How do we support disabled students?

It comes in a range of practical and administrative things. I tend to think of it first of all as can we get exam adjustments in place?

The second is where are students at with their Disabled Students' Allowance applications, and is there anything we can do to ease that process?

And the third is then putting all of that together in a Student Support Plan. And once we've got those three wings together, it's then about implementing that, adjusting it, supporting the students in managing with it, and putting the bigger infrastructure around making those three wings actually work.

The process for putting reasonable adjustments in place at Oxford is highly collaborative I would say. So the Disability Advisory Service (DAS) is just part of a wider network of staff who are really dedicated to make sure that adjustments and support are in place for students. So we work with colleagues in colleges and departments, in Disability Coordinator and Lead roles, and colleagues in other central university services such as exams and assessments.

In my role as a tutor, lecturer and supervisor of students, I support disabled students. When students have declared a disability and had a Student Support Plan put in place, it's my role to ensure that all the academic aspects of that support plan - the adjustments, the needs that it mentions, are implemented to enable equitable learning for the students.

Your tutors are aware of the situation and they're sensitive and they've been told how to help. It's just less intimidating. My work is just of a higher standard because of it.

I work with colleagues within Estate Services to implement reasonable adjustments to make sure our buildings are accessible for disabled students. There's also the proactive side, which is that in my own teaching practice, my own communications with students, to make sure that I'm being as inclusive and accessible as possible so that I'm meeting the needs not only of students who've declared a disability, but those who haven't, or those who may have support needs they're not yet aware of.

We keep very open communication with colleges and departments. They all have their own disability coordinator that we're in contact with. Being a DAS advisor, you sort of feel like you're the central hub of all these different parties and maintaining clear communication is really important.

Every student is an individual, so it's particularly important that as tutors, we keep listening to our students as to how their needs may change in the course of their studies, or for instance, how their needs as a postgraduate might be different from when they were an undergraduate.

We take care of each other in college and that's just so, so lovely. And it's not just like you have to be super best friends with everyone.
It's like a community. It's like just the people you surround yourself with and that you care for. And I think that the wonderful thing about the college system at Oxford is it really encourages that.

My advice would definitely be like, I reach out to someone. There's lots of people that are very happy to help speak to the Disability Advisory Service because like, they're the expert.