Yes you are right Tony. Thanks for pointing that out.
Liz
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Smith, Tony
Sent: 07 February 2005 10:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: declaration of disability by staff
Surely, the disability would only need to be declared to one person (e.g. the tutor). That person could then decide about adjustments. The exam admin. people should only need to know that adjustments have to be made and do not need to know the details of the disability.
Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Liz Sutherland
Sent: 07 February 2005 10:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: declaration of disability by staff
Dear Erica
Good to hear from you .
The issue you pinpoint is a well recognised one not just in HEIs but in all workplaces.
Every individual has the right to decide whether or not they 'declare' a disability and to whom they 'declare' it. When I worked at the OU ( at that time with disabled students as opposed to disabled staff but the principle remains the same) we had a procedure whereby if a student told say a tutor that they had a disability and that they would welcome some adjustments BUT that they didnt want anyone else in the university knowing, then the tutor was under an obligation to
-explain to students that there would be limits to the adjustments they as tutors could make on their own for the students but that there would be other additional adjustments (eg to exam arrangements) that could be made but only if others (eg exam administrators in the university) knew of the disability ie that there were advantages to formally declaring to all of those who needed to know in order to put the full range of adjustments in place
- explain to the student that we needed to record that the student had declared a disability but did not want that information passed on to more than one person ( in this case, myself at the regional office) That way the OU had a written record that it was the student' wish NOT to pass their declaration on ( this could be handy in the very unlikely scenario of a future complaint about failure to meet needs being made)
- meet the needs of the student for adjustments as far as they could within their limited resources
Basically the line we took then in relation to declaration by students (and its the same line that I would encourage HEIs to take in relation to declaration by staff) is that we would encourage formal 'declaration' on the grounds that the culture of the institution was geared towards support and flexibility as well as to respectful handling of confidential personal data - and that more could be done by way of reasonable adjustments if there were a greater awareness amongst those staff with related responsibilities ( eg IT staff, OHA staff, library staff) of someone's needs. So you need to make sure that that those grounds would hold true in your own institution. Sometimes it can take time to build that message and to bring about that culture change, however.
The issue you have raised emphasises how important it is for all line managers to be aware of the relevant DDA and DP Act legislation,to be aware of their responsibilities to help make adjustments, to be aware of the sources of additional help within and without the HEI that are available to staff who declare disability formally AND to be aware of whatever procedures the HEI devises either to assess needs and provide support OR to enable them as an HEI to record that whilst a member of staff has declared to them a disability that same member of staff does NOT want anyone other than their line manager to know of it.
I think you might find the Employers Forum on Disability publication on monitoring disability in the workforce very helpful on this issue. Its called Monitoring for Change and is available directly from them at www.employers-forum.co.uk . Also see our website where you can access our own publication Employing Disabled People in HE www.ecu.ac.uk
Do phone me or email me back directly, off list, if you want any further info or advice - sorry the answer is not postcard size!
best wishes
Liz
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Erica sosna
Sent: 07 February 2005 09:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:
Hello Everyone
I'm a new member - my name's Erica Sosna and I am the Equality an diversity
adviser of the University of Brighton.
currently, we are wrangling with the following issue. Not all staff with
disabilities wish to declare them, Indeed, many staff and students ( myself
included) are uncomfortable with tagging themselves as "disabled". In
practice, this means that they may have informed their line manager of their
needs and requirements, but have asked the manager to maintain
confidentiality. This is sort of ok if the manager is well equipped to
support them with work routing changes, but if they require further
reasonable adjustments, the maintenance of confidentiality is difficult. It
is also a a legally dangerous position, being that the law seems to suggest
that if one member of staff knows, then the organisation is judged to know.
so the question is, how are we all to balance the need for confidentiality
and data protection with the need to have clear management information on
people's disabilities in order to appropriately meet their needs and protect
ourselves against claims when we did not know what the person's condition
was and what they needed in terms of support?
answers on a postcard and thoughts most welcome.
Happy Monday, Erica
_____
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Clare Hughes
Sent: 07 February 2005 09:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:
could anyone please let me know if is possible to change the colour of the
cursor on Apple Macs - we have a student with visual impairment who really
needs this facility and we can't manage to facilitate it
many thanks
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The Equality Challenge Unit promotes diversity and equality of opportunity for all who work or seek to work in higher education. We are sponsored by the representative bodies (SCOP and Universities UK) and the four UK HE funding bodies.
This message is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you should not copy or disclose this message to anyone but should kindly notify the sender and delete the message. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message which do not relate to the official business of the ECU shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it. No contracts shall be concluded by means of this e-mail. Neither ECU nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses. The administrator of this e-mail service (Universities UK) reserves the right to access and disclose all messages sent over its e-mail system.
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