1. Developing a balanced model of support for students with disabilities in Higher Education
Rachel Hewett, Birmingham Fellow, Vision Impairment Centre for Teaching and Research (VICTAR), University of Birmingham, UK

2. Overview of presentation
UK context
The Longitudinal Transitions Study – young people with vision impairment
Bioecological Model of Inclusive Higher Education
A balanced model of support
Conclusions

3. 1. UK Context: recent history
UK Equality Act 2010
States that education providers should make appropriate adjustments for students with disabilities to ensure that they are not at a disadvantage when compared to their non-disabled peers.
Requires providers to make reasonable adjustments
HE providers should, to the best of their ability, consider in advance the barriers that a student is likely to face and make anticipatory adjustments for them.

4. 1. UK Context: recent history
Disabled Student Allowance
Funds specialist equipment, non-medical support, transport
Previously based around medical model of support – adjustments on an individual basis
Reformed in 2016 – emphasis changed to HE providers
Promoting movement in sector towards a social model of support
Figure 2: Categories of support for Disabled Student Allowance – 2015/16
Category of support
Examples of what each support category covers for students with VI
Maximum allowance
Specialist equipment
Laptops with screen readers, low vision aids, electronic refreshable braille devices
£5,212 for the whole course
Non-medical helper
Note-takers, mobility training, assistance in practical sessions
£20,725 a year
General
Photocopying allowance, printer cartridges, printer paper
£1,741 a year

5. Individual reasonable adjustments
DSA
Individual reasonable adjustments
Inclusive learning environment
Figure 1: A model for supporting disabled students in HE, reproduced from DfE (2017)

6. Typical support system in UK
Student identified as disabled through declaration on application form
Student invited to meet with HE disability support office to develop support plan
Content of support plan shared with other relevant departments
Model focused on the individual, rather than an institution as a whole
Specialist support provided though Disabled Student Allowance

7. The challenge to institutions moving forward
Individual reasonable adjustments
Role of the learner
Inclusive design

8. 2. Longitudinal Transitions Project
Post-16 transition experience of YP with vision impairment
Background: In 2010 we recruited 82 young people:
aged years (now 20-23)
supported by service for their vision impairment
‘independently complete a questionnaire’
60 participants are still involved
Interviewed approx. twice a year
plus case studies in relation to different ‘pathways’
Findings can be found:

9. Background to the project
INDEPENDENT LIVING
ENABLERS
LABOUR MARKET – EMPLOYMENT VS NEET
COMPULSORY EDUCATION
????
FULFILLING POTENTIAL
BARRIERS

10. Data collected on HE
Interviews > participants who transitioned into HE at key time points
Initial application
Application for Disabled Student Allowance
Initial transition
End of first year
Case study work with 6 participants & key people providing support
Family
Disability Support Officers
Welfare tutors
Pre-dated HE reforms

11. Research Questions
Understand what the experiences were of these young people in HE?
Fulfilling potential
Able to embrace full HE experience?
How prepared were the YP for HE?
How prepared were the HE institutions to receive them?
How independent a learning experience did the YP have?

12. Key Finding
Extremely complex support systems, large number of factors impacting upon student experiences:
Society
Institution
Department

13. UK context: complex support systems
Support plan communicated to department
Apply through central system – declare disability
HE provider receives notification of declaration – contacts student
HE institution and student develop support plan facilitated by DSA
Support staff employed
Triggers invitation to apply for Disabled Student Allowance
Student attends assessment meeting with qualified assessor
Support package approved
Equipment purchase

14. 3. Bioecological Model of Inclusive Higher Education – applying Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development
How inclusive is Higher Education for students with vision impairment?

15. Macrosystem: broader society
POLICIES
SOCIETAL PERCEPTIONS
FUNDING

16. Macrosystem Disabled Students Allowance Equality Act (2010)
Important legislation
Providing opportunities for students with disabilities – all participants believe HE realistic aspirations
University staff have a limited understanding of the Equality Act and their responsibility to make anticipatory adjustments
Disabled Students Allowance
Reforms require HE institutions to develop inclusive learning environments
Perceptions
Lower expectations of students with disabilities

17. Exosystem: the wider institution
MACROSYSTEM
EXOSYSTEM
FUNDING
INCLUSION POLICIES

18. Expectation, but limited resource to facilitate
Positive: Advice widely circulated on how to make reasonable adjustments
Negative: Limited staff resource to support inclusion policies
“You talk to most staff and they would say ‘yeah, yeah, of course we want to support’, but they are busy, and they don’t like to be told that they have to do a lot of extra work” (Welfare tutor, elite-institution)
Inclusion not at the core
“I think it would be the Pro-Vice Chancellor setting up a team of people, to ensure that the university is fully accessible to anybody, whatever their disability…Everything that is done, is done with accessibility in mind.” (DS officer, Pre-1992 university)

19. Micro and mesosystem: immediate to the learner
MACROSYSTEM
MICROSYSTEM
EXOSYSTEM
DEPT. & LECTURES
SUPPORT STAFF
DSA
PEERS
CURRICULUM & ASSESSMENT
DSO
UCAS
SUPPLIERS
INFRASTRUCTURE

