Expanding the horizons of Australians living with intellectual disability

Dr Rillotta says participants and supporters of the program know its positive impacts, but without empirical research evidence to inform this belief, the program would remain small in scope.

With her Early Career Research seed funding, Dr Rillotta was able to employ Up the Hill graduate Tim Adam as co-researcher, to help create and publish accessible research summaries of key areas of the program.

The outcomes of this research have been even greater than Dr Rillotta and Mr Adam expected, including high journal rankings that will help develop their research careers, access to national funding to expand the research, and the redevelopment of the Up the Hill Project.

“We’re now re-designing the Up the Hill program based on some of the research findings, including enabling participants to work towards a university  qualification rather than simply a certificate of completion,” says Dr Rillotta.

This change means school leavers with intellectual disability could transition to university just like their peers. Flinders will be the first university in Australia to offer this.

Without donor support, none of these outcomes would have been possible.

“This seed funding gave me the opportunity to collaborate with others, build a track record, produce results that will impact the community, and gain even more funding opportunities that I hope will support policy change on a national level,” says Dr Rillotta.

You can provide critical support for our early career researchers to explore new ground in research, that changes lives and improves our community.

100% of your tax-deductible donation will support the work of emerging researchers through Flinders University's Impact Seed Funding grant program. 

^{Published November 2022. Author: Lynda Allen.}