines
In 2007, CCS Disability Action and other agencies developed ‘Inclusive Communities:
Guidelines about Disability for Territorial Authorities and District Health Boards’.184 This
recommended that they work in partnership with disabled people and their
family/whanau to ensure that they have a range of opportunities in the community. This
includes learning how to create inclusive opportunities for participation, encouraging the
disability community to lead initiatives, involvement in community social activities and
staff disability awareness delivered by disabled people.
Reducing the impact of disability through physical activity
Young people can learn many skills relevant to their participation in work through
participation in physical education and active recreation. Through physical activity
education young people learn relationship skills, what keeps them healthy, selfmanagement, and confidence in their ability. These transferable skills are valued by
employers.
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Young disabled people may not be involved in physical education because of limited
access to training and knowledge in ways to adapt activity. In ‘Learners with Special
Needs in New Zealand’,185 Wendy Neilson found that while inclusion has been
acknowledged as important, many disabled children are not expected to participate in
physical education. Negative attitudes, lack of expectation and unwillingness to let the
child have a go, set patterns of inactivity that are hard to break.
The Scottish Executive Education Department186 found low rates of participation in
physical activity are significantly influenced by people’s experience of sport participation
at school. The London Sport and Physical Activity Action Plan for Disabled People187
states that social attitudes and the lack of accessible provision has meant some disabled
people feel physical activity is ‘not for them’. Skills that young disabled people develop
through physical education, in addition to the benefits of being active, are regarded
highly by employers. In London, targets have been set involving annual percentage
increases for physical activity by disabled adults, children and young people.
A review of the 2008 Green Prescription Patients Survey188 provides evidence that this
scheme could be a wonderful way of getting more disabled people active, which may
then assist their journey to work. This survey showed that most disabled people using
Green Prescriptions had an illness or injury. A key benefit of involvement in the scheme
was reducing the impact of a person’s medical condition. Most of the disabled people
strongly agreed or agreed that the Green Prescriptions had encouraged them to get and
stay physically active.
This scheme could be widened to include more people with long-term conditions, other
than an injury or illness, such as those who acquired an impairment at birth. It may also
be a way of changing the attitudes of both young and old disabled people towards
physical activity. The use of disabled mentors who encourage other disabled people to
get physically active may assist with this. A literature review completed by the Scottish
Executive Education Department189 suggested targeting disabled people on low incomes
with 'leisure credits', a similar idea to the KiwiAble Leisure Card developed by the
Christchurch City Council.
Research completed in New South Wales (NSW) shows that obesity in NSW has increased
among children and young people.190 191 This issue, therefore, needs to be considered
when reviewing strategies to enhance the journey to work of young disabled people, as it
is likely that there are some disabled children and young people who are overweight.
Solutions such as promoting inclusive physical activity in schools and the community,
nutritional initiatives, developing intervention studies and monitoring that includes
disabled people, need to be implemented.
Other strategies for developing better pathways to community participation
Earlier sections of this report highlight some of the barriers to community participation
for young disabled people which need to be resolved. Examples include inaccessible and
expensive public transport in some areas, the undervaluing and low expectation towards
some disabled people, low incomes, difficulties with communication, and lack of
information and physical access.
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In England, Emerson & Hatton192 found people with learning disabilities (intellectual
disability) are less likely than people without learning disabilities to have contact with
friends and members of their family. People with profound and multiple learning
disabilities are notably less likely to participate in a range of leisure and communitybased activities than people with mild/moderate or severe learning disabilities.
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11.
