Intellectual disabilities affect a person’s ability to learn. This creates ongoing effects with empathy required for social skills suck as inclusion and cultural awareness. The skills of empathy are essential to be aware of making people from different cultures and nationalities feel welcomed, as well as closing the gap on cultural issues occurring in a country such as racism, exclusion, and social isolation. Cultural awareness requires services and activities, particularly for Indigenous cultures who have faced such social issues.
The Easy Read Toolbox aimed to assist with the intellectual disability sector through applying layout and icon design a method to communicate complex information for improved education. To assist this area the need for cultural inclusion would see NAIDOC week in Australia to celebrate achievements and the history of Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders. In addition, communicating NAIDOC week also requires showing services to ensure Australians provide opportunities for essential needs for Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders in living everyday life such as housing, counselling, and the justice system, hospitals and health clinics.
The design involved communicating to the end-user group about services dedicated to Indigenous and Torres strait islanders to maintain a positive lifestyle, and improved health, as well as external stakeholders are required to understand inclusion. The design involved applying the flags of the two areas to demonstrate the target of the services is focused on Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders. The icon designs involved applying the steps of services such as people talking to each other during counselling or people living under a roof. The examples show the needs, benefits, and procedures during the services.
The design icons hope to be applied by caretakers and educators during NAIDOC week to assist Intellectual disabilities to understand the Indigenous and Torres Strait islanders’ inclusion. The education hopes to contribute to Australia’s culture and educate the need for inclusion, particularly reflecting on the challenges such as closing the gap, life expectancy, unemployment, and discrimination.
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