You know, I’m quite angry at myself for ever thinking otherwise.

Today we watched the opening speeches of the mmu union elections. If you ask me it’s just a shitload of rhetoric and grandstanding, with keywords such as

‘environment’ and discrimination thrown in for good measure. But it got me thinking: as far as I can see, we disabled folk are the most discriminated against, for we have to face things from heavy doors to highly patronising kitchen staff, but we scarcely got a mention. Most other minorities got a mention, but not us. Why? Obviously, there are so few of us in uni to bother about. This made me wonder why?

The answer, of course, is partly segregated education, but it was then I realised that this was only half the story. The other half is doubt. Most people in my position are not encouraged to go to uni; in fact, they are actively discouraged. At school, they’re described as having learning disabilities, a term which, I’d guess, they’d come to accept, and therefore not push themselves. It was then that I remembered that disability history is full of such tripe, of people being written off.

It was then I made a connection. If we want true academia representative of humanity, inclusion must not stop at school level. Before now, I’d been concerned that some people wouldn’t be able to cope at uni, but hold up old boy, isn’t that exactly the language used by the Tories? Further, to have inclusion stop at school level is completely arbitrary – if all means all at school, then all means all in higher education too.

I see no reason why this cannot happen. Syllabuses and assessments may have to be adapted, which was my prime concern – how to make things fair? I don’t want uni to give me less work to do, or reduce my wordcount, since this I felt would remove the point of my being here. How do we weigh the two? Disabled students must be expected to perform to the same standards as their peers, but the method of assessment might have to change. Why can’t assessments be given orally, or essays be written with symbols? I see no reason why not.

It’s high time things changed. Academia was started 4000 years ago to reflect human knowledge and therefore diversity. It’s high time it did.