Who can use our services?
Our services are for Deakin students who have a disability, health or mental health condition that is affecting their study or participation in university life.
The range of people who access our services is quite large. Here are some examples of people who we can assist:
- students with health issues such as asthma, cancer or mental health problems who find there are periods of time when studying is very difficult
- students with learning disabilities who benefit from alternative approaches to learning
- students with hearing impairments who use sign language interpreters in class
- students with broken limbs that stop them from doing their exams or from getting to class for a while.
If you are the full-time sole carer of someone with a disability, you may also be able to access some services.
What is defined as a disability?
The definition of 'disability' under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) is broad. It includes physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, neurological and learning disabilities. Disability can be permanent
or temporary. It includes some health conditions not usually thought of as disabilities.
- total or partial loss of physical or mental functions (e.g. a person who has quadriplegia, a broken leg, epilepsy, a brain injury or a vision or hearing impairment)
- total or partial loss of part of the body (e.g. a person who has had an amputation)
- infectious and non-infectious diseases and illnesses (e.g. a person with AIDS, hepatitis, cancer or a person with allergies)
- the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of a person's body (e.g. a person with diabetes or asthma, or a person with a birthmark or scar)
- a condition causing a person to learn differently from other people (e.g. a person with autism, dyslexia, or an intellectual disability)
- a condition that affects a person's thought processes, understanding of reality, emotions or judgement, or that results in disturbed behaviour (e.g. a person with a mental illness, neurosis, or personality disorder)
- a condition that exists now, existed in the past, or may exist in the future (including having a genetic predisposition to that disability)
- behaviour that is a symptom or manifestation of a disability (e.g. bodily movements caused by Parkinson's disease or behaviours of concern related to mental ill-health).