Equality Service
Supporting disabled students
Harriet Cannon
Equality Service
h.a.cannon@adm.leeds.ac.uk
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
What is ‘disability’?
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
Activity
•Back pain
•Depression
•Dyslexia
•Broken limbs
•Colour blindness
•Inflammatory bowel disease
•HIV
•Glandular fever
•Acne
•Cancer
•Asthma
•Autism
•Meningitis
•Stress
•Repetitive strain injury
•Addiction
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
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’
Equality Service
What is ‘accessibility’?
What is ‘inclusion’?
Equality Service
Activity
• What does the term ‘accessibility’ mean?
• What does the term ‘inclusion’ mean?
Equality Service
‘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)
Equality Service
‘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
Equality Service
Disability and the Law
Equality Service
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’
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
Support for disabled students at
the University of Leeds
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
University
Equality Service
Student
Services
Student
Counselling
Centre
Accommodation
Office
Exams Office
Admissions
International
Student Office /
Study Abroad
Research
Student
Administration
Faculties &
Schools
Libraries
Departmental
Disability
Contacts
Skills@Library
Estates
How does the University support
disabled students?
Equality Service
How does the Equality Service support disabled students?
Equality
Service
Disability
Team
Support
Worker Team
Mental
Health Team
Transcription
Centre
Assessment
Centre
Equality Service
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 .
Equality Service
The Needs Assessment (AoN, NA or SNA)
• Gives background and context to a student’s 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
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
The role of support staff
Equality Service
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!
Equality Service
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 – don’t 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
Equality Service
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
Equality Service
The Disability Team
The Equality Service
Ground floor, Social Sciences Building
disability@leeds.ac.uk
0113 34 33927
www.equality.leeds.ac.uk