Belonging and Connection of School Students with Disability

Release of CDA Issues Paper: Belonging and Connection of School Students with Disability Children with Disability Australia is pleased to release their latest issues paper Belonging and Connection of School Students with Disability by Dr Sally Robinson and Julia Truscott. All students want to feel like they belong and that they are valued in their school community. School is a centrally important place to young people — not only where they learn fundamental academic knowledge, but also where skills in making and keeping friends, relating to peers, and social justice principles are learnt and practiced. What happens when young people feel like they don't belong? This paper examines a series of key issues about belonging and connection for students with disability and demonstrates research that shows: Feeling a sense of belonging and connection makes a positive difference to school life. There are a number of key elements to belonging and connection — friendship, peer acceptance, capability, being valued and supportive relationships with key adults. When belonging and connection are threatened, there are several areas in which the impact is seen. The friendships of students are limited; they are lonely; the places they can go within the school are controlled; there are tensions in negotiating support relationships; students feel and are excluded; and kid's strengths aren't seen by other students or adults in their school communities. Bullying is a particularly strong threat to a felt sense of belonging and connection. CDA will be looking to publically launch this issues paper in the near future and details will be sent to members. The paper is available at www.cda.org.au/cda-issue-papers Children With Disability Australia Suite 3, 173 Queens Parade PO Box 172 Clifton Hill, VIC, 3068 Australia Phone: (03) 9482 1130 1800 222 660 (Regional or Interstate Calls) Fax: (03) 9481 7833 Email: info@cda.org.au Office Hours: 9am-5pm AEST Follow CDA on Facebook Follow CDA on Twitter   The material contained in this email may be confidential, and may also be the subject of copyright and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this document is prohibited. If you have received this document in error, please advise the sender and delete the document. Internet communications are not secure and accordingly Children With Disability Australia does not accept any legal liability for the contents or damage caused by this message. Please note that neither Children With Disability Australia nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan the email and any attachments. Should the above email contain details outlining any quotes or pricing estimates they are subject to change at any time. Any acceptance of any pricing quotes contained in the body–not attachment– of email shall be done in writing and will be considered acceptable to commence work. Quotes contained as an attachment shall be subject to the terms outlined therein. © Copyright 2011 Children with Disability Australia. All rights reserved.