Fortunately, good preparation and a proper understanding of disability issues can help ensure that disabled students can participate in and benefit from Residence Abroad. If a temporary disability is reported within two working days of the exam(s), the student will be required to take a concession, meaning they would sit the exam(s) in the next examination period, as ‘first attempts’. The idea of the social model of disability is to give them a chance, remove the barrier that society places.

Intellectual disability is usually thought of as a form of internal, individual affliction, differing little from diabetes, paralysis or chronic illness. This study’s application of discursive psychology to intellectual disability demonstrates that what is usually understood as being an individual problem is actually an interactional or social product. If you concentrate on these it’s easy to decide how relevant the disability is. For most of the people who have been put forward to us, [their disabilities] have not been relevant at all,” he says. It is important to remember that most disability is not visible. This is an issue to consider in representation, to ensure that there isn’t overrepresentation of, for example, people who use wheelchairs.

For the purposes of this policy, disability is understood in the broadest sense and, in addition to mobility and sensory impairments includes mental health problems, specific learning difficulties and medical conditions which may have an impact on day-to-day activities. This policy also extends to members of the public using University premises. Support for education, such as announced by the Chancellor Gordon Brown recently, must urgently take account of disability issues. The charities are calling on the UK government to develop, and provide the resources to implement, a detailed strategy for bringing disabled children in developing countries into education. The legislative definition of a disability is “a condition that has a significant and long term effect on someone’s ability to carry out day to day living”.