Organising sensory-friendly, inclusive outings and hosting disability awareness events were just two of Giselle’s many projects designed to foster a supportive learning environment for herself and her peers.  

As one of Murdoch University’s founding recipients of the Brighter Futures Scholarship, Giselle has embarked on her journey towards becoming a full-time education support teacher.  

Reflecting on the ‘why’ behind her future goals, Giselle said her own experience navigating school as an autistic person was particularly impactful. 

Giselle noticed that herself and her peers in the ed-support program were often left out by those in mainstream classes, which left a lot of people feeling lonely.  

“Mainstream kids have birthdays and you’re the kid not invited out of one or two kids,” she said. 

I love going to the movies, but never had anyone to go with. I decided to do ed-support movie outings to get the other kids a bit more motivated to seek out independence. 

Determined to tackle feelings of isolation among her cohort, Giselle designed invites, wrote the dates for gatherings in everyone’s diaries, and would mark whether the chosen movie had flashing lights or other sensory triggers.  

Soon, movie outings turned into roller-skating, with Giselle introducing her friends to one of her biggest passions. 

“Roller-skating is a great one – you can do it in a wheelchair, with your mobility device... At the start, some kids won’t even get in the ring, but after we’d done it a few times, most of them were out there,” she said.  

Her second mission was to educate the wider school community about various disabilities, particularly those that fellow students experienced. 

For Disability Awareness Week, Giselle made it her mission to educate her wider school community on various disabilities, making infographics with smart links to information, and videos with her peers explaining intricacies firsthand. 

Through this initiative, she also raised money for Rhett’s Syndrome, a disability experienced by her friend and peer. 

After graduating, Giselle was offered relief work in education support at her former high school, and she took on private clients too.  

Her responsibilities include facilitating activities, following schedules and helping to increase independence.  

Now, Giselle says her ultimate goal is to utilise Murdoch University’s resources in the School of Education to acquire the extra skills she needs to get a job at a place like Castlereagh School – a school purpose-built for children with additional needs.  

Giselle has signed on as part of the first cohort to utilise the School of Education's new co-major in Inclusive Education, to help better prepare her for this goal. 

She said Murdoch’s commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – with equity plans and accessible course structures - would help her on the way. 

“Having the EQAL plan which can be easily modified throughout – that's really good,” she said. 

“There are at-home assignments, writing, discussion posts, that kind of thing.” 

Since completing the end of her first year at Murdoch, Giselle is more inspired than ever to keep chasing her dreams.