Hello
Hi, I'm Adam Hyland, Disabled Students' Officer and welcome to the Disabled Students' Campaign page. Here you'll find information, news and resources for students' union officers and staff. From August 2008, students will be gain campaign materials, ideas and information on their students' union from www.nus.org.uk.
Please email me if you have any questions or read my blog for my thoughts and ideas on the Campaign.
Staff contact: Kathleen Grehan, Liberation Research & Policy Officer
Latest convenor blogs
Register Now for the Disabled Students' Conference
Blogged by: Adam Hyland on 19/01/2010
Adam Hyland New Year Video Blog
NUS Disabled Students' Officer, Adam Hyland, talks about what is coming up in 2010.
Blogged by: Adam Hyland on 07/01/2010
Adam Hyland's Video Blog
Adam Hyland, NUS National Disabled Students' Officer, talks about what's coming up this year.
Blogged by: Adam Hyland on 21/10/2009
Extraodinary Conference protest - a response
Blogged by: Adam Hyland on 25/03/2009
Disabled Students' Awards
Added on 18/02/2010
At this year’s Disabled Students’ Conference, activists from around the UK will gather to discuss policy and determine our campaigns and elect a new Disabled Students’ Officer and committee.
We also want to celebrate those students’ unions and activists who have made a real difference to the lives of disabled students this year, in the biggest set of Disabled Students Awards ever.
This year we’ll have four categories:
- HE Union of the Year
- FE Union of the Year
- Campaigner of the Year
- Campaign of the Year
A fifth award, for Disabled Students’ Campaign committee member of the year will also be awarded, with prizes for each award.
The awards will be judged by a panel which includes the Disabled Students’ Officer, Adam Hyland, the NUS Vice President Welfare, Ben Whittaker, and two members of NUS staff.
We need you to nominate your candidates for the awards! You can nominate as many SUs or individuals for the awards as you wish. Just send us:
- The name of the SU or campaigner
- Whether they will be represented at the conference
- Your contact name and email
- A short statement (no more than 500 words) as to why your nominee should win the award
If you want to submit any supporting evidence feel free to do so.
Then send your nomination to kathleen.grehan@nus.org.uk by Friday 26 February.
Get nominating!
Register Now for the Disabled Students' Conference
Added on 19/01/2010
Hi all,
Very exciting news!
I am pleased to announce that you can now register delegates for Disabled Students' Conference. You can do this my clicking here.
The NUS Disabled Students’ campaign conference is the largest gathering of disabled students and their representatives in the UK.
The annual conference enables disabled students to network and socialise together in a safe, secure environment. It also sets the policy, priorities and direction of the NUS Disabled Students’ campaign in a democratic environment. The conference holds the disabled student representatives to account and elects new officers and committees to direct the work of the campaign over the year.
The event is free of charge for one disabled student representative from each Students’ Union in the UK. It is held at an accessible venue and this year will be from 1st to 3rd March 2010.
This year the campaign is determined to double its participation. It is so important for the campaigns voice to get bigger and build on its successes in recent years. Therefore I urge you to register 1 delegate and maybe 1 or 2 observers so your union and your disabled students have a voice at national level and can learn about campaigns that they can bring back to your union.
Thank you so much for your support.
Adam Hyland, NUS Disabled Students' Officer
Finding the way in FE
Added on 13/01/2010
NUS has released a report about Disabled students’ participation in further education. The aim of the report by the Disabled Students’ Campaign is to increase the number of disabled students in further education and to improve the experience of disabled students.
The report confirms that between 2001/02 and 2007/08 the number of disabled students in participating in further education was fairly stable. However, there is a problem with disabled students’ educational progression; most disabled students are on courses at level one and below while there are far fewer on higher level courses.
The findings match information from the Labour Force Survey published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In the UK there are high percentages of disabled students aged 16-24 who have, as their highest qualification attainment, level one or below, compared to non-disabled students.
