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Education Experiences - D/deaf and Hearing Loss Families

We want to know your thoughts

The Federal Government is currently reviewing the Disability Standards for Education.

These standards are designed to support all Australian students with disability to access and participate in education and training on the same basis as their peers without disability.

Deafness Forum Australia is preparing a submission to the review. We are keen to know the practical experiences of young people who are D/deaf or have hearing loss and their families to understand how the Standards could be improved to achieve better outcomes for our community members.

We are interested in the direct experiences of children and young people who are D/deaf or have hearing loss and their parents and caregivers across all educational settings.

This includes:

- Pre-K and Primary School
- Secondary School
- Higher education (TAFE and University)

Our policy team will use your input to develop our submission. All information provided will be de-identified unless you provide express consent for us to share your details.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact our Policy Director, Hayley Stone, directly on hayley.stone@deafnessforum.org.au.

We thank you for your time and consideration!
1.Which of the following applies to you?(Required.)
2.What State or Territory are you located in?(Required.)
3.Where in Australia do you live?(Required.)
4.What is your (or your child/ren's) current level of education? (you can select multiple options)(Required.)
5.Please select the type of education system you (or your child/ren) are currently enrolled in (you can select all that apply)(Required.)
6.Please tell us what disabilities you (or your child/ren) have
7.Please tell us what disability supports you (or your child/ren) regularly use.

(For example, hearing aids, cochlear implant, Auslan interpreting, occupational therapy, speech pathology)
8.Are you currently satisfied with your (or your child/ren's) current education situation?(Required.)
9.Have you ever changed education providers to get a more inclusive educational experience?(Required.)
10.What level of understanding does your education provider have about your (or your child/ren's) disability and associated educational needs?(Required.)
11.Is your education provider responsive to your (or your child/ren's) disability related educational needs?(Required.)
12.How often does your education provider proactively connect with you regarding your (or your child/ren's) disability related educational needs?
13.What disability related adjustments (if any) has your education provider made for you (or your child/ren?)
14.Do you (or your child/ren) have a specialised learning plan?(Required.)
15.What actions have you taken (if any) to support your education provider to respond to you (or your child/ren's) disability related educational needs?

(This could include specialized additional supports in class, providing specialized equipment, or arranging extra support out of school like tutoring)
16.Do you know who to contact at your educational provider if you have any disability related education concerns?(Required.)
17.If you have previously raised a concern with your education provider, how responsive were they in addressing your concerns?
18.How comfortable would you feel about raising a disability related educational concern with your education provider?(Required.)
19.Do you feel like you (or your child/ren) are currently receiving an equitable learning experience?(Required.)
20.What do you think the main barriers are for D/deaf and hard-of-hearing children and young people in getting a quality education?
21.What does your education provider do well in supporting your (or your child/ren's) disability related educational needs?
22.What could your education provider do better to support you (or your child/ren's) disability related educational needs?
23.Does your education provider provide any general supports to assist students with hearing loss or D/deafness?

For example, regular use of captioning, provision of hearing loops, student support workers(Required.)
24.Do you have any personal examples of positive or negative educational experiences you would like to share with us?

We will use this information anonymously to highlight what is and isn't working under our current education system for those who are D/deaf or have hearing loss.
25.Before starting this survey, were you aware that there were specific national standards that education providers need to comply with to support students with disabilities?(Required.)
26.Would you be interested in having one of our team contact you to discuss your experiences in more detail?(Required.)