Mobility impairments

Incidence:

According to HESA in the academic year 2016/17 8,110 UK domiciled students with ‘physical impairment or mobility issues’ were enrolled at UK universities, this represents 0.43% of the UK student population.[1]

Characteristics:

There are variety of conditions that can cause a mobility impairment. Chronic fatigue and chronic pain will limit and individuals mobility, as will lung conditions and muscular skeletal disorders, so when considering mobility impairments it is not just the physical access to buildings that needs to be considered. A mobility impairment can be an invisible disability and is not just limited to individuals who use wheelchairs, crutches or other similar mobility aids.

Students who are wheelchair users are likely to have other related impairments. For example individuals who use wheelchairs as a result of spinal injuries are likely to also have low blood pressure, use stoma bags and be prone to infections.

Impact on teaching, learning and assessment:

Those individuals who do use mobility aids such as wheelchairs will have limited choice about where they can sit in a class. Given that many individuals have multiple disabilities this can cause additional barriers. For example if a wheelchair user also has reduced hearing or vision, having to sit in the back of the class in a wheelchair accessible space will create a barrier to full participation in class.

While it should seem obvious that activities which take place outside of traditional teaching environments need to be accessible for wheelchair users, the activities that take place on field trips, for example, should also be considered from the perspective students who experience other mobility limiting conditions such as chronic pain and fatigue.

Infrastructure failures can affect created a barrier to attendance students with limited mobility. If lifts are out of order, footpaths are blocked or if there is no accessible parking places near the teaching location then students may not be able to attend classes. Students who have conditions such as chronic pain or chronic fatigue may also miss classes, or be unable to attend the entire duration.

Resource requirements / accommodations

Alternative assessments, in place of exams, may be needed for students who are unable to write or type for extended periods. In cases where students have degenerative conditions which affect dexterity, as well as mobility, the amount of extra time that would be required to complete an exam would be prohibitive.

Similarly students with conditions such as chronic pain, musculoskeletal conditions and degenerative illnesses such as motor neuron disease may find sitting in the same position for long periods difficult or impossible, and so will be unlikely to perform well in a traditional exam.

Some students may have conditions where their mobility is limited on a permanent basis, while others may have symptoms that are intermittent, for example students with rheumatoid arthritis may have long periods when they are symptom-free. However they are unlikely to be able to predict when they are going to be unwell and so preparing for and sitting exams might not be possible.

 

References

[1] https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-15.csv

 

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