Uni

I hope to go to uni next year to do Children's Nursing. However I am worried about my asthma. I understand I need Occy Health Cleareance (currently work in NHS!). But worried more on the support uni will give me. Can anyone recommend a uni where they have had good disability support?

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friend

my son went staffs uni in stoke ,they were realy good.he has epilepcy and just graduated and quolified forensic scientist so aim high and follow your dreams xxx

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Hi there Bizkid,

Congratulations on your aspirations, going to university with brittle asthma can be a challenge but it is certainly not impossible. I got through a medical degree despite having brittle asthma and having multiple admissions and ventilations during the course; that was at Birmingham and the level of support was pretty good. However, that was a while ago (1996 - 2001) so my information is not exactly current. I know there are quite a lot of students who do use this site, some of whom have brittle asthma, so I am sure they will all chip in with their experiences of where is good and where is not.

All colleges and universities, though, should provide a basic level of care and support for people with brittle asthma and other medical conditions, as laid out by the Disability Discrimination Act and other government legislation and guidelines. There should be a specific person or department responsible for students with disabilities - you may not think of yourself as disabled but they would be a good place to start to gain information about the support available. There is financial support available (it used to be from the LEA, but may not be now) for additional costs arising from your condition - eg getting taxis to placements if buses aren't an option. If you drive, I found a blue badge very useful for parking whilst on placements. It's also worth approaching the hospitals on your individual placements to get permission to park on