Improving employment outcomes for young disabled people
‘People sometimes think that employees with disability are doing menial tasks,
but they forget there are people with disability that have run countries –
like Roosevelt and Churchill.’193
Employment outcomes
In 2006 Statistics New Zealand194 found the following in relation to employment:
 There is a positive association between the level of educational attainment and labour
force participation for both disabled and other people, aged 15–64 years.
 Having post school qualifications significantly reduces being unemployed.
 Despite this, the participation rate of disabled people in employment with post school
qualifications (76%) is about the same as that of other people with no qualifications.
 Disabled people with no qualifications are about two-thirds less likely than other
people to be in the labour force.
 The likelihood of being unemployed is highest for Maori and Pacific disabled people.
Their rates are more than three times higher than those of other disabled people.
 Disabled people with high support needs are much less likely to be participating in the
labour force. Just 24% of people with high support needs were in the labour force in
2006, compared with 44% of those with medium support needs and 53% of those
with low support needs.
 Seventy-five percent of disabled people did not require any special equipment or
other modifications or support to work. The need for modified hours was the most
commonly reported requirement and relatively small numbers required equipment,
building modifications, job coaches, personal assistants or communication services.
 The requirement for equipment or changes to the work area or unmet workplace
support needs were the most common unmet needs.
 Those who had been disabled for fewer than five years were more likely to be in the
labour force than those who had been disabled for longer periods.
What is the employment policy framework?
‘Pathways to Inclusion’195 was developed by the Department of Labour in 2001. This
policy aimed to increase the numbers of disabled people moving from vocational services
and sheltered work environments to open employment settings. This included objectives
and actions that aimed to ensure a smooth transition from school to work, services that
provide the foundation skills vital to participate in communities, employment and
training; and practical options to remove barriers to participation for disabled people.
Many of the objectives and actions were relevant to the journey to work.
In 2008, an Evaluation of the Pathways to Inclusion Strategy196 was completed by MSD.
This indicated that various positive outcomes had been achieved. For example, more
people were in vocational services, community participation, open employment, off
benefits, receiving one-to-one support, and their individual plans were aligned to goals.
However, this evaluation also indicated measures requiring more effort - enabling more
disabled people to develop personal networks, cultural issues, and more service users
being active partners in service development and monitoring.
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The Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (Repeal and Related Matters) Bill197 saw the
repeal of the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Act 1960. Under this Bill,
employment opportunities for disabled people in segregated settings will continue, but
wages will be paid according to the work people do rather than the place where people
work.
In 2008 the Social Services Select Committee report was released on the ‘Inquiry into
the Quality of Care and Service Provision for People with Disabilities’.198 199 The inquiry’s
focus was not intended to be on the education and employment of disabled people
directly, apart from a mention of transition services. However, there are some
recommendations that could impact on employment and vocational services:
evaluations/audits of disability services focusing on quality outcomes rather than on
compliance with minimum standards; reviewing workforce capacity/structures for
vocational services; and allowing providers to authorise expenditure on lower-cost
supports. This report discussed the exclusion of disabled people from opportunities such
as employment and stated the need to take steps to improve this.
Any review of employment policy for young people by the current government, needs to
consider the situation for young disabled people accessing work experience, internships
or other training.
What employment supports are available for young disabled people?
In 2007 Work and Income200 announced a number of initiatives to support disabled
people into employment. They included:
(a) The introduction of a new medical certificate for people on the Sickness Benefit to
identify a good time to start planning for a return to work.
(b) Working with the client, the case manager could make referrals to employment and
