Nadia Clarke’s Letter To Bedford Uni

Readers, after all Nadia Clarke’s struggles for a mainstream education, which Same Difference has followed for several years, it is a real shame that I am having to write this post about her today.

Nadia has kindly allowed me to share her letter to Bedford Uni here. I feel really upset that a disabled young person, who shares my disability and who has inspired me for quite some time, has had an experience like this at a Uni. I am hoping to support Nadia in a further campaign on this issue and will keep you posted, readers.

Dear Sir/Madam, 

Thank you for meeting me last week but I am still shocked. I cannot believe that the University will have their last intake of the Disability Studies students in 2015. It is impossible for me to complete in three years, as the University were previously informed, I need more time due to my complex needs. I cannot complete the work in this time frame, it is frustrating but because there are so many barriers for me, it cannot be done no matter how hard I work. I need lots of different types of support and understanding from my own team and also from the University.

There are many barriers for me as a deaf and disabled woman but just like many young people I have a dream of studying and living independently, and it is important to achieve those dreams. I am 22 and I wanted a degree to help me in the future with my long term goals for my career. After the meeting, the open day was great, it is such an interesting course. It was great to meet the new students and tutors and complete a seminar activity. I had already completed lots of the activities prior to the open day and was really excited to share my work with Navin. I feel I gained a lot from doing this in learning, thinking in new ways and also being able to bring my own experiences of disability to the work I have completed.

I have been planning my move to Bedford University with my team of PA’s for several months, as well as attending several meetings with my social worker and supporting organisations. I feel like this time has been completely wasted. I also feel that the University wasted my time by not calling me and my family in advance of the meeting to tell us the information about the course. It was possible to have given us the information before the meeting, but you decided to wait for the meeting which meant we were unprepared for it. The University had more than 24 hours notice and we could have been spared the six hour round trip from Halifax, the large financial cost to me including petrol and an overnight stay in a hotel and a full day learning about my dream course that I will never be able to attend. This was unfair and not acceptable.

If in the future disabled students want to study it is important to think about their education and them as a person rather than focusing on money, which it is evident that the University is doing by cutting the only Disability focused course in the country. It is a sad and disappointing to learn that the University that I was proud to become a part of does not value people over profit.

I wish the last of the Disability Studies students all the luck in the world and hope you understand everything I have said in this letter.

Nadia Clarke