‘It Removes Stigma’: How Tech Breaks Down Barriers for Students With Disabilities
June 10, 2019 Greg Thomson
June 7, 2019
Universities are under growing pressure to improve accessibility for students. But is it working?
Rustling crisp packets, shuffling feet and the general buzz of conversation made lectures a trial for Gemma Long during her first degree. She suffers from sensory overload connected to her autism, which was only diagnosed after she graduated. But when she started a teacher-training course at the University of Huddersfield, she received access to software to help her cope with dyslexia and found it transformative. It allowed her to listen to lectures quietly at home, which dramatically improved her grades. She went on to take an MA at the Open University and is now studying for a PhD at Sheffield Hallam University.
I struggled to understand the point of lectures until I got that software, recalls Long. I didnt realise how much useful information was in them. As someone who is hypersensitive to noise I spend most of my time in lectures trying to filter out the background noise, which means I miss much of what the lecturer is saying. Being able to audio record the lectures and listen back to [...]