University challenge - how has the pandemic impacted disabled students?
We reached out to London School of Economics and Durham University for their response to some of the topics raised in this episode.
A Durham University spokesperson said:
“During her time at Durham University we worked with Amelia, both as a student, and in her role as a Sabbatical Officer for Durham Students’ Union, to understand and seek to address concerns that she raised.
Whilst respecting the experiences that Amelia has discussed, we are resolute that inclusivity is at the heart of our University and we are proud of the progress we have made.
We are deeply committed to ensuring that all our students have the best possible experience during their time at Durham and believe our high student retention rate, including those with disabilities, demonstrates this.
Nearly 20 per cent of our student body disclose a disability and staff across the University work hard to help ensure that adjustments are put in place to facilitate their engagement with academic studies and the wider student experience.
We have made, and continue to make, significant investments in our estate to improve access for all students, adopting high accessibility standards when designing both new buildings and the refurbishment of existing buildings.
We established an Access Review Team which incorporates students, disability support staff and estates staff who review and identify local infrastructure projects that make our campus more accessible for disabled students, staff and visitors.
Our dedicated Disability Support service provides information, advice and guidance to support prospective and current students with a wide range of disabilities, and to staff working with disabled students.
Most recently they have launched an interactive toolkit to help those with autism make a confident start at University and joined forces with a range of partners to establish a number of fully funded internships, with tailored support, for students and graduates with autism.
We have also made funding available to help students secure full diagnostic assessments for Dyslexia or Dyspraxia.”
More information on Durham University’s Disability Support service can be found at www.dur.ac.uk/disability.support
An LSE spokesperson said:
“We are grateful to Cassie for sharing her experiences. Clearly there is more for the School to do in terms of accessibility and support for our disabled students, which we will raise with our colleagues. We are heartened to hear what has worked well over the past year and will seek to build on this as we learn from our handling of the pandemic.”
Follow Disabled Students UK on Twitter: @ChangeDisabled
Visit Disabled Students UK's website: https://disabledstudents.co.uk/
Read the Disabled Students UK Covid-19 report: https://disabledstudents.co.uk/DSUK_Report_Update.pdf
Follow Cassie on Twitter and Instagram: @soapsub
Visit the Leonard Cheshire website: https://www.leonardcheshire.org/
Follow Leonard Cheshire on Twitter and Instagram: @LeonardCheshire
Get in touch with us: disabilitydownload@leonardcheshire.org
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