This week, Mxogyny’s Maisie Palmer interviews Ellen Blunsdon who acts as the leading officer of the Disabled Students’ Campaign at the University of Edinburgh. The movement fosters a safe and open community for those who deal with disabilities on-campus.

Maisie: Why was the Disabled Students’ Campaign established? And why is its presence important in a university environment?

Ellen: The Disabled Students’ Campaign was created, along with the other liberation campaigns, to represent students who face marginalisation and oppression due to our identities. Disabled people face unique challenges in society: higher rates of poverty, systematic exclusion across the job market, dehumanising and demoralising battles for benefits, discrimination in healthcare, and so many others. I hope that disabled students can find comfort in the Disabled Students’ Campaign, and that we can make real steps towards a more equal and accepting campus in the year ahead.

M: What kind of prejudices do disabled students face on-campus? Do you think such prejudices are specific to universities spaces?

E: The main three areas of campus-based discrimination that I’m aiming to tackle this year are representation, ableism and the extra work that has to be put in by disabled students to get the adjustments we deserve. I am working with staff to include disability on the curriculum as far too little disability history, disability theory and works by disabled authors are taught at this university. Ableism on campus is a huge issue so I’m working with the Students’ Association to launch a zero-tolerance campaign, as well as taking action to make reporting violence and harassment against disabled students more accessible. I am also collating resources for disabled students in one accessible online resources hub to combat the amount of labour that disabled students experience when moving to university and establishing the adjustments they need. These issues do not only exist on university campuses, however they can be magnified by the existing pressures of doing a degree and surviving at university. 

M: Do you think the University of Edinburgh has made appropriate provisions for their disabled students? How can they improve, both practically and in terms of general support?

E: There are so many areas where the University of Edinburgh are failing disabled students, mismanaging their campuses and under-training their staff that it’s almost laughable. The Student Disability Service can be an excellent resource but they are overstretched and underfunded, meaning wait times can be long and appointments can be short. The Kings’ Buildings bus debacle - where the university removed the free shuttle service from central campus to Kings’, replacing it with ‘discounted’ bus passes - highlights the difficulties of needing expensive and unreliable public transport to get around. The training that staff receive about disability and mental health is virtually non-existent. And those are only problems disabled students encounter if they admit us to this university in the first place! Sadly it mostly comes down to money. If the university want to make a significant difference to the experience of disabled students, as well as students from low-income backgrounds and BME students, then they need to fund services, training and the students themselves.

M: Many would say progress has been made in terms of making disabled bodies more visible in the media, do you think this is true? What more can be done to ensure their representation?

E: There are some glimmers of hope but on the whole, disabled people and mainstream media mix as well as oil and water. Representation needs to be genuine, honest and not done for tokenism. This means getting disabled people into writers rooms and into acting schools, examining and dismantling ableist tropes like the ‘super-crip’, the helpless victim or the villain, and stopping able-bodied actors playing disabled people.

M: What advice would you give to non-disabled students who want to support their disabled peers on-campus? 

E: Listen without judgment. Take the problems we express about our environments seriously; we are not making it up or exaggerating or attacking you. We are frustrated and tired and just trying to survive in a world not built for us. Platform us when you can. Share our work and buy from disabled artists. Tackle ableism when you see it and when it’s appropriate to do so. Raise our voices. Remember that just because someone you know is disabled, or that just because you spend a week on crutches when you were 12, you are not an authority on our experiences.

M: Disability History Month begins in November. How will you raise awareness for the disabled community during this period and do you have any events planned that Edinburgh-based students can get involved with?

E: This Disabled History Month we are focusing on getting societies engaged with the campaign. I’m currently speaking with a bunch of student groups, activities and sports teams to support them in holding events during the month. The aim is to raise awareness by getting sectors of the student community that wouldn’t normally be part of disability activism involved by bringing the Disabled Students’ Committee to the organisations they are already involved in. I hope this will create a vibrant and interesting mix of events throughout the month. If you are part of a society or student group and would like to get involved, please email disabledstudents@eusa.ed.ac.uk!

M: Finally, what are your hopes for the disabled community in the future? 

E: I hope that we are given the respect and compassion and opportunities and support that we deserve. I hope that no more disabled people die due to their benefits being cut. I hope that Brexit doesn’t strip us of our human rights or mean we can’t access our medications. I hope that disabled people get worldwide marriage equality. I hope that the 1 in 2 disabled women who experience sexual violence find comfort.

Keep up to date with Edinburgh’s Disabled Students’ Campaign via their Instagram or Facebook Page.