Support for students with disabilities in the UK universities

Natalia Lukianova,Elena Fell

doi:10.1051/shsconf/20162801066

Natalia Lukianova, Elena Fell

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20162801066

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Abstract

This paper examines the current status of higher education provision for disabled students in the UK universities. Commenting on the dynamics of relevant legislation in the Introduction, the authors survey the types of support that disabled students are entitled to in accordance with the Equality Act, 2010, comprising important pieces of legislation that redefine the role of a disabled person in the British society. The article touches on the financial support that disabled students receive in Britain, namely a Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), giving figures for the academic year 2016-17. Peer relations between ablebodied and disabled students are also discussed.

Highlights

Against discrimination in universities.As Riddell et al note, ‘prior to 1993, higher education was largely inaccessible to disabled people and any adjustments made were at the good will of staff and students [1].In a small number of universities personal assistants and volunteers were available for students with various disabilities, but these initiatives were ‘the exception rather than the rule, and the general assumption was that university was not the place for disabled people [1].The situation changed in 1993 with the creation of Skill, a voluntary organisation promoting access to higher education for disabled people
Disability Discrimination Act 1995[2], which placed responsibility on universities to create an inclusive environment for disabled students, was another important step forward for the inclusion of disabled people in higher education
Despite efforts that university staff are expected to make in order to make disabled students feel included, reality can be different

Summary

Introduction

Whilst Reinders (Reinders, 2008) presents friendship between able bodied and disabled persons not as an equal and mutually beneficial exchange but almost as an act of charity directed towards the disabled, De Boer, Pijl, Post, & Minnaert (De Boer, Pijl, Post, & Minnaert, 2013) offer a view of disability as abnormality that can be partially remedied by friendship with normal, healthy people To counteract this condescending attitude toward disabled people, Castrodale and Zingaro explore ‘friendship as an analytic lens to unpack the nexus of able-bodied and disability-related experiences between friends in university settings...seeking definitions of friendship that acknowledge the mutual benefits afforded by friendship’[13]. Friendship between disabled and able-bodied individuals can serve as a platform for a wider social disability-related engagement leading to ‘disability-related equity politics, advocacy, and activism to reject understandings of disability as a personal tragedy and resist related practices limiting the full societal participation/inclusion of disabled persons.’ (Castrodale and Zingaro 2015) [13]

Conclusion

Code of Practice