As we approach the end of UK Disability History Month, we are provided with an opportunity to reflect upon the significance of this event, not simply in terms of our own attitudes to disability and disablement, but in relation to our personal and professional obligations towards disabled students, as well as disabled colleagues, friends and family.  

Disability History Month reminds us that disablement is not something that exists solely within the body or mind of the individual, but is a collective cultural process of social exclusion, marginalisation and attitudinal discrimination that perpetuates erroneous notions about disabled people’s ability to participate in a full range of life activities.  

With this in mind, I feel now would be an excellent time to focus on how we as an institution can fully support the needs of disabled students.

Firstly, what disability support is not is an exclusively specialist area of expertise. To adopt the default position that supporting disabled individuals is something best left to appropriately qualified specialists does rather reinforce the idea that disabled people cannot rely upon the assistance of non-disability specialists.  

A point I have made previously is that while our legal requirements under the Equality Act oblige us to put in place what are known as ‘reasonable adjustments’ to overcome any environmental barriers to inclusion, we often overlook the fact that these adjustments not only can benefit disabled students but can be of benefit for all students.  Yet, while adjustments such as lecture materials being made available on the virtual learning environment (VLE) or access to academic support may have broader benefits, we must still acknowledge the importance of how disabled students contribute to our diverse community.

For this reason, colleagues across Disability Services and I have worked to reconceptualise how we approach the idea of support.  As colleagues and students might have already noticed, we recently changed the old Learning Support Plans (LSPs) to Student Inclusion Plans.  On the face of it, there is not much to separate the two documents in terms of substance and content; but there are nonetheless some crucial differences, not least the option for students to choose to include their own voice within the documents, and by extension within their support.  

The importance of this new feature is to emphasise that for some disabled students they are more than the sum of their diagnoses, and that their lived experiences can be understood beyond the range of adjustments we put in place. The importance here is to remind ourselves that for some students it is equally as important to hear their voice as it is to understand merely what they may need. Staff and students should have the confidence to discuss disability and disablement in a genuinely inclusive and collegiate environment.

Going forward, we aim to use this feature of the inclusion plans more prominently, not only as a means for students to feel connected to the Leeds Trinity University community, but also as a means for us all to realise that what is required of us at a basic level is simply a commitment to be a disability ally.  Here an ally is someone who may not possess a comprehensive understanding of all disability related issues, but certainly is someone who comprehends their own responsibilities towards inclusion.

Dr Stephen Campbell is Disability Service Manager in Leeds Trinity University’s Student Support and Engagement Team.