[senco-forum] Disability Equality Policy

As a wheechair user - I used to visit a particular primary school

Brendan, I can accord with what you experienced from your local NUT
secretary. Back in 2001 when I was unfairly ejected from my ITT
(Initial Teacher Training) course for failing to complete an
assignment on-time less than two weeks before my disability assessment
I turned to my union the NASUWT for help. However I quickly discovered
the 'expert' official I was referred to was also wholly wedded the the
prevailing institutionalised professional culture of prejudice against
supporting disabled people joining or working within the teaching
profession.

While he sympathised with my plight the only advice he could give me
was grovel and plead for them to take me back. It was obvious he
regarded the reason I was unable to complete my assignment on time --
a consequence of my disability -- was irrelevant. Fortunately I chose
to ignore his advice and made an official appeal against this decision
without Union support ...and duly won reinstatement back on my course!

Not that this attitude of discrimination had changed much on my return
-- although my 'program manager' bless his heart thereafter went out
of his way to support and advocate for me as best he could within the
limited realm over which he had influence. As for the course
moderators from the University of Roehampton -- mine was a SCITT
(School Centred Initial Teacher Training) course, they were just as
prejudiced a consequence of being completely touch of the real needs
of the disabled.

For example; as recommended by my disability assessment I was provided
with a 'voice recorder' supplied through my Disabled Student's
Allowance for the purpose of facilitating note-taking during lectures
and long meetings. However when I met with the course moderators and
took out this piece of equipment they refused to let me use it. After
much protest they finally conceded that I could, but only provided I
supplied them with a full written transcript shortly thereafter.

Now as I'm sure you can appreciate preparing a word-for-word accurate
written transcript takes at around ten times as long to complete
compare with the length of the original recording. Well given our
meeting ended up lasting a full hour I felt this was both wholly
unreasonable and highly discriminatory, especially given they knew
were by that time well aware I'm somewhat dyslexic. So I simply
ignored this request. Bad move, as later my failure to come up with
this written transcript was constantly harped back to.

Furthermore these moderators were simply not prepared to wait until
after the full provision specified in my disability assessment had
been in place and insisted I must complete all my outstanding
assignments without waiting for this and all future assignments must
also be completed on time. As far as they were concerned their
artificially concocted wholly academic student requirements took
absolute priority over everything, including my disability needs. Not
surprisingly it soon became clear I'd probably never be permitted to
qualify as a teacher and I was left with no option but to withdraw
from my course.

From my experienced the more senior the school staff then usually the
worse their prejudice or rather their lack of willingness to meet the
real-world needs of disabled staff and to a lesser extent the needs of
their disabled students. Far easier to declare someone 'simply not
suited to working in education'. Fortunately those at the peek of the
teaching profession, for example at the TDA (Teaching Development
Agency), seem to have a far more enlightened attitude towards those
who are disabled. Indeed after resigning from my ITT course I wrote to
the chief executive of the then TTA (Teacher Training Agency) who
enquired in some detail into what had happened to me and then
responded by sending what I interpret as to all intents and purposes a
letter apology ...without of course admitting liability, which is fair
enough given teacher training providers are pretty autonomous in the
way they provide their services. What he also did was encourage me not
to give up on the teacher profession, which did much to keep me
involved in education including on lists such as this.

David Bowles

PS: Does your school provide you with on-site staff parking? If so
then what proportion of these spaces (if any) are reserved for
disabled staff?

> As a wheechair user - I used to visit a particular primary school
> for NUT meetings (I was an NUT rep). It had a disabled persons loo
> -- but when I asked to use it they weren't to keen...