training programmes and other services to support them into work.
(c) Case managers were also given specialised health and disability training and health
advisors and disability advisors were appointed to support case managers.
(d) Employment coordinators for disabled people were introduced to help to move more
people towards work. They work closely with both employers and clients.
(e) Employment and training programmes and subsidies were made available,
including:
 Course Participation Assistance to pay for transport, childcare costs and some
course fees for short-term work related training courses or programmes.
 The Transition to Work Grant, a payment to help meet the additional costs of
starting a job - job search, interview and placement costs.
 Work Experience to help people explore opportunities to gain useful skills that
employers are looking for.
 The Modification Grant to remove physical barriers at a workplace.
 The Activity in the Community Grant to help people on the Sickness and Invalids
Benefit with self-development opportunities that assist them to gain motivation,
confidence, skills and self-esteem.
Workbridge201 is an employment agency located throughout New Zealand specifically for
people with disability, injury or illness. Employment consultants provide employment
placement, support and referrals to training. They also provide assistance with
recruitment, advice about equipment and other support strategies.
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For specific support in the workplace, Workbridge administers funding on behalf of the
Ministry of Social Development. This includes:
 Job Support Funding for disability-related costs associated with work (e.g. equipment,
workplace modifications, and other workplace support such as job coaches, a support
person, additional transport and parking, specific induction training, wage subsidies,
productivity and workplace assessments) not funded by ACC or Enable NZ. A
maximum of $16,900 per person is available for each 12 month period inclusive of
any other Work and Income grants and subsidies.
 Training Support Funding for disability-related costs associated with training (for
example, equipment, a support person and transport costs), not funded by ACC,
Enable NZ or Work and Income. A maximum of $15,600 per individual is available.
This funding can only be used for training on the New Zealand Qualifications
Framework or other educational institutions approved by the Ministry of Social
Development.
 Self Start Funding to assist people to set up their own business ventures. This covers
additional costs relating to a person’s disability, should they wish to become selfemployed. Self Start Funding is limited to $5,200 per individual. It is not available to
supplement business income. Each Self Start application must be accompanied by a
business plan, cash flow projection and feasibility study. To be eligible, the person
must be working at least 20 hours per week.
This funding may be accessed by people with disability, injury or illness or Deaf people,
who meet the criteria. It can also be used by supported employment agencies funded by
the Ministry of Social Development to support disabled people in training and
employment.
The Mainstream Employment Programme202 facilitates two-year placements for people
who experience disabilities in selected State Sector organisations. It provides a package
of salary and training subsidies, then supports and coordinates each placement.
To gain access to Mainstream, a candidate must have a disability which severely restricts
their employment prospects. People with significant disability are not expected to be ‘job
ready’ when placed into employment using the programme. Instead they are trained on
the job and also have access to extra funding for training from the Mainstream
Programme. The pay of people with disability on Mainstream must be comparable to the
pay of others performing similar duties. The knowledge and skills of people with disability
on Mainstream is built up over time with the support and goodwill of co-workers.
Mainstream will fund full or part time positions.
Mainstream provides the State Sector employer with:
 A 100% salary subsidy for the first 12 months of employment
 A 50% salary subsidy for the second year of employment
 Induction training for supervisors of Mainstream participants
 Access to $4000 for external vocational training for the Mainstream participant and
$3000 for their direct supervisor for external performance management or disability
equity training.
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Mainstream provides the participant with:
 The Cost of Disability in Employment (CODE) funding to meet the cost of adaptive
technology or specialised assistance. $16,900 per year while on Mainstream is
potentially available for those who meet the CODE funding criteria.
 Induction training.
In




