Dis-forum colleagues may be interested in the following comments from
a member of staff from the Southampton Chemistry Dept.. The
student graduated very successfully in summer 1998 & is staying on
for post-grad. work. I have removed the name of the student for
reasons of confidentiality & I had his permission to ask staff how
they had coped.
"The entry of Student A to the Undergraduate programme was discussed
with our Safety Officer before he came to us and an offer was made.
Stewart Heron,the Safety Officer, has considerable experience with
the blind, and was very supportive of our bringing A into the
Department. During the Undergraduate studies of A his practical
programme was discussed with the Safety Officer. The key to his
successfully completing practical work in Years 1,2 and 3 was the
presence of a postgraduate student at his side through all his work.
The student was paid as a Demonstrator, the funding coming from his
LEA who did a brilliant job. The role of the postgraduate was to
ensure the safety of A in the lab. The role of A was to complete the
practical programmes in the normal way. He coped well with organic
and inorganic chemistry but found using instruments in physical
chemistry particularly difficult. The Demonstrator would on certain
occasions have helped him out of difficulties. It should be noted
that at Cambridge, who also had a blind student studying chemistry the
decision was made that it was too dangerous for the student to do organic
chemistry. A greatly enjoyed his organic chemistry with us and we felt
that with the presence of a postgraduate no substantial risks were being
taken. I have recently spoken with "Chemistry in Britain", who are
running an article on 'Disabled' chemistry students. It should be out
in the early New Year and is likely to interest you."
I hope that is of interest.
Please direct any further queries to me.
Merry Christmas all.
Regards, Deb
----------------------
Deb Viney
Disability Co-ordinator
University of Southampton
[log in to unmask]
Tel: 01 703 595644 (Highfield, Mon Wed & Fri)
or 01 703 216200 ext. 518 (Tu & Thur, UoS New College)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|