World Disability Day 2011

Here's a blog that I've written as part of the World Disability Day coverage on the university website I work for. It's about my personal experiences as a disabled student studying in university. Hope you like it.

As a student, you become accustomed to all that university life has to offer: Your course, meeting new people, hardcore partying and living away from home. However, as a student with a disability, it can seem all the more daunting.

I started at LJMU in 2009 on the Journalism degree course.  I have the physical disability Cerebral Palsy which means that I use an electric wheelchair and I stammer. Despite having these impairments, I am one of those people who does not see them as an issue, contrary to what others might think.
In my first year, I really did try and relish the university experience. I had to adjust to life as independent adult, which was difficult at first, because as well as meeting new flatmates, I needed to arrange a personal assistant (which isn’t as glamorous as it sounds!) to help with my physical needs whilst in halls. Once all that was in place, however, I was ready to make some friends and get stuck into my course.

Socialising was one of the main things I was looking
forward to at university. Although, for us, it can seem
harder to approach people and make those connections.
No matter what your impairment, you need to be the one to
participate and actively involve yourself in forming
friendships just like anybody else. 

The fruits of my efforts have produced a great, close- knit
group of mates, every one of which I’m happy to say are
genuine friends.

Before university began, I undertook a Needs Assessment
which meant that I would be allocated the relevant required
support. I was given support workers, who assisted me
physically and who acted as notetakers in lectures and
seminars if I needed them and I received mentoring,
which I use even now, to talk through any anxieties I have
about my course.
 
If I had any additional issues, the Journalism department
was fantastic and very supportive of me, this positive
attitude, I think, is something that can be applied across
the university. Failing this,  the Disability Co-ordinator
(DiSCo) was on hand to help. I even started to contribute
to the JMU Journalism website and my efforts were
recognised by Editorial Director John Mathews, who
appointed me as an Entertainment Reporter.
 
I made the decision to transfer to English at the end of my
first year. It was a difficult choice to make but I knew
personally that it was the right one. I’m now in my second
year and loving it. One of the reasons, I think, I chose to switch, was due to my disability, particularly my stammer and the fact that it was difficult to conduct interviews because of it.
Still, I am pursuing my journalistic ambitions even though I’ve left, as my one-year experience left me with a taste of what I could be. I am gaining work placements, such as the Liverpool Echo, next February.

I have continued my role as a reporter on the site because of the team and the invaluable experience it provides. I’m doing this in the hope of doing a postgraduate diploma in Journalism with a view of becoming an established entertainment journalist.

All in all, I think being a disabled student in university is what you make of it. I think what this experience teaches is that it doesn’t matter what your disability is, if you work hard then you can achieve what you set your mind to.

Another lesson I have learnt is that rather than trying to lessen the issue, it is important to be able to become more self-aware. Because, after all, you do have a disability so make sure you get the support that you are entitled to.

And most of all, enjoy it.  As I know I have!