return for the Mainstream funding, the State Sector employer must:
Provide the person with disability with meaningful work.
Provide training and development opportunities, in addition to in-service training.
Provide constructive supervision and support.
Endeavour to place the person with disability on Mainstream into existing vacancies,
either during or at the conclusion of the Mainstream Programme.
After two years, it is hoped that the person on Mainstream will have gained the
knowledge, skills and experience to compete for employment on the open job market.
The Mainstream Employment Programme is managed by the Ministry of Social
Development in Wellington. It works in partnership with disability employment placement
agencies in the community to make and support placements. State Sector Departments,
selected Crown Entities, universities, polytechnics, District Health Boards, hospitals and
schools with at least 30 staff are eligible for Mainstream funding.
As a result of a recent review of Mainstream, it is envisaged that in the future local area
Work and Income staff will have a greater role to play in supporting Mainstream
placements, with the aim of increasing the number of disabled people participating.
The Association of Supported Employment in New Zealand (ASENZ)203 provides a high
profile forum for the promotion, establishment and development of Supported
Employment Services for people with disabilities in New Zealand, through information,
networking, research and policy advocacy. The ASENZ website includes a variety of
agencies offering supported employment for disabled people in New Zealand. The
Ministry of Social Development funds these services (see www.asenz.org.nz).
The NZ Federation of Vocational and Support Services Inc (VASS)204 is an umbrella group
of over 70 organisations that provide employment, training and support services for
people with disabilities. VASS members provide a range of services:
 Supported employment
 Specialised or sheltered employment
 Life skills
 Training
 Day and support services
 Transition from school
 Community participation.
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Publications and research about disabled people and employment
Of note is the New Zealand Equal Employment Opportunities Trust (EEO), ‘Disability and
Employment On-line Survey Analysis’ 2005,205 which indicated that different attitudes
amongst management and colleagues, rather than more equipment or technology, was
the workplace change most respondents wanted most.
They felt employers could be more supportive of disabled people by shifting attitudes in
order to focus on people’s abilities rather than their perceived limitations. Seventy-five
percent believed this would make it easier to gain employment.
The report makes the following key points:
 Disabled people are often highly skilled.
 A positive attitude by managers and colleagues is critical to successfully tapping into
the skills of disabled people.
 Disability equity training can make a difference with these attitudes and indicates to
disabled staff that they are valued.
 Forty-six percent of respondents noted flexibility around hours as being one of the
most valuable initiatives that workplaces can offer.
 Businesses need more awareness of the funding and services available to support the
employer and disabled staff.
 Sixty-one percent of respondents had experienced problems trying to get a job. The
main problems were interviewer’s attitude and the expectation of those involved with
recruitment. Some recruitment agencies impose a selection bias with interviews. 58%
of respondents had not reached the interview stage and some felt this was due to
them acknowledging their disability with employers.
 Nearly half found it hard to stay in a job because of negative attitudes, lack of
opportunities and flexibility.
 Nearly 75% thought the manager’s attitude was a barrier.
Subsequently, the EEO Trust developed the resource ‘Employing Disabled People: The
Only True Disability Is a Bad Attitude’ (2006).206 This contains a variety of solutions to
resolve the barriers to employment identified in the online survey analysis. It includes
frequently asked questions, reasons for employing disabled people, and a range of
practical solutions for overcoming the associated identified barriers, including resources
that can support employers.
‘Taking the First Step: A Guidebook for Jobseekers with Experience of Mental Health
Issues’ and ‘Return to Work: Returning to Work After Experiencing Mental Illness and
Other Mental Health Issues’207 are both New Zealand publications that have been
developed to assist people with mental illness and employers to make employment a
success.
They include case studies, information about mental illness, tips for both parties, ideas
for managing stress in the workplace and legal rights and responsibilities. The guidebook
also includes steps that can be taken in the journey to work – career advice, voluntary
work, work programmes, self employment, training and education, subsidies, disclosure,
reducing the impact of mental illness in work and supporting organisations.
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What is happening in the State Sector?
The 2000 Career Progression and Development Survey208 results indicated that staff
within public service departments need to be more aware and understanding if they are
to be more responsive to the needs of disabled people.
The 2001 Public Service Employer of Choice Project (PSECP )209 indicated that despite
having excellent qualifications, many disabled graduates had found it very difficult to
gain an interview or employment in the public service.
Barriers included negative attitudes towards recruitment of disabled people, staff who
were inflexible in accommodating disability, ‘not walking the talk’, and a lack of funding
for workplace support.
Disabled students and graduates that were part of this project recommended these
solutions to remove workplace barriers in the State Sector:
 All public service departments should report on the education, training and
employment objectives of the New Zealand Disability Strategy.
 Increasing funds for workplace support for disabled people.
 Employers allocating their own funding for workplace support in their budgets.
 Staff training about recruitment and retention of disabled people.
 Affirmative Action: Scholarships for disabled graduates; expanded internships,
holiday-time job placements and work experience programmes; targeting
advertising/recruitment campaigns at disabled graduates; promotion about workplace
support for disabled people; better liaison between tertiary disability support services
and employers; and circulating job/career information to these networks.
 Public Service departments review their current recruitment practices to improve the
integration of disabled people into their workplaces.
 Developing a partnership with tertiary disability support services, Workbridge and
other disability employment agencies, to improve access to disabled graduates.
 Accessible employment websites.
The 2002 Draft Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Disability Public Service Manual
210
recommended various solutions to overcome barriers to recruitment, retention and
career development of disabled people for State Sector employers:
 A Disability Action Plan with an across-the-organisation working party responsible for
managing the process
 Senior management accountability
 Practical strategies to improve recruitment, retention, and career development of
disabled people
 Solutions to avoid discrimination in the employment of disabled people
 A checklist for the employer to monitor progress with the Disability Action Plan.
MSD, Workbridge and the EEO trust has facilitated the development of the Employers’
Disability Network (EDN),211 an employer-led network. It is intended that the EDN will
support employers’ understanding of disabled people, help more people into work and
improve services to disabled customers. The MSD provides a secretariat service for the
EDN.
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The EDN is designed by employers for employers. It provides a forum to:
 Connect employers with services and expert advice in the disability area.
 Address strategic issues.
 Develop solutions to common barriers.
 Promote the economic and social inclusion of disabled people.
The network provides an opportunity for employers to talk about the perceptions of
employing disabled people, and to move from disability awareness to the development of
practical solutions.
By being employer driven, it is hoped that the network will be able to develop practices
and strategies that support the needs of employers, provide partnership opportunities
and promote a culture of inclusion for business and workers with disabilities. Employer
events have already been held in Auckland and Wellington.
Australian initiatives
The Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care212 in Australia developed ‘in-school
traineeships for students working for one day a week on work experience whilst at
school’ and ‘a cluster model between agencies for one-to-one job support to gain some
efficiencies’.
This department found these barriers for young disabled people: high transport costs in
accessing training and employment; the expense of one-to-one support and young
people and their families/carers had limited information to base a preference on.
The Australian Employers’ Network213 positions disability as a key priority for employers
and Australian businesses. The ‘Stepping into Programme’ is a ‘pre-grad’ recruitment
programme that provides employers with positive examples of candidates who may have
been previously overlooked.
In 2008 the Australian Employers’ Network on Disability developed a booklet for
employers.214 This made these key points:
 The Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (1992) provides protection for
everyone in Australia from discrimination based on disability.
 The Australian Government has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities.
 By linking into the network, businesses can reach a wider market.
 An Access Economics report forecasting consumer trends from 2001 to 2011 predicted
that mature consumers are the largest growth market in Australia. Mature customers
are more likely to have disposable incomes and more likely to have a disability.
 Studies conducted in Australia and overseas have found no differences in performance
and productivity, and found that disabled employees actually have fewer scheduled
absences than employees without disability as well as increased tenure.
 Assistance with the cost of making workplace adjustments is available through the
Australian Government funded Workplace Modifications Scheme.
 Contrary to common misconceptions, many disabled people have completed tertiary
education, or attained vocational or other professional qualifications.
 Employing disabled people is likely to attract new skills and bring new and valuable
perspectives to an organisation.
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
This booklet includes a template for a checklist to make businesses more disability
confident.
In NSW, Youth Employment Forums were held to identify and improve the employment
outcomes for young disabled people, particularly 15 - 20 year olds.
United Kingdom initiatives
In the United Kingdom215 legislation requires education authorities to arrange and attend
review meetings for students with a learning disability (intellectual disability), from the
age of 14 years to provide the framework for transition planning. When young people
with learning disabilities do pursue employment, many still find that a lack of available
personal support, limited transportation options, and difficulties with welfare benefits
hinder their transition into the workforce.
Ridley and Hunter (2006) reviewed the ‘Development of Supported Employment in
Scotland’.216 They stated that:
 Good practice results from strong strategic leadership, having a clear vision and a
values-based approach, and setting clear objectives and targets for the development
of supported employment.
 In Scotland there was a major confusion around the definition of supported
employment. This may also be the case in New Zealand.
 There was a limited sense that individual aspirations and choices were being explored
through person-centred planning.
 The predominance of jobs in certain sectors and the part-time nature of many jobs
implied that stereotyping and limited aspirations were universal.
 The main reason why jobs failed was poor matches between the job and the person.
 The findings of the study indicate the need to build on practice, skills and expertise of
existing supported employment services in Scotland.
This report recommended:
 Development of a national definition of supported employment.
 Consistent standards for supported employment agencies.
