Experiences of disability
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Every student has an individual experience of study at university. However, we can all learn from individual and collective accounts.
A person's experience of disability is derived from a patchwork of experiences which may include
- upbringing
- cultural, social and religious background
- previous experiences of education
- previous life experiences
- personality
- experience of discrimination
- the onset of the impairment
- whether or not the impairment is progressive.
So even though two people may have a similar type and level of impairment it is most unlikely that they will have the same experience of disability. It is also misleading to assume that if you have had a student with a particular impairment on your course and you and they have used certain strategies and approaches to support learning, these will be right for another student with a similar impairment.
It is extremely difficult to gain even a general awareness of what it's like to live with a disability. The following sections attempt to provide an insight into the experience of living and studying with an impairment. They also include information on medical and common terms which you may very well come across.
The BBC's Ouch diary covers the experience of four students in their first weeks at university.