Disability related training can be valuable in helping the organisation to address a range of disability issues. All equality and disability related training courses for staff and volunteers should include representatives from management. A good training course will encourage participants to contribute from the perspective of their own experiences, and the presence of managerial staff will ensure that ideas from the training can be taken forward.
DET addresses the bigger picture of disability issues in relation to organisational development. DET helps an organisation to identify the barriers and looks at ways of working together for change. If all board and staff attend a DET course together, this can be an excellent way of getting the Disability Action Plan started. A course can be devised specifically for an organisation, focussing on specific issues. DET is always led by disabled trainers.
The need for further training in the following categories may be identified through participating in a Disability Equality Training course, or through staff appraisals or monitoring of service provision:
Deaf Equality Training - Facilitates understanding of Deaf Culture & helps organisations work towards providing equality in their services.
Training for tutors / workshop leaders in making their workshops accessible to disabled people - Courses can be devised to a specific brief.
Impairment specific training - e.g. Practicalities of working with blind and visually impaired people, or people with learning difficulties.
Disability related training for front-of-house & box office staff, stewards and volunteers - Practicalities around access issues at venues and events.
Training in emergency egress does exist but is not easy to find. Organisations with disabled employees should establish Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans. The aims of PEEPs is to provide people who cannot get themselves out of a building unaided with the necessary information to be able to manage their escape to a place of safety and to give venue staff the necessary information so as to ensure that the correct level of assistance is always available.
All venues open to the public should plan for the evacuation of disabled people in the event of an emergency.
Disability Arts Cymru, Tel / Minicom 029 2055 1040, Email: post@dacymru.com
