Professional Placements

On many professional courses in Trinity, students must complete a series of work placements. Starting placements can be daunting for any student, and especially for a student with a disability, who may need to consider additional factors such as disclosure and how to request reasonable accommodations. Some of the information below may also be transferable to students completing other courses, who have secured internships or work placements. 

• Disclosure: informing someone about your disability

• Reasonable Accommodation: is any action that helps to alleviate a substantial disadvantage due to an impairment or medical condition

Placements are an opportunity to practice and learn on site in your given field. Placements offer the chance to gain experience, demonstrate your ability and skills, and make professional links for the future. Placement also offers the chance to explore how your disability might affect your experience in the work place, and strategies for managing difficulties you may encounter. This will help you to understand and to articulate clearly and confidently the reasonable accommodations you may need when applying for jobs after college. Placements also offer an opportunity to practice how you manage disclosure.

For more advice and suggested activities for how to prepare for the different stages of placement, including organising a pre-placement planning meeting with the disability service, take a look at the placement section of Transition to Employment Guide

The Disability Service are currently working on a Placement Project. This project  will

• Develop a handbook and placement guide that will include advice on preparing for placement, strategies for ensuring a successful placement, student tips, suggestions for assistive technology and useful websites
• Develop training resources that will provide academic and practice education staff with information on disability rights, legal obligations, reasonable accommodations, and fitness to practice issues, in addition to practical strategies and case studies illustrating good practice in supporting students with disabilities
• Read more about the project here Placement Project