1. Job accommodation plans for people with disabilities

According to the job accommodation plans of the Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor, ( https://jobacmd.wda.gov.tw/DJOB_WEB/ ), NCUE helps people with disabilities, middle-aged, and elderly people overcome work obstacles and improve their work efficiency so as to implement the goal of employment services. On behalf of the hearing-impaired and visually impaired faculty members, NCUE applied to the Changhua County Government and implemented the “Job Accommodation for People with Disabilities” plan, and a total amount of NTD$295,342 was allocated to NCUE. The subsidized services and used amounts are as follows:

(1) Transcription services: 120 hours in total, with NTD$500 /hour compensation subsidized, totaling NTD$60,000.

(2) Assistance from helpers in the workplace: 218 hours in total, with NTD$183 /hour compensation subsidized, totaling NTD$39,894.

(3) Transportation expenses: NTD$6,000 in total.

(4) Vision assistance services: 456 hours in total, with NTD$183 /hour compensation subsidized, totaling NTD$83,448.

(5) Desktop video magnifier: subsidy amount totaling NTD$106,000.

In addition to assisting the aforementioned colleague in job design with the application process, NCUE also helps handle subsequent matters including service personnel hour management, attendance sign-in and sign-out, and expense reimbursement procedures.

2. Service plans to help students in the Resource Classroom

According to the Implementation Key Points on Recruiting and Counselling Students with Disabilities in Colleges and Universities Subsidized by the Ministry of Education ( https://edu.law.moe.gov.tw/LawContent.aspx?id=FL026216 ), NCUE applies to the Ministry of Education every year for the subsidies of the work plan for recruiting and counselling students with disabilities in colleges and universities, and provides various forms of counselling and service work for students with disabilities. In 2024, the Ministry of Education subsidized more than NTD$3,652,822 to help students with disabilities who have disability identification certificates adapt to university life, expand interpersonal relationships, and improve their learning ability in various subjects. NCUE helps them successfully complete their studies, as well as improve their emotional, learning, social, and professional adaptation. The support services provided are as follows (please refer to https://ncue7232105.wixsite.com/ncue/blank-4 ), and the participation count for various support services are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number of participants in various support services in 2024

(1) Schoolwork support services

(a) Individual remedial teaching (difficult subjects): The Resource Classroom aims to help students with disabilities with difficult subjects, such as psychology and educational tests, English, and statistics, and arranges individual tutors for students to help them with their progress.

(b) Examination service measures (explaining highlighted contents, reviews of specific questions, etc.): The Resource Classroom has designed a ‘Special Examination Service Form’ to meet the needs of teachers and students and provide appropriate assistance according to the different types and degrees of students’ disabilities.

(c) Work-study students and volunteers assist with learning (text-to-speech, audio recording, translation upon clicking, note taking, etc.): The Resource Classroom arranges regular shifts of work-study students and volunteers to assist students with disabilities with text-to-speech, audio recording, note taking, and translation upon clicking. At the same time, specific work-study students are arranged to assist students with disabilities with searching for information, etc.

(d) Textbook conversion. The Resource Classroom helps with converting textbooks into braille or enlarged fonts, and convert written materials into electronic files.

(e) Provide assistive equipment for borrowing.

(f) The Resource Classroom helps students with applying for special education award scholarships (provided by the Academic Affairs Office), and to applying for scholarships from off-campus organizations.

(2) Life support services

(a) Orientation and mobility training: In order to help students with severe or total blindness familiarize themselves with the campus environment as soon as possible, Taiwan Foundation for the Blind is usually invited to assist with orientation and mobility training.

(b) Organize extracurricular activities and fellowship: To help students in special education get acquainted with, understand, and support each other, the Resource Classroom organizes activities such as dinners, off-campus visits, and alumni experience sharing in public office examinations or teacher enrolment examinations for students at the beginning and end of each semester.

