Disability Inclusion Profile

Preparing for a Disability Inclusion Profile meeting – roles and responsibilities

School staff

The school principal or principal’s nominee, teachers, and other participating school staff are required to prepare for the profile meeting.

A Profile preparation tool (DOCX) is available to support schools preparing for a profile meeting. This tool has been developed specifically for secondary schools but can be used by all schools as needed.

Participating staff are encouraged to refer to the Student voice tool to help them have a discussion with the student about their strengths, aspirations, and functional needs. Refer to: Student voice tool (DOCX) and Student voice toolkit (DOCX).

Participating staff should review the Disability Inclusion Profile and other resources available in the Resources tab, and make notes ahead of the meeting where possible.

Principals or their nominees are also required to work with parent/carer(s) ahead of the profile meeting to collate any supporting information.

The principal or principal’s nominee should work with the student’s family to:

• ensure they understand the purpose of the profile meeting
• support them to prepare for (if relevant) and be able to participate in the meeting
• help them understand what is involved and address any concerns they may have
• help them explain the purpose of the meeting and how the meeting will work to the student.

Refer to: Disability Inclusion Schools Communications Pack (DOCX) (staff login required).

Parent/carer(s)

Preparation for the profile meeting is encouraged but not mandatory for the student’s parent/carer(s).

Parent/carer(s) already know so much about their child that enables them to meaningfully contribute to the discussion. However, families may spend time before the meeting thinking about their child’s strengths, aspirations, and functional needs.

Parent/carer(s) are encouraged to refer to the Parent voice tool (DOCX).

Prior to the meeting parent/carer(s) can also nominate an advocate to support and/or represent them and their child, if required. All additional attendees must be agreed upon by the school and the parent/carer(s).

Students

Student voice is an important part of the Disability Inclusion Profile process. It is important that the student plays an active role in the profile process and contributes directly or indirectly to the discussion, either in person or via a trusted adult.

Students may require support to participate in the profile meeting. Schools should consider the appropriate method and person to support students in this context. This may involve:

• collaborating with staff and the student to plan how best to prepare the student to contribute to the meeting.
• helping the student learn about what a profile meeting is, using mediums and communication strategies that are accessible and engaging for them. This could be through using visuals that explain the meeting, role-playing what happens in a meeting, or using augmentative and alternative communication techniques and aids where students present with speech and/or language impairments.
• giving the student options for their contribution to the meeting. This could include:
  • partial or full attendance
  • communicating with a trusted adult (such as a parent or teacher) who will speak for them in the meeting
  • drawing pictures or taking photos about their strengths and learning aspirations and the support that helps meet their learning goals
  • writing about themselves
  • completing a Student voice tool (DOCX) template
  • engaging with the Inclusive student voice toolkit (DOCX) for guidance on a variety of multi-modal approaches to capture student voice
• ensuring the student’s contribution is ready for the meeting.

Students may contribute prior to the profile meeting through communication with their teacher, family or another trusted adult, who then presents this information at the profile meeting. This should be done in a way that is most appropriate to the student.

In some rare cases student voice may not be able to be captured in the process. If this is the case, then the parent/carer(s) or teacher can provide the student’s perspective in the process.

Resources to support student voice

• Positive Partnerships: Individual Education Plans – Student Voice – an example of including autistic students in individual education plan (IEP) meetings
• Youth Disability Advocacy service: Communicating with young people with disability
• Student voice practice guide
• Student voice tool (DOCX)
• Inclusive student voice toolkit (DOCX)
• Disability Inclusion Profile social script (DOCX)
• Disability Inclusion Profile – Easy English (DOCX)

Facilitators

Prior to the meeting, the facilitator will familiarise themselves with the information they have about the student and the school to build a preliminary understanding of the student’s needs and adjustments required to enable participation in their education.

Interpreters

Where required, an interpreter (or interpreters), including AUSLAN and deaf interpreters, should be present at the meeting to help with communication in line with the department’s Interpreting and Translation Services policy.

For more information refer to: Interpreting and Translation Services.