The report also looks at those aged 16-24 not in education, employment and training (NEET). In 2006, disabled people are twice as likely to be in this group as non-disabled people! The people here are clearly not participating and might benefit from further education if the current provision were adapted to remove the barriers that at present put them off.
NUS Disabled Students’ Campaign believes that it is crucial that disabled people receive the support they need to succeed. We hope that this report will encourage efforts by government, institutions and students’ unions alike to enhance the experience of disabled students in further education.
Key findings from the investigation into the experience of disabled students in further education:
- Disabled people aged 16-24 experience inequality in the education system;
- While overall numbers of disabled students taking part in further education may be rising, in some parts of further education numbers are dropping significantly;
- Disabled students’ aspirations vary widely, but many still face barriers to their participation in further education; these barriers can harm students’ self-esteem and determination;
- Disabled students’ experiences – in certain situations it seems that further education, rather than ensuring disabled students to progress, appears to be acting as a form of social care, where the same students repeat courses year after year;
- Students on level two and three courses showed a different attitude to college life. While some students had few aspirations (other research confirms that this is prevalent among disabled students) others had high ambitions but had encountered many obstacles to their continued development and their experiences had shaped their aspirations. These barriers often made them feel isolated and powerless;
- As a result of their experiences, several focus group members said they would like to try to work to the difficulties removed so that future generations of disabled students did not have to undergo the same negative experiences; the oppression they had lived through had shaped their aspirations.
Action needed
We are calling on the Government, institutions and students unions to:
- identify two key areas as needing to be improved in further education are the complexity of student funding systems and the inconsistency of information, advice and guidance (IAG);
- recognise the needs of removing financial barriers and providing more positive IAG for disabled students in order to raise their aspirations and increase their participation at all levels of education;
- support for individual budgets for support, similar to Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) should be set up in further education. It should give individual students the right to control their funds;
- acknowledge that individual budgets should not be alternative to Additional Learning Support (ALS) (this fund goes directly to college for supporting disabled students’ learning needs) but rather a combination of the two should be established;
- adopt a holistic approach to disabled students’ lives. This would acknowledge that there is a need for funding to support the students’ wider college life, not just help with the course.
Related Links
Adam Hyland New Year Video Blog
Added on 07/01/2010
NUS Disabled Students' Officer, Adam Hyland, talks about what is coming up in 2010.
Adam Hyland's New Year Video Blog from NUSUK on Vimeo.
NUS Disabled Students' Officer, Adam Hyland, talks about what is coming up in 2010 (signed version).
Adam Hyland's New Year Video Blog (signed version) from NUSUK on Vimeo.
Disabled Students' Allowance survey
Added on 18/12/2009
If you receive a Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) in England or Wales, then DSA-QAG, a charity which works to monitor the quality of the DSA process, wants to hear from you.
QAG have been working on the development of an online Student Survey which will allow them to analyse the student perspective on the service provided by both Assessment Centres and suppliers of equipment. The survey can be undertaken at three separate stages which will allow you to feedback when you have completed each of the various stages in the DSA process:
- Once you have attended an assessment centre and had your Needs Assessment Report completed
- Once you have had their DSA hardware delivered and installed
- If you have needed to report a fault with your DSA hardware
DSA-QAG has engaged with Assessment Centres, suppliers, external bodies and students in developing this survey and it has now been launched.
Each stage of the survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and the information will be used to identify improvements in the system.
The survey can be accessed here.
If you are an officer or staff member in a students' union, please promote this to your disabled students.
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Confused about RSS? Here's the BBC's handy explanation.
Frequently read
Latest Disabled Students' Campaign press
Read more press releases in the press releases section...
Disabled Students' Resources
Disabled Students' Handbook
To help you get the most out of your time as a students' officer, we've created the Disabled Students' Handbook. This simple guide contains advice from other officers, key contacts and general information for your campaigns and day-to-day life in the students' movement.
A day in the life of a disabled student
Our series designed to give you a better understanding of disabled students’ lives.
Liberation in Every Union
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