Warwick SU hosts Disability Awareness Week

The University of Warwick’s Students’ Union (SU) hosted Disability Awareness Week from Monday 20 – 24 January.

The week of events aimed to raise awareness of the issues faced by disabled students within the higher education sector, highlighting how different disabilities affect different people.

Events included a disability-themed quiz night in the Dirty Duck, a guest talk from Guide Dogs Leamington and presentations on the assistive technology available in the library.

The week was opened by NUS president, Toni Pearce who met students at the Mighty Duck on campus. Hannah Patterson, the NUS disabled students officer, was the guest appearance to conclude the week.

The University’s Disability Services were pleased to see the event: “[We] are delighted that there has been a second successful disability awareness week organised by students and were fully in support of the event.

“It was great to see a good programme of events that covered a wide range of disabilities including unseen disabilities which can be overlooked.”

Some students raised concerns of the publicity given to the events. Spencer Mintram, a fourth-year Automotive Engineering student, commented: “I was not aware of the Disability Awareness Week happening, it would have been great to see more publicity for it around campus.”

Disability Services offered the following advice for disabled students: “For any students that have a disability but haven’t made contact with disability services yet, I would encourage them to do so.

“We can offer support and advice, liaise with academic departments, accommodation and exams offices and signpost you to ensure you get the right help and support to be successful in your studies and student life.”