It is my understanding that hotels and similar are permitted to charge
more for accessible rooms than regular rooms and that people who need
the adapted rooms just have to suck up that extra cost - one of the many
things outlined in Scope's recent research about "disability costing
more".
http://blog.scope.org.uk/2014/04/15/priced-out-ending-the-financial-penalty-of-disability-by-2020/
Is there anyone with more access to legal advice or thinking than I who
would be able to compare university provision of "more expensive"
adapted rooms to other providers of similar goods and services?
Also, do we feel there is a difference between someone who needs an
ensuite or adapted room cos of structural requirements e.g. most places
only seem to provide ensuite wheelchair accessible rooms compared to
someone who needs an ensuite for less structural and more direct
impairment reasons e.g. OCD or Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs).
In the case of structural ensuite access requirements such as wheelchair
access I can see why the HEI is expected to cover this cost cos they
aren't providing the same service on an equitable level. But where it's
a direct consequence of the person's impairment, that's more complex and
comes down to 'what is the purpose of DSA?'...
We really do need to have our thoughts clarified about this whole
housing issue to challenge SFE cos "apply for other funding" is in my
view an unfair extra burden on students who already have potentially
reduced energy without taking up more of it with having to beg for
charity. Rights not charity and all that. We've had students say they
simply won't be able to come to uni unless the extra cost of ensuite
which they needed for disability reasons was coverable cos they are
already on a lower income and cannot work because of disability and
disabled students aren't entitled to extra living costs grants outside
of welfare benefits.
Natalya
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