The Tories’ Cuts to the Disabled Students’ Allowance: Chriswaynepoetry’s Story

A few days’ ago I reblogged a piece from Mike over at Vox Political reporting the government’s proposed cuts to the Disabled Students’ Allowance, which helps support disabled people study at university. The government is proposing to reform this, so that only the most severely disabled students would be eligible for the grant. Those with milder disabilities, such as dyslexia, are to be excluded under the proposed new rules. This is another, alarming example of the government’s attacks on the poorest and vulnerable in society, particularly as the amount saved will be virtually negligible. It’s simply another example of Tory spite. Many of Mike’s readers expressed their extremely strong disapproval.

One of those was Sasson Hann, who gave their account of how the grant allowed them to study for and gain a very good degree in music, despite suffering from a severe handicap that later required them to leave work altogether. I took the liberty of posting their account up here, as it was an example of the way the government’s reforms would punish hardworking, creative people like them for absolutely no reason other than that their disability is perceived as making them a financial burden to the state.

Chriswaynepoetry, one of the commenters to this blog, also commented on this post, describing how he had also been helped through uni by the grant. He wrote

I have experience of this as without the grant, I would not have the necessary equipment I need to help me through lectures. Indeed without this allowance I would have had to pay for the test which diagnosed me as dyslexic (which would have cost me £400).

One caveat I would like to add onto that is that while I think the removal of this grant is plainly not right, there is a wider issue with regards to disabled students getting the best education within the school system. This may have changed, but when I was going to school, teachers always used to say to me that though they thought of me as a critical thinker, my written assignments did not articulate what I used to say in class. There may have been teachers who considered me dyslexic then (I was not diagnosed until I was thirty). The problem is, teachers could not tell me if they thought that this was the case, as if I took the test and it shown signs of dyslexia, any assistance would have had to come out of the school’s own fund, not from a specialised grant system for students that the school could apply for.

I am not sure if this is still the case, but if it is, then surely this needs to change.

He’s not alone. I know a number of extremely bright, creative people, who suffered from some form of disability, from dyslexia to very severe handicaps that left them almost totally paralysed. The cuts to their education, which will leave all but the rich unable to afford higher education are a false economy. Despite their handicaps, the disabled people I know were intelligent and talented, and very able to contribute to society. In the case of the physically disabled, the emergence of the ‘knowledge economy’ of IT and related industries has meant that they have been able to excel in careers, which simply did not exist earlier in the last century, where physical strength and performance is not required. Society will most definitely not benefit – indeed will actually be impoverished – by the exclusion of the disabled and their talents from higher education and the opportunities it provides.

Chriswaynepoetry second point is an extremely good one, and probably would not occur to most people, myself included. The government’s policy of making schools individually responsible for their limited budgets in his experience has led to children like himself with dyslexia going undiagnosed because of the extra cost this would place on them. As a result, children’s education is suffering. This clearly needs to be addressed, so that all Britain’s pupils and students can achieve their true potential and have lives enriched by learning.

Education should most definitely not be for the privileged. We are all the poorer when it is.
Which is another example of the effects of the Tory and Tory Democrats’ austerity programme. It’s leaving us poorer both physically and morally, to go with their own moral bankruptcy.

Sasson Hann on the Vital Help of the Disabled Student’s Grant, Now Under Attack by the Tories

I’ve reblogged Mike’s piece from Vox Political discussing the Tory’s proposed cuts to the Disabled Students’ Grant. This gives support to disabled people, who would otherwise find it extremely difficult to study at Uni. The Tories intended remove this grant from all but those they consider to be the most seriously disabled. Sasson Hann gives their account of how they were able, with the aid of the grant and through their own hard work, gain a degree in music despite their immense handicaps and the lack of sympathy or consideration from some of their lecturers.

There is no possible way that I would have been able to complete my degree and gain a good grade without the Disabled Students Grant.

Firstly, due to extreme fatigue and pain I only ever managed to attend the first couple of weeks of any semester, so it was vital that I had equipment at home. Even if I could have accessed the studios and computer rooms at the university they were rarely available, rather benefiting those who lived on campus who could pop in at various times during the day until they were free, whereas being a mature student I was living in my own home some distance from the university.

With regard to equipment, I not only received an excellent laptop, but since I was studying computer composition and experimental film as part of my music degree I was also entitled to claim for the associated music programs, monitor speakers, headphones, and hardware for inputting sound. These would have cost many thousands of pounds. My internet connection was also paid for. My travel in a taxi to university was also covered as the hour long journey by bus would have made me terribly ill.

Even with all of this extra financial help, it did not put me on a level playing field with the other students. I faced a lot of prejudice from certain lecturers. I had to work right through the the year without any breaks due to constant illness. I missed most lectures and had to study at home, which was a great disadvantage. In my final year, the exam department messed up one of my exam arrangement so I had to finish my exam half way through, and though all tutors had allowed me extra time before – typically to work through the holidays and hand assignments in a month to 6 weeks later – one tutor who was always supportive suddenly decided not to allow me the extra time. I appealed both counts to no avail, even though the leading professor said it would have only taken me 2 weeks to complete. Despite this I gained a high 2.1, but this would have translated into a first had I not faced such opposition, which greatly upset me at the time after how hard I had worked.

It really is hard enough to obtain a degree as it is, but now thousands like me won’t stand a chance. Unfortunately, I eventually had to give up my professional work a few years after graduating due to a chronic deterioration – perhaps this is why the government feel it’s not worth investing in disabled people – but many disabled people do go on to work for years. Without such a degree, they may not be able to work at all.

Sasson Hann

I’ve met other disabled people, who have similarly been helped through the provision of specialist equipment, to study at Uni. One of the women students I knew was blind, but was able to study through using brail materials and, I believe, recordings or electronic versions of some texts. And with the right support, other disabled people are also able successfully to pursue a career and reach a very high standard of excellence. I knew another lad, who was paralysed from the neck down and was dependent on the care of a nurse. He was, however, a computer whizzkid, who had reached a position of great respect in the company for which he worked, because of his skills as a software engineer.

The cuts the Tories propose will not only make it much harder for people like these to study at Uni, it will also deprive the rest of society of the benefits of their talents. And this will harm the ‘knowledge economy’ that we have been told is so vital to the country.

It is, like the raising of tuition fees, another way of excluding all but the extremely rich from education, or else keeping them in fear and debt for the rest of their lives.