20. Positive: YP believe HE to be a realistic aspiration Negative:
Admissions
Positive: YP believe HE to be a realistic aspiration
Negative:
Students course choices influenced by disability
Inaccessible application process
“It’s not a very accessible. All the forms and stuff we get sent out in print. That was a bit frustrating. We didn’t get copies of anything, and I wasn’t able to fill it out myself, so I had to have someone else do it for me or with me, so that was frustrating…” (Blind, Screen-reader user)

21. Infrastructure
Positive: students facilitated by standard methods of curriculum delivery – e.g. lecture notes in advance of lectures, accessible e- libraries
“It just meant that I could… when we were sat in the lecture if I couldn’t get close to the front, I didn’t have to be sat close to the front, I could sit wherever I liked and could keep up with what was being said. That was quite beneficial […] A lot of people took laptops to lectures as well, so it wasn’t like in school where you are the only one, it’s just normal at uni” (Partially Sighted, Post-1992 institution).
Negative: inaccessible virtual learning environments, inaccessible documentation

22. Individual reasonable adjustments
Examples of where not possible to make adjustments simply through inclusive practice > individual reasonable adjustments required
E.g. Support in practical sessions
E.g. Mobility training
However, adjustments often reactionary rather than anticipatory, leading to negative outcomes for students:
E.g. Delays in receiving accessible copies of key text mean unable to participate in lectures
E.g. Delays compensated through extensions, which impacted on rest of academic year

23. Importance of partnerships
Positive: student, department and disability office meeting together to discuss solutions
Positive: student, external agency and HE provider working together to identify suitable support assistant
Positive: forward planning – e.g. mobility support arranged in advance so student able to get around independently at start of academic year
Negative: staff meeting to discuss student support needs and not inviting student to attend
Negative: student not informing staff when facing problems

24. “Progressive mutual accommodations”
Need for mutual accommodation > learning together, working in partnership
A time for growth
“I was much happier because I knew my way around better, and myself and my library assistant had a routine going for getting books done on time, and getting things managed in that way. I think as well, I understood what I needed a lot better. So at the beginning of the year I met with all my new tutors and went to talk to them about what I needed and stuff like that” (Blind, Post-1992 institution)

25. The learner and the chronosystem
MACROSYSTEM
LEARNER
EXOSYSTEM
MICROSYSTEM
Chronosystem

26. The Learner
Learner needs to be prepared for their new environment > drawing upon skills developed and previous experiences
Limited specialist guidance to prepare for HE
Not always got the necessary skills in place, e.g.
Self advocacy
Mobility
Access to information

27. Importance of preparation: ecological transitions

28. 4. A balanced model of support
How does all this fit together?
Individual reasonable adjustments
Role of the learner
Inclusive design

29. 4. What is a balanced model of support?
Inclusive design – at the heart of the institution, barriers addressed through inclusive practice
Individual reasonable adjustments – where necessary institutions make adjustments to meet individual needs
Agency – where the individual makes their own adjustments, drawing upon (and developing) their existing skillset
Progressive mutual accommodations – institution and learner work together to develop a working partnership which allows students to be as independent as possible

30. Putting the model into practice
Example access issue
Inclusive learning environment
Individual reasonable adjustments
Agency of learner
Accessing lectures
Lecture notes made available to all students in advance of lectures in an accessible format
Providing written descriptions for diagrams and other visual content
Student has skills to use specialist equipment such as magnification software or screen readers. Accesses notes in advance
Accessing reading material
Providing reading lists in advance of modules starting
Provision of a library assistant for independent research
Student works with library assistant, directing them to identify texts that they wish to be converted into an accessible format
Accessing university environment
Providing an accessible campus environment with tactile paving and clear signage
Arranging teaching timetable to minimise the number of rooms that the student will need to navigate between
Student applies mobility skills to learn routes to get around environment independently

31. A balanced model of support: case study
“Erika” severely sight impaired, reads through braille and speech software. Studying Arts based course requiring large volumes of reading.
Challenge: obtaining accessible texts
Inclusive practice: accessible library systems, purchase ebooks, reading lists in sufficient time to obtain alternative formats of texts
Individual adjustments: library support for research
Progressive mutual accommodations: student learning to work with research support assistant to become independent scholar

32. 5. Conclusions
Inclusion needs to be at the core of institution policy > change led from the top
Inclusive practice will need to be facilitated by appropriate individual reasonable adjustments
Any reasonable adjustments should be anticipatory, rather than reactionary
Focus should always be on enabling student to be as independent as possible
Vital to consider the role of the learner > institution and student working together through progressive mutual accommodations
This begins before HE > students need to be appropriately resourced with skills prior to entry into HE, and also prepared to develop new skills

34. Contact details
Rachel VICTAR website: VICTAR blog:

35. References
Bronfenbrenner, Urie The ecology of human development: Experiments in nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, Urie (Ed.) Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Gov.UK “Inclusive Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as a route to Excellence.” Department for Education. Available at: and-learning-in-higher-education Accessed on 3rd April 2017.

36. References
Hewett, Rachel, Sue Keil, and Graeme Douglas. 2015a. “Experiences of blind and partially sighted young people as they make the transition into Higher Education”. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham. Available at: earch/longitudinal-transitions-study/index.aspx
Hewett, Rachel, Graeme Douglas, Mike McLinden, and Sue Keil “Developing an inclusive learning environment for students in higher education: progressive mutual accommodation and learning experiences in the United Kingdom.” European Journal of Special Needs Education. 32 (1): doi: