Mobility Difficulties
- Introduction
- Restricted mobility and the student
- Helping students with mobility restrictions
- Further Help
Introduction
Mobility difficulties can occur for a number of reasons. Restricted mobility may be one aspect of a generalised health problem, which may also lead to reduced stamina or other manifestations of ill-health. Other students have restricted mobility, either temporary or permanent, as the result of accidents.
Restricted Mobility and the Student
The major difficulty for mobility-impaired students is in gaining access to and moving about within buildings. Multi-storey university buildings can be forbidding environments for students in wheelchairs to move through. A simple journey from one point to another on a university campus is usually much less straightforward for a mobility-impaired student and so simple attendance at classes can require a greater effort.
Many mobility-impaired students may be eligible to receive the Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) and may use it to pay a helper who assists them in transferring as quickly as possible between locations.
Click here for a printable copy of the Mobility Access Plan for Paisley campus.
Helping Students with Mobility Restrictions
Where access is the main problem, the help you can give will depend on your role and department:
- Admissions officers can help applicants to reach an informed decision about whether they will be able to study effectively given the physical layout and access qualities of the campus. Given sufficient planning time, it may be possible to give a commitment that the student’s classes will all be scheduled in accessible locations.
- Heads of department can ensure that their staff are fully aware of the access and other needs of mobility-impaired students. A pre-entry meeting is vital. The important points to note are level access to lectures rooms and study facilities, minimal travelling distances, closeness to toilet facilities and possibly optimal height of desk or working areas. HoDs should also consult with Health and Safety regarding evacuation procedures for students.
- Admissions officers and module co-ordinators can advise about the access implications of the student’s choice of course.
- Examination panel chairs can help by overseeing any special access or other arrangements for examinations.
Further Help
Disability Scotland - information service
Princes House
5 Shandwick Place
Edinburgh EH2 4RG
Telephone: 0131 229 8632
Minicom: 0131 229 8632
External Therapy And Advisory Service
Capability Scotland
11 Ellersly Road
Edinburgh EH12 6HY
Telephone: 0131 313 5510
Email address: ascs@capability-scotland.org.uk
Website: www.capability-scotland.org.uk
National Federation of Access Centres
Scottish Administrative Centre
Motherwell College
Scottish Administrative Centre
Motherwell College
Dalzell Drive
Motherwell
ML1 2DD
Community Service Volunteers (West) - project support group
236 Clyde Street
Glasgow G1 4JH
Telephone: 0141 204 1681
Fax: 0141 204 0668
The NFAC is a UK-wide network of specialist centres intended to support individuals who experience problems in accessing further and higher education owing to:
- physical or sensory disability, or
- the effects of recovery from mental illness.
It offers students assessment and training in the use of enabling technology in order to help them gain access to education opportunities.
NFAC
Telephone: 01698 232365
Minicom: 01698 276516
