Are needs being fully met for disabled students?

At the end of January, I was absolutely delighted to be awarded a British Education Award. After many years of hard work and writing about the issues that disabled students face, this really was the icing on the cake! Yet that got me thinking, are the needs of disabled students been fully met? Despite my own mainly positive experiences, I appreciate this is not the norm.

Education is fundamental

Education is something many of us take for granted. We start around the age of five and are set free when we reach eighteen. For people like myself who choose to study Higher Education, my journey has only just come to an end. I studied Psychology and Child Development, and seriously considered a Masters in Journalism. But what if your disability significantly impacts your education?

For the most part, a disability should not stop us from achieving academically. However, a lack of support within education can be detrimental to our progress. With education being compulsory for the most part, it can be worrying when individual needs are not met.

Education can open up the world of employment, something that disabled people already can struggle to gain. This isn’t due to their lack of capability, but barriers and public attitudes. It’s okay if a disabled person isn’t able to pursue education or employment. Yet, taking that choice away from them isn’t acceptable.

My experiences of education

For myself, I’ve been lucky with the support I have received. I have mild Cerebral Palsy and when I started my GCSE’s I used to type my work on an iPad. This meant I could keep up with note-taking. I also was allowed to take pictures of the board to reduce the amount of typing. Most of the time this worked, yet I always felt it wasn’t the same experience as everyone else. 

I’ve always been given extra time in exams, had notes sent to me before a lecture and a classroom I could physically access. Conversely, I know others who have to fight just to be able to attend a mainstream school. With the battle to get support within the classroom being an added struggle. They are having to fight for something that they are capable of doing if correct provision is given. 

Not only that, we need to stop relying on those few members of staff who believe in our abilities. Disabled people often have to rely on the kindness of staff who go out of their way to provide accessibility. In 2020, this needs to become the norm. I always was so grateful to receive PowerPoints in advanced, have textbooks enlarged or to get an extensions for health reasons. I am entitled to these adjustments, yet it’s still a novelty.

Is the support enough?

Adjustments have allowed me to achieve highly throughout my educational journey. However, the extra hours I regularly put in should not go unnoticed. Disabled people often have to work 10 times harder to get grades, even when adequate support is in place. I believe this is often misunderstood as us being incapable. It may take me longer to process information, read documents or type out an assignment, but results are often on par with my peers. Despite this being a regular occurrence, nothing is being done about it.

Education is amazing and a disability should not stop someone from studying. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to understand the complexity of individual needs. We need to get rid of the notion that a support plan places us on a level playing field to our peers. These support plans can be wonderful and allow us entry to classroom, but do they account for what is going on behind the scenes?

There is often a lack of flexibility within the rigid structure of education. I believe this hinders and fails many disabled people. Our lives have to be flexible to account for health needs, but society doesn’t account for that. Reasonable adjustments currently aren’t enough, along with funding cuts, is it even surprising that disabled people are less likely to pursue Higher Education?

If you’re finding it difficult to manage education, please speak up and get the support you are fully entitled to!

~ Chloe x