(c) Hold student forums: In order to understand students’ learning efficiency in the classroom and effectively assist with it, the Resource Classroom regularly holds symposiums between counselors and students to enable them to exchange views and provide timely assistance.

(d) Psychological counselling (individual counselling, growth group): In view of the personal troubles faced by students with disabilities, the Resource Classroom helps students refer to the Student Psychological Consulting and Counselling Center of NCUE for individual consultation and participation in growth groups.

(e) Arrange accommodation and transportation on campus.

(f) Improve accessible environment on campus.

(3) Support services for schooling system transition counselling

(a) Student transition notification services: NCUE offers comprehensive and ongoing transition counseling and services, incorporating individualized special education plans to assist students in achieving their transition goals, which may include independent living, social adaptation, participation, further education, or employment.

(b) Graduate transition notification and tracking services: The resource room is committed to provide transition services for students with disabilities after graduation, tailoring our support to meet each student's individual needs by linking them to resources related to further education, transfer to other institutions, employment, vocational training, and homecare.

Please refer to Appendix 10.6.9A(PDF), Implementation Key Points on Recruiting and Counselling Students with Disabilities in Colleges and Universities Subsidized by the Ministry of Education.

Please refer to Appendix 10.6.9B(PDF), Statistics on Usage and Activity Holding of the Resource Classroom of National Changhua University of Education.

3. Disability-related Conferences and Programs Organized by NCUE

(1) College of Education Department of Special Education organized "2024 Special Education Conference: Integration and Practice of General and Special Education".

The Department of Special Education of the College of Education and the Special Education Center of NCUE jointly organized the "2024 Special Education Conference" with the theme "Integration and Practice of General and Special Education" on Saturday, June 22, 2024. The conference specially invited retired Professor Emeritus Tair-Jye Chou from the Special Education Department to serve as the keynote speaker. The paper presentations attracted many master's and doctoral students to submit their work, with research topics including: exploration of career development for counselors in higher education resource rooms, readiness and knowledge needs of novice special education teachers in gender equality education core competencies, and sharing examples of challenges faced by general education teachers in inclusive education environments and interprofessional team support, among other issues. The session chairs and reviewers provided very specific professional advice to the presenters, which also sparked considerable discussion and responses from on-site participants.

Campus Headlines: https://www.ncue.edu.tw/p/406-1000-26718,r93.php?Lang=zh-tw

Supporting Materials:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EedLpoDX-iFSP4QQrmnUgsrNHuLydCv3 ,  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1o5PrQ373BNbU6n8XB5-sGgfb2oki2jii ,  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EbL3UdATM0US3HBniLTIIbgLN6v9cQCv

(2) Professor Cen-shawn Wu from the Department of Physics executes the National Science and Technology Council project (2024/08/01~2025/07/31) "Science Popularization Activity: Inquiry and Practical Natural Science Camps for Visually Impaired and Hearing-impaired Students".

This project continues years of effort, aiming to create new pathways for hands-on science and mathematics learning for visually impaired and hearing-impaired students, and to provide a model for the broad inclusive education system in Taiwan through the practice of inclusive education. To achieve this goal, the team invites experts from pure science, special education, and science education fields to collaborate with various institutions in planning and implementing the project. The project will also recruit university students with backgrounds in pure science and science education to serve as counselors, thereby cultivating a future teaching workforce with dual expertise. Additionally, the team will collaborate with international organizations for knowledge exchange and experience sharing, thus enhancing the project's impact. Through the implementation of this project, visually impaired and hearing-impaired students will directly benefit, not only enhancing their learning abilities and positive life attitudes but also opening new possibilities for their future career choices. The project's implementation not only helps improve society's understanding and acceptance of students with disabilities, further promoting these students' opportunities in the workplace, but also strengthens support for educational equity for disadvantaged groups. By gathering the strength of experts from different fields and focusing on improving the educational quality of disadvantaged groups, this project not only brings more comprehensive and inclusive development prospects to our society but also enhances our country's international image in education for disadvantaged groups.