MAKING A SMOOTH TRANSITION TO A TERTIARY COURSE –

for students with vision impairments

Plan ahead

The Course

1. Check out why you are doing the course and why you have chosen the organizations you have applied to attend. There are many students who begin studying what they feel they have to study and have bad experiences because they are just not motivated to study. Better to work out what you really want to do first, even if this is initially a general course which allows you to do things you really enjoy.
2. Make sure you have the necessary pre-requisites to do what you want.
3. Find out what training or qualifications you need for the jobs that interest you.
4. Find out where you get that training or qualifications.
5. Check out what, if any, professional registration you need to comply with to work in your chosen field.
   Independence and Communication
6. Your time at a tertiary institution is a time to learn to become independent and make choices for yourself. Look at how you are going to manage some skills and work out ways in which you will be able to do these when you enter the workforce – eg notetaking.
7. Good communication skills are essential – if people don’t know what you want how can you get what you want. Self-assertiveness doesn’t always come naturally, sometimes you have to work on this. YOU ARE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE. You will learn when is a good time to disclose your condition and what it means to you in terms of its impact on your studies. Talk to students who have already been studying for a while – their personal experience can save you heaps of time and trouble.
8. Have you developed some stress management techniques – going to Melb Uni for instance is like being placed in the middle of a country town like Shepparton and asked to find all the things and people you need.

Getting in, getting there, getting around

9. Check out special entry schemes into the various tertiary organizations.
10. Physically check out the campus you are going to attend. Go with friends, mum, dad, O&M instructor – check out where your lecture theatres, classes, laboratories are, where the nearest bank, toilet, eating places are – where the Disability Liaison Unit is.
11. Check out the transport to and from where you will be studying.
12. What is your timetable like? Does it give you time to get from one class to another? Again some campuses can be huge, others small.

Accommodations – these are adjustments to the learning environment

13. Research what services are available at the tertiary institution you hope to attend.
14. What accommodations do you need?

• Reading materials (textbooks and subject reading packs) in accessible formats
• Overheads and handouts in electronic formats
• Orientation and mobility training
• Student housing booked early, especially if you are coming from the country – you can always say no later.

Technology

• What access to technology on campus do you have?
• What technology do you use?
• What technology skills do you have?
• What technology would you like to use / know about?
• How are you going to take notes in class? Do you know how to use the indexing effectively on your tape recorder? Do you actually have a tape recorder that allows you to index (or note by inserting a subsonic beep onto the tape so that you can hear it when you rewind or fast forward your tape)? You are the one in charge – take charge.
• Before you buy equipment check out what is on campus so that it synchronises with what you plan to use at home.

Money

15. Find out if you are eligible for any government funding. I am continually surprised at the number of students who don’t know they can get the Disability Support Pension or know anything about Futures for Young Adults. Once you leave school it is too late to ask for assistance through the Futures Program. You should find out from your school if you are receiving funding through the State Department of Education and if so – you are probably eligible for funding through Futures – this is invaluable for acquiring technology. This has to be done in your first year – so know what you want / need technology wise.
16. What scholarships are available? What bursaries are there either from the educational institution, such as housing bursaries or from other organizations, eg RVIB bursary for equipment.

Studying

17. How do you learn? Do you utilize your study skills to effectively organize your study time. A FULL-TIME COURSE IS A FULL-TIME JOB. Do you need to explore study skills specifically for tertiary assessment?
18. How do you plan to store printed materials received during the day at uni? How to you plan to file them at home to find them again?
19. Check out the RVIB study groups every month. They have topics based around what’s happening around the time of year, eg. Exams, VTAC Process, etc.
20. If you have partial vision, check out eccentric viewing training for students with partial vision at Vision Australia or RVIB.
21. Find out all the e-text sites relevant to you.
    Important People
22. Find out who the Disability Liaison Officers are at the institution you plan to attend.
23. Check out who your Student Union advisors are – they are very helpful when things go wrong – like unsatisfactory progress committees.
24. Check out the transition staff, language and learning skills units, first year learning laboratories, tutors, careers, housing, finance, library, IT, etc.
25. Get to meet your lecturers well before ‘O’ week when they are not stressed out – this way they will get to know you, know what your needs are, give you hints on how to get by, let you know about helpful staff, helpful techniques, helpful resources.
26. Before you start your tertiary course: try to make a list of all your teaching staff and other helpful staff with their telephone numbers and email addresses. KEEP THIS WITH YOU AT ALL TIME – IT IS INVALUABLE and saves lots of panicking.
27. Check out who to speak to if you feel you are being discriminated against.
28. Find out if the educational institution has free legal advice for you or if there is a community legal advisor.
29. Check out Education Consultant at the RVIB

Exams and things

30. Check out with your DLO how to put in place alternative exam arrangements so that you can have your papers in the format that suits you, so that you can use a computer to answer your exams, so that you can have some extra time.
31. If you have English as a Second Language – check out what assistance is available on campus for this. Sometimes it is not clear whether or not it is your language or your vision impairment that is slowing you down.
32. Check out the Special Consideration process, is it available in the institution you are going to attend. How does it work? What happens if you miss an exam or a deadline?

Contacting Other Students

33. Australasian Network of Students with Disabilities Newsgroup.
    Email answd@deakin.edu.au
    Web http://www.deakin.edu.au/answd
34. Check out the student mailserver for students who are studying who also have a vision impairment. Contact Jo Webber at RVIB for the details at email: webbejo@rvib.org.au

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