Supporting disabled students

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Supporting disabled students

• Harriet Cannon
• Equality Service
• h.a.cannon_at_adm.leeds.ac.uk

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• Aims
• What is disability?
• Overview of accessibility and inclusion
• Disability and the Law what are reasonable
  adjustments?
• How does the University support disabled
  students?
• What can individuals do to support disabled
  students?
• Time for questions and answers

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• What is disability?

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• What is disability?
• The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person
  as someone who
• has a physical or mental impairment that has a
  substantial and long-term adverse effect on his
  or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day
  activities.
• Long term has lasted 12 months, or is likely
  to last 12 months

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Activity

• Depression
• Broken limbs
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Glandular fever
• Cancer
• Autism
• Stress
• Addiction

• Back pain
• Dyslexia
• Colour blindness
• HIV
• Acne
• Asthma
• Meningitis
• Repetitive strain injury

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• We work with people who
• are deaf or hard of hearing
• are blind or partially-sighted
• have a physical disability, and/or mobility
  difficulties
• have a specific learning difficulty (for example,
  dyslexia or dyspraxia)
• have a developmental learning or behavioural
  condition (for example, AD(H)D)
• have an autism spectrum condition (for example,
  Asperger Syndrome)
• have a mental health condition
• have a long-term medical condition (for example,
  chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, epilepsy,
  diabetes, cancer from the point of diagnosis,
  HIV)
• have a combination of these

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• Social Model vs Medical Model
• The University endorses the social model of
  disability which says
• Disability is a social phenomenon
• Individuals may have physical or sensory
  impairments, but they are only disabled by the
  way society responds to these
• Remove the barrier (physical, societal,
  attitudinal) and you remove the disability
• Medical model defines individuals by their
  impairment disabled people become the problem,
  not society, so individual must adapt
  disempowering, promotes notion of cure or care
  for

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• What is accessibility?
• What is inclusion?

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• Activity
• What does the term accessibility mean?
• What does the term inclusion mean?

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• Accessibility is a general term used to
  describe the degree to which a product, device,
  service, or environment is available to as many
  people as possible.
• Includes
• Physical accessibility of built environment
  (ramps, lifts, signage, accessible doors,
  accessible toilets, ingress and egress etc)
• Accessible communication in all forms
  (electronic, paper, websites, telecommunications)

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• Inclusion is the process through which we value
  all individuals, recognise their diverse
  contributions to communities, and actively remove
  barriers to access and inclusion.
• At Leeds this includes
• The physical campus
• Curricula course design, learning and teaching
  methods assessment
• Policies, procedures and practices
• The student experience and the student life cycle
• Attitudes, behaviours and values

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• Disability and the Law

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• Disability and the Law
• The Equality Act 2010 replaces DDA 1995 and
  SENDA
• Every employee of the University has
  responsibilities under the Equality Act
• The law around disability is based on the concept
  of reasonable adjustments

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• Reasonable adjustments
• If a reasonable adjustment can be made there is
  no defence for not making it
• Finance is not an argument in most cases
• Personal responsibility
• Most reasonable adjustments benefit all students,
  not just the student for whom the adjustment is
  made

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• Examples of reasonable adjustments
• Lecture notes, slides and handouts in advance
• Adjustments to built environment (ramps, signage,
  lighting, induction loops, toilet facilities,
  adjustable work stations)
• Assistive software (mind-mapping, text-to-speech,
  voice recognition)
• Exam arrangements
• Extensions, alternative assessments
• Flexibility of processes

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• Support for disabled students at
• the University of Leeds

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• How are disabled students identified?
• Application
• Online registration
• Disclosure at any time
• Needs Assessment
• Contact with the Disability Team
• Following an incident in their department,
  accommodation etc

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How does the University support disabled students?
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How does the Equality Service support disabled
students?
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• Disabled Students Allowances (DSA)
• Government funding to support disabled students
  in HE
• Not a loan, not means-tested
• Four main allowances equipment non-medical
  helper support travel general.
• Most disabled students who are eligible for a
  student loan are eligible for DSA
• Different allowances for undergraduates and
  postgraduates
• NOT available to some part-time students
  research council students some students on
  bursary places (e.g. NHS) international students.

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• The Needs Assessment (AoN, NA or SNA)
• Gives background and context to a students
  disability
• Makes recommendations around reasonable
  adjustments, including equipment, software and
  non-medical helper support
• Makes recommendations for the University,
  including adjustments to learning and teaching,
  exams and assessment
• Should be shared with anyone supporting or
  teaching the student (read Section F)
• Contains sensitive personal information

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• Applying for DSA
• Students should visit the Equality Service for
  forms and information about applying
• They will need to provide evidence (e.g. letter
  from GP, consultant. Post-16 Educational
  Psychologist report for dyslexia)
• The Leeds Assessment Centre provides a
  fully-accredited Needs Assessment service. Based
  in the Equality Service
• Process takes 2-3 months to complete

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• The role of support staff

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• How can I support disabled students in my
  department?
• General
• Create and foster a culture of inclusiveness
  celebrate diversity
• Encourage and support disclosure
• Include disability in induction
• Be anticipatory think about disability issues
  when planning events and activities creating
  printed literature planning exams or in-class
  testing
• Build disability into any planning exercises
• Use your Disability Contact or BE your
  Disability Contact!

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• How can I support disabled students in my
  department?
• Individual
• Ask the student! They are the expert on their
  disability.
• Treat disabled students as individuals dont
  make assumptions
• Take time to read the Needs Assessment Report if
  available and put recommendations into action
• Always go back to the learning outcomes when
  thinking about reasonable adjustments
• Be anticipatory (where possible)
• If in doubt, contact the Disability Team

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• How can I find out about disabled students in my
  department?
• Banner information (SWAMEDI)
• Through your Departmental Disability Contact
• Through students Needs Assessment Reports
• Through contact with the Equality Service

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• The Disability Team
• The Equality Service
• Ground floor, Social Sciences Building
• disability_at_leeds.ac.uk
• 0113 34 33927
• www.equality.leeds.ac.uk