Multicultural+Disablitiy+Advocacy

The Multicultural Disability Advocacy Assocation (MDAA) of NSW ([|www.mdaa.org.au]) is an excellent resource fo teachers wanting more cultural information on students born overseas, or with parents born overseas. This group works with families who are predominantly from non-english speaking backgrounds, and have a family member who has a disability. It aims to protect and secure the rights of these people, and ensure they have access to information on resources. For example, if you have a student from an arabic country joining your class, you can read (in english) how disability is experieced in these countries, and how the differing points of view may be relevant to inclusion.

I found this particuraly useful when researching my topic for my presentation on how to prepare strategies for a non verbal student with parents of arabic origin. It was enlightening to see how differently disability is seen in many arabic countries, and that it can be viewed as a punishment by Allah for the parents, or the mother's fault. This information is available in PDF form called "Opening Doors", and has information which the parents and teacher could find enlightening, particulalry if the parent has limited knowledge of the Australian legal and educational systems. Each booklet is unique to the specific community.

In particular, teachers may be interested in the factbooks it produces, which is a r esource book and starting point for human services wanting to know more about the culture and religion of their students and wanting to provide a more culturally competent educational strategies . The MDAA can also provide individual advocates to "stand beside" people who are from overseas and ensure their rights are being exercised in areas such as housing, immigration, work and disability services as well as education.

The website is very well organised and provides information on an extensive range of topics. It produces a monthly newsletter and has a wide range of resources covering a mix of publications, research and other resources on different ethnic communities, disability in a cultural and religious context and cultural competence issues.

The information is provided by a NSW-based organisation, but is applicable in many ways to all other states and territories across Australia, although there will be some obvious differences such as funding resources etc.

Well worth a vist even if you are studying another country in your class, and what some excellent insights into cultural differences and disability issues.

Find it at [|www.mdaa.org.au] The Multicultural Disability Advocacy Assocation (MDAA) of NSW ([|www.mdaa.org.au]) is an excellent resource fo teachers wanting more cultural information on students born overseas, or with parents born overseas. This group works with families who are predominantly from non-english speaking backgrounds, and have a family member who has a disability. It aims to protect and secure the rights of these people, and ensure they have access to information on resources. For example, if you have a student from an arabic country joining your class, you can read (in english) how disability is experieced in these countries, and how the differing points of view may be relevant to inclusion.

I found this particuraly useful when researching my topic for my presentation on how to prepare strategies for a non verbal student with parents of arabic origin. It was enlightening to see how differently disability is seen in many arabic countries, and that it can be viewed as a punishment by Allah for the parents, or the mother's fault. This information is available in PDF form called "Opening Doors", and has information which the parents and teacher could find enlightening, particularly if the parent has limited knowledge of the Australian legal and educational systems. Each booklet is unique to the specific community, and there are 10 different booklets including Chinese, Hindi, Farsi and Croatian.

In particular, teachers may be interested in the factbooks it produces, which is a r esource book and starting point for human services wanting to know more about the culture and religion of their students and wanting to provide a more culturally competent educational strategies . The MDAA can also provide individual advocates to "stand beside" people who are from overseas and ensure their rights are being exercised in areas such as housing, immigration, work and disability services as well as education.

The website is very well organised and provides information on an extensive range of topics. It produces a monthly newsletter and has a wide range of resources covering a mix of publications, research and other resources on different ethnic communities, disability in a cultural and religious context and cultural competence issues.

The information is provided by a NSW-based organisation, but is applicable in many ways to all other states and territories across Australia, although there will be some obvious differences such as funding resources etc. Well worth a vist even if you are just studying another country in your class, and want some excellent insights into cultural differences and disability issues.

Find it at [|www.mdaa.org.au]