Tackling Disability Issues & Supporting Disabled Students
Disabled Students UK
www.disabledstudents.co.uk/lead-and-change
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Jamboard
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Workshop Outline
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332,300
21.8% have a degree
17.3%
Students declared a disability in 2019/20
compared to 38% of non-disabled people
of all home students
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Models of Disability
Medical Model
Individuals are disabled by their impairments or differences. The medical model looks at what is 'wrong' with the person.
Social Model
A way of viewing the world, developed by disabled people stating that individual are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference.
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Medical Model
Defines an illness or disability as the result of a physical condition, which is intrinsic to the individual (it is part of that individual’s own body) and that may reduce the individual’s quality of life and cause clear disadvantages to the individual.
“A wheelchair user is unable to access a space via stairs due to their mobility issue.”
Focus
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Social Model
It identifies systemic barriers, negative attitudes and exclusion by society (purposely or inadvertently) as the root factors in disabling people.
“A wheelchair user is unable to access a space due to a lack of lift facilities.”
Focus
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Inequality in Student Experience
Support
Support services are usually only available for academics - not social and/or wider student experience such as freshers week or sport.
Segregation
Due to inaccessibility disabled students may have differing routes on campus, or find seminars and group work difficult to engage in.
Housing
Halls often only providing adapted rooms within higher tiered accommodation and/or ground floor being first year only.
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What are the key issues?
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Let’s Get Thinking!
Break Out Scenarios
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You are approached by a student who explains that there are broken pavements and a lack of drop kerbs that are stopping them from navigating the campus.
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Your Disabled Students Officer has stepped down due to ill-health, how do you ensure disabled students still have representation?
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The University has announced it is going back to in-person teaching. You have multiple emails from disabled and students with undisclosed underlying health conditions, concerned about continuing their studies.
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Student support provision is being cut by the University because the number of disabled students is too low for it to be cost effective.
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Partnership Framework
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See
Learn
Listen
Acknowledge the difference between disabled & non-disabled students
See
IDENTIFY THE MODEL YOU’RE USING
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Partner with your DSO & disabled students. Be led by their experience and expertise
Listen
TO DISABLED STUDENTS
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Continue to develop and implement systems that are led by disabled students’ experience and are shaped by their involvement
Learn
CONTINUED COLLABORATION
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Thanks!
Any questions ?
You can find us at
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