Worryingly few disabled students are aware of the funding and support available to them. This needs to change
Thu 24 Jan 2019 07.00 GMT
Just two in five disabled students at university know that there is targeted funding available for them before starting their course, according to a recent government survey. This is worrying news: Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) provide vital support for many disabled students, by contributing to costs such as computer equipment or non-medical helpers support. As a visually impaired person with a mental health condition, I know how important they are first-hand. If I had faced studying without my DSAs, I simply wouldn’t have got through my course.
Even with support, I struggled in those first critical weeks of student life. I would be unable to navigate my way around campus, or find myself asking disability services why a note-taker hadn’t been available for my lectures that day.
Getting the right support in place took a lot of work, phone calls and appointments in the months before I got my A-level results. This meant that when I arrived at university I had a mental health mentor, funded through DSAs, who I’d chat with over coffee about my anxieties. She, along with my personal tutor, lecturers, disability staff and NHS mental health support, was there to talk through the challenges I faced as a disabled student.
In my second year I started a group for disabled students in the students’ union, where we shared our experiences of the barriers we faced, from unmarked steps to inflexible assignments. This reinforced the importance of the motto for the disabled people’s movement: “nothing about us without us.” A good example of this approach is the University of Greenwich’s student-led disability programmes; according to the team coordinator, Melanie Thorley, lots of prospective disabled students apply to Greenwich because of their effectiveness.
Working in disability teams at different universities has shown me how few students are prepared to manage their disability independently. Many expect their college to have passed on information about their condition to their university. This isn’t necessarily their fault. The problem is that too few schools and colleges teach young people how to manage their own support at university, and the importance of getting in touch early. If more prospective students were encouraged to apply for DSAs during their Ucas application, more would know about it – and more could be sure that support would be in place for them when they start their degrees.
This encouragement would also send the message that university is as much for disabled students as anyone else. I know it did for myself and many others. Indeed, the recent government survey found that 42% of disabled students who knew about DSAs prior to applying agreed that this influenced their decision to go into higher education.
Inclusivity should be embedded in everything universities do, from booking a wheelchair accessible venue for open day sessions to having knowledgeable staff readily available to talk to prospective disabled students about support. Perhaps most important is acknowledging that the first weeks at university are crucial to ensuring students’ support is properly in place.
For me, going to university was a wonderful lesson in independence while having the safety nets of the institution. Support from before the first day will help disabled people choose higher education and continue to thrive throughout their studies.
Caroline Butterwick is a postgraduate student
