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10 years later: disabled student to disabled employee
Tomorrow, I’ll have been writing this blog for 10 years… My blog, life as a cerebral palsy student, was set up during my GCSE’s. As the name suggests, I wrote about my experiences as a disabled student. Yet I could not have predicted how much my blog would influence my employment opportunities 10 years later.
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What is it like being a disabled student?
When I was in high school, I used to wobble around the corridors using a walking stick or a wheelchair. I throughly enjoyed education, yet it certainly isn’t easy as a disabled student. Admittedly, it’s been a few years since I was a student, but accessible education was a core focus when I started my blog. Before I graduated university, my blog was called ’Life as a Cerebral Palsy student’. A few weeks ago I gave a keynote talk to 1600 high school staff members about my experiences of being a disabled student. I hope that sharing an edited version of that talk will useful for other teachers and disabled…
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Can an iPad Pro replace your laptop if you’re a blogger?
After having a MacBook Air for over 5 years, it unfortunately started to slow down. I had used it to get through A-Levels and my degree, with it been used all day every day. Not only that, it had seen me through the majority of my blogging journey. Deciding on a replacement really did take a lot of contemplation. I had a work laptop and whatever I bought would be used primarily for blog writing and associated tasks that come with being a blogger and freelance writer.
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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.
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Managing university as a disabled student
This will be the first academic year where I won't be in education and in all honesty that is so bizarre! I never have taken a gap year and went from GCSE's, to A-Levels, to university. With graduation feeling like it was far too long ago, I thought I'd attempt to part some words of wisdom.
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Preparing for university as a disabled student
Oh how I remember this time well! I actually graduated on Wednesday, but preparing for the whole thing only seems like yesterday. University was such an unknown step, even if it was a step I knew I wanted to take. My health at the time was far from ideal and I think this just added to the stress of going to university in the first place. However, after completing university I reflected on the whole process and it was actually the initial organisation that proved the most unknown. So here are my top tip: What type of university is the best? Universities can come in all shapes and sizes, but…
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Here’s why we should employ disabled people
Finding employment can be a challenge for most people, and if you have a disability this can be made even more difficult! Scope's campaign #WorkWithMe, which is in collaboration with Virgin Media, has been about highlighting that disabled people are twice as likely to be unemployed when compared to non-disabled people and that this simply cannot carry on! They encourage employers to make a pledge and demonstrate their commitment to thinking and acting differently about disability in the workplace...
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Not so superhuman now!
I feel like it has been a lifetime since I have done a life update, probably because they don’t seem to do as well. However, that is what you are getting today! I am somehow in my final year of university and the first semester is coming to an end. Not to mention it’s nearly Christmas! Over the years I have been asked: How do you do it all? How do you manage to write a blog and study? However, I am no super human, I have no magic wand and I am yet to freeze time. I have written this blog for five and a half years, if you…
