ADHD: The Untold Truths of the ADEP (Australian Deficit in Educational Policy)

Missing the mark or scoring a goal? Achieving non-discrimination for students with disability in primary and secondary education in Australia: A scoping review

“…The key properties of the 18 articles meeting the criteria for inclusion in the review are presented in the Appendix. While most of the articles related to students with disability in general, some focussed on specific cohorts in relation to discrimination legislation, policies and practice; these were students with challenging behaviours (O’Connell, 2016, 2017), communication disorders (Dickson, 2019; McLeod, Press, & Phelan, 2010), health conditions (White, 2015), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (de Bruin, 2019; Lilley, 2013) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Mulholland, 2017).…”

“…Several of the articles’ authors discussed difficulties arising from the differences between federal, state and territory jurisdictions (Anderson & Boyle, 2015; Cumming & Dickson, 2013; Dickson, 2012, 2014, 2019; Mulholland, 2017; White, 2015). Across Australia’s eight educational jurisdictions and three education sectors (public, independent and Catholic), there are differences in interpretation of the federal legislation, in the development of inclusive education policies and in identifying and providing supports to students with disability.…”

“…In a similar vein, Mulholland (2017) pointed out that ADHD is covered by the broad definition of disability in the DDA, but definitions used by states and territories are narrower and fall into strictly medically based categories. Consequently, most students with ADHD are ineligible for disability funding and unlikely to receive the additional learning and behaviour support they need.…”

Designing out barriers to student access and participation in secondary school assessment

“…Problems arise in the realm of assessment when the external conditions create criteria that make access more difficult for some individuals, unfairly disadvantaging them in the process. Students with a disability are those most likely to experience disadvantage in assessment, especially students with so-called ''mild'' disabilities, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), who are predominantly educated in mainstream schools and seldom receive adjustments (Mulholland 2017;Marshall et al 2002). Students with a diagnosis of ADHD or DLD qualify as having a disability under Australian anti-discrimination legislation, which requires education providers to provide reasonable adjustments to ensure that people with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as everyone else.…”

“…Unnecessary complexity in the way that curriculum, pedagogy and assessment task expectations are communicated presents barriers to students with ADHD with the result being that many give up before they even start. As these students seldom qualify for individually targeted funding (Mulholland 2017), most are reliant on the provision of quality differentiated teaching practices that proactively address potential barriers to these students' access and participation.…”