Working with University Disability Services on Returning to School
If you’re returning to university after a long leave of absence, particularly one that involved being housebound due to a medical condition, here’s what you might face on your journey back into academia.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash: There is a white hand holding a pencil over a lined paper notepad, there are pencil shavings on the notepad. The notepad is on a wooden table.
1. Choosing the right time to contact the university
I spent January to April wondering when it would be the right time to inform the university that I would be returning for the next academic year. It turns out that May is a pretty decent month to get the ball rolling in. If you’re an international student who will need to apply for a new visa, don’t forget to take into consideration the time it will take the university to come up with a new CAS number for you to apply with.
2. Contacting your university disability service
As a new wheelchair user, I didn’t need accommodations when I had originally enrolled a few years ago so now I had the task of introducing myself and my situation to the university disability service.
Although I had heard plenty of horror stories from wronged souls on social media about how their university’s disability service was just another barrier in their struggle forward in education, I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to find that my university has a wonderful disability service team that arranged a meeting (online) with me very quickly to find out what kinds of accommodation I would need and how they might be able to assist me during my time at university.
3. Creating your care plan
After collecting some simple medical documentation that acknowledged my condition, we started working together on my care plan. It included everything from my vision to my mobility and mental health. I appreciated the systematic questions that ensured we covered all the necessary ground. Don’t worry if you feel like you haven’t been able to cover everything that you need or might need in the future, as most disabilities and chronic illnesses are dynamic in nature, there is room for changes or updates to the original care plan.
It only serves as a reference point for both you and other staff.
4. Working together often
In the short time before university began, I had a few meetings (spaced out over the months) with the disability team. It reminded me that this would be the team I would have to rely on and work together with for the next 2-3 years as I complete my degree. This is why the disability service is important. Not only are they your working partners for the next few years but they will be your first point of contact if you need extra support. Keeping the relationship healthy is a must.
5. Deciding on accommodations
If you have never needed accommodations before, it’s safe to say you won’t be sure of what kind of accommodations you would need.
It’s a trial and error process of what works and what doesn’t work. In my case, I knew I needed a place to rest between classes and highlighted it to my Disability Service Advisor who brought it up in later meetings (with her own supervisors) and found a room for me to rest in.
However, what I didn’t realize I needed were simple things like a tablet which was much lighter than my existing laptop. So in this way, the experience and guidance of the disability team was very useful in highlighting the right kinds of potential accommodation for myself.
6. Emotional support
Be prepared to be very tired even before starting university again. The amount of work that goes into rematriculating as a student and coordinating disability accommodations is almost like working a part-time job. If you’re an international student in the UK, you have the additional stress of looking for housing and handling visa applications before the school term starts.
All this can take a major toll on someone who has been mostly housebound and working on recovering to a decent ‘baseline’ through rest and careful management.
One of the things I really appreciated about the disability team was their interest in my housing situation. One of them pulled up a Google map, shared their screen, and “walked” me through the whole town to highlight what kind of flats to avoid, look out for and which areas are particularly hilly (and not suitable for wheelchairs).
It’s definitely a struggle to get back to university and I wouldn’t have felt confident that I would be welcomed back and supported if it weren’t for the stellar team on the university disability service. Returning to school is possible and I hope you’ll take the leap too with a fantastic team behind you.
Written by Selina