NEWS REPRESENTATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES By Emily Heyward (she/her)
Students with disabilities will finally be represented within the UCSA’s club scene, with a social support club set to be established this semester.
He says establishing a dedicated student’s association would ensure students with disabilities are better represented within the education system.
UCSA exec member Leo He says there is not enough social support for students with disabilities at UC so is setting up the ‘University of Canterbury Disabled Students’ Association’ to help address the issue.
“There is a need for a disabled students’ association … People with impairment I think have the potential of doing as well or more well as abled students, but the current system will make it difficult for students to succeed.”
“I feel it is quite important … Students are academically supported thanks to the services but there needs to be more social support for students.”
Last semester, He held a focus group for students to get together and talk about what needed improving on campus, and about what they would like to see come out of establishing a club.
He wants to create a safe space where students with disabilities can connect with each other and discuss the challenges they are facing, as there is currently no club specifically dedicated to students with disabilities.
UCSA president Kim Fowler says establishing a club is a positive move for students with disabilities.
“The first step basically for me is [creating] a foundation and for me, getting people on board and for me, connections. “There’s a lot of stigma around being disabled and being a burden on society so people don’t really reach out for help.” While the ‘University of Canterbury Disabled Students’ Association’ will be officially recognised as a club, He hopes there will be a disabled students’ association set up in the future. “The road to association is a bit complicated. This is our dream, but I don’t think the association will happen, not until a couple of years later.”
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“We think it would be cool to see this feed into the advocacy structures the UCSA already has, like the Equity and Wellbeing advisory group and to see if this works for disabled students. It would be great for disabled students to have a club on campus that runs events for them.” A Statistics NZ report released last year found that people with disabilities are more likely to experience loneliness and discrimination than non-disabled people.
