Question

In a paragraph, discuss how your own cultural and social perspectives and biases will impact your work with people with support needs. Use examples.

Answer 1

Ans) It is important to appreciate and understand how diversity affects the way you
communicate and work with people with support needs, their families and your co-
workers.
- Here are some of the cultural and social factors you may encounter in a diverse
workplace and how to incorporate each element into your work.
• Race:
- Race refers to a group of people who have similar features such as skin colour, type
of hair, eye colour and other physical features.
- Treat everyone equally regardless of the colour of their skin or where they are from.

• Ethnic group:
- Ethnic groups have interests, history and cultural features in common. Cultural
features include language, religion and the way people interact with each other.

- An example of an ethnic group is the Jewish people. The predominant culture in many countries is often associated with a single ethnic group; for example, Italians. However, some Italians belong to other ethnic groups, for
example; the Jewish, Albanian and Ethiopian ethnic groups who live in Italy.
- Be aware of a person’s ethnic group so you can understand and talk about their
culture with them. This may help you avoid stereotyping people. An example of a
stereotype is someone believing that all Italians love to eat pasta.

• Language:
- Language refers to the way people communicate with each other, and is a very
important part of a culture. Some common languages spoken in Australia are English, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Croatian, Macedonian, Turkish, Serbian and Hindi. Around 60,000 people in Australia speak an Australian Indigenous language.
- A person with support needs may miss the opportunity to speak in their native language. If possible, arrange for someone who speaks their native language to come to talk with them.

Treat all staff and people with support needs equally :
- It is important to treat all people as equals. It doesn’t matter which cultural group they belong to or the circumstances of their socio-economic background. All people deserve to be included and all people deserve your respect. Thisapplies to your co-workers as well as people with support needs.

• Treat all people as equals:
- Don’t speak in a patronising or demeaning manner.
- Never make people from different cultures feel they and their opinions are not valued.
- Don’t speak loudly and slowly to people from another culture – it may seem like you
think they are stupid.
- Ensure you treat people with different gender preferences equally.
- Sit down to speak to someone in a wheelchair, so they don’t feel intimidated or powerless.
- Communicate in a way that is appropriate for each person’s abilities and age.