Chair
Linda Clouston, Senior Counsellor, Westlake Girls High School
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the legal framework for disability discrimination and reasonable accommodations under the Bill of Rights Act and Human Rights Act
- Learn how to assess and implement reasonable accommodations for students, including considering expert evidence and undiagnosed disabilities
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD hour
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Reasonable Accommodations for Students: The Legal Perspective
- The law on disability discrimination and reasonable accommodations
- Definitions of discrimination, disability and reasonable accommodation
- Bill of Rights Act, Human Rights Act, and how these apply to schools
- Accommodating the needs of disabled students
- Who decides what is reasonable?
- Factors to consider when making decisions on reasonable accommodations
- Experts, evidence, and documentation
- Unexpected or undiagnosed disability
Presented by Nick Johnston, Community Educator, Aotearoa Disability Law Centre
Presenters
Linda Clouston, Senior Counsellor, Westlake Girls High School
Linda Clouston currently holds a part-time position as a senior counsellor at Westlake Girls High School. Her previous roles have included Head of Learning Enhancement (encompassing Counselling and Learning Support), Dean, Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour, as well as team leader and classroom teacher. Her diverse experiences eventually led her to counselling, a field that has proven to be a strong fit for her skills and interests. In addition to her work as a school counsellor, she provides supervision to Deans and other middle managers at two other schools, offering advice, guidance, and support to enhance both their professional effectiveness and wellbeing. She views conferences as valuable opportunities for learning and networking, essential for counsellors to remain effective practitioners while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of both students and themselves. She is particularly passionate about equipping students with the tools they need to succeed at their level and ensuring they are treated fairly and equitably. She also recognises the importance of fostering resilience and happiness in young people. For her, ongoing professional development is not only a requirement of best practice but also an opportunity for growth—both invigorating and, at times, challenging.
Nick Johnston, Community Educator, Aotearoa Disability Law Centre
Nick Johnston is the Community Educator at Auckland Disability Law, and responsible for ADL’s legal education programme in the Auckland and Northland regions. Nick is not a lawyer; instead, his professional background lies in Occupational Therapy, where he supported stroke survivors back into employment. Witnessing the challenges and discrimination disabled people faced first-hand has fuelled his passion for working to remove the barriers that prevent disabled people from participating in society, as well as his desire to ensure that everyone is aware of their rights and obligations under the law.