 Staff training around definitions and best practice.
 Making services more user-led and career-based.
 Targeting school leavers to expand expectations and options.
 Equipping staff to support self employment.
 Specific solutions for disabled people with high support needs.
Emerson & Hatton (2008) wrote ‘People with Learning Disabilities in England’. 217 This
report, commissioned by Mencap, a support and advocacy service for people with
learning disability (intellectual disability), summarised information about people with
learning disabilities in England. They found that 83% of people with learning disabilities
of working age were unemployed. Twenty-eight percent of people with mild/moderate
learning disabilities had some form of paid employment compared to 10% of people with
severe learning disabilities and no-one with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
Thirty-six percent were undertaking some form of education or training. This
markedly higher among people with mild/moderate learning disabilities (36%)
people with severe learning disabilities (38%) than among people with profound
multiple learning disabilities (14%). The authors concluded that national statistics
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and
and
and
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performance indicators should place a much greater emphasis on outcomes, rather than
on resources or service activities.
Wilson-Kovacs, Ryan, Alexander, Haslam and Rabinovich (2008) stated that existing
writing on disability is notably silent on the experiences of disabled employees in top
ranking positions.218 They found that:
 Regardless of equal opportunity policies, disabled professionals are likely to encounter
numerous challenges in maintaining their positions.
 Diversity measures often fail to support career advancement in the longer term.
 Disabled professionals come across unanticipated obstacles, and are often unable to
overcome them. This inability is due to the widespread unwillingness to acknowledge
and accommodate their needs.
 Barriers include the degree of inflexibility shown by their organisations, their
employment being viewed by peers and subordinates as a result of diversity quotas
rather than an acknowledgement of their true abilities, being judged on the basis of
disability rather than expertise, a lack of knowledge about conditions and provisions,
a lack of informed human resources personnel and concerns over the cost of hiring
disabled professionals.
 The findings suggest the continuing gap between equal opportunities policies and
everyday work cultures and the pervasiveness of this gap at the highest level of
management.
 It is important that organisations review their approaches to diversity and incorporate
and address specific requirements as they are raised by those who need them most.
 A willingness and an ability to understand disability and the implementation of
effective administrative procedures are both necessary to overcome the barriers
disabled professionals face in sustaining and advancing their careers.
Canadian initiatives
Shiera, Graham and Jones (2008) looked at the barriers to employment as experienced
by disabled people in Canada.219 They found:
 Respondents with certain types of disabilities experienced barriers to employment
differently and to varying degrees.
 People with mental illness identified difficulty in securing employment primarily
because of their medical condition. Other research suggests similar findings.
 Disabled people continue to face extensive stigmatisation and discrimination within
the labour market, even in the face of significant constitutional and institutional
support and protection.
 Respondents reported discrimination and labelling as primary barriers to success in
the labour market.
 A recent study conducted by the Government of Canada found that the most
frequently reported barrier to social inclusion of disabled people is public attitudes and
prejudices concerning disabled people.
 Training, literacy and job-related skills are necessary for success in the labour market,
but as the respondents here reported, having these skills is not the determining factor
in whether they are able to secure and maintain employment.
 The success of vocational service organisations is determined by quantitative
measures of those maintaining long-term employment. Disabled people unsuccessful
in gaining and maintaining long-term employment are expelled from these
programmes and left with little or no societal support. Unfortunately, the success of
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participants in these programmes is largely constrained by the attitudes and
perceptions of employers.
The authors suggested these solutions:
 Public education about disability-related issues to promote equity and dignity for
disabled people in the present labour market.
 A need to place greater emphasis on employer education. Public (and employer)
perception has a significant impact on respondents’ success or failure in maintaining
and securing employment. Thus social policy programming needs to expend the
resources available to educate employers and employees about the barriers and
experiences of disabled people in the labour market.
 A policy direction that acknowledges the societal implications of being disabled would
provide a framework in which the government could open discussions.
 More research is warranted to explore the perceptions and expectations of employers
to change the negative perceptions and labelling of disabled people.
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12.
Conclusion
The transition from school to work is a process, not an event. From our earliest
moments, our expectations of life are shaped and encouraged by those around us and
brought to fruition by the provision of support and opportunities to turn our hopes and
dreams into reality.
In New Zealand, as elsewhere, disabled people come up against all sorts of barriers
during their journey to work. The outcomes quite clearly show that more needs to be
done. Most young disabled people are not reaching their potential and we all have a role
to play in making our schools, workplaces and communities more inclusive. The research
provides an overview of how young disabled people have been faring at school and in
work; and focuses on the actions needed to develop more effective pathways to social,
academic and economic achievement.
Key messages from the research are:

A successful transition from school to work is a planned and coordinated journey that
begins in early life.

Positive expectations and attitudes extend what people can and do achieve.

Proactively introducing disability services at the earliest opportunity works better than
waiting for a crisis to occur before supports are provided.

Actively involving young disabled people in plans and decisions that affect them
increases their engagement, their achievement and their self-management abilities.

Social contact and support from other students at school promotes the successful
participation of disabled students.

Teaching staff need specialised skills and knowledge to work effectively with disabled
students.

Schools need to be accountable for delivering a quality education to disabled
students.

Support funding for disabled school students is insufficient, particularly for those not
eligible for the funding available to students with very high and high needs.

One size does not fit all; support needs to be personalised, flexible and responsive.

Qualification pathways and work experiences need to be purposeful and relevant to
future career aspirations.

Successful planning for transition between school and work begins at age 14 and
needs to be integrated into the curriculum.

Assistance for individual learning and employment needs to include support from
family/whanau, teachers, peers, and people within the community; learning
resources; and financial assistance.

A person’s goals are more likely to be achieved when families, schools, post
secondary education providers, government departments, employers and services
work together.

Physical activity and recreation can develop confidence and interpersonal skills that
are transferable to the workplace and which reduce the impact of a person’s
impairment in education and employment.
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
More leadership from the public sector is required in the recruitment, support and
career development of disabled employees.

Employers need assistance to understand how a person’s impairment impacts on their
ability to do the job, rather than knowledge about particular impairments.

Negative attitudes are the major barrier for disabled people in gaining and retaining
employment.

Disability equity training can assist work colleagues to recognise and value the skills
of disabled employees and overcome negative stereotypes.

Two-thirds of disabled people do not require any special equipment, modifications or
support to work.

The most commonly reported requirement for disabled employees is flexible hours,
with relatively small numbers of people needing equipment, building modifications,
job coaching, personal assistants or communication services.

Research and evaluation of services and government initiatives need to focus on the
quality of the outcomes for young disabled people.

Planning and evaluation of services needs to involve young disabled people.
In plain language:
Support families of young disabled people
Encourage young disabled people to build a dream
Make a plan
Provide supports
Get key adults on side
Have all services working together
Measure education and employment outcomes
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13.
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