What about the university disability support person at Massey University?
I was given support from a woman who had many roles. One aspect of her job was working as in Disability Support. She was amazing, however I was studying Design, majoring in photography, so she didn't have many supports to offer. She took on more of a councilor role for me, ensuring I was coping emotionally with university.
Disability Support: "Disability Services strives to provide a flexible and responsive service
that is focused on a student’s individual needs. This involves
identifying how a health or disability issue is making study more
difficult, and how Massey University can accommodate students so they
can focus on their chosen course of study". The services listed are equipment loan, vision and hearing impaired support, assistance in lectures, note taking and assistance in exams.
None of these services listed were of any assistance with a design degree. We don't sit exams, have lectures, and there is no room for equipment in a photography dark room.
Massey University disability support services:
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/student-life/services-and-resources/disability-services/disability-services_home.cfm
I really enjoyed reading this Rach, there is something really exciting about reading about other people's passions! I know so little about OT but I have a big mouth so here goes!
ReplyDeleteTo start with an example, our Uni scopes Deaf students as disabled ones, yet the Uni is home to the only NZ Deaf studies Research Unit (internationally recognised & acclaimed) and it feels like a real paradox.
What if you got to restructure University support services so that it had less to do with a narrowish scope of 'disability' and more about student achievement? If marks can be scaled to ensure X% of people pass a course, I'm pretty sure Uni's could be more open-minded about their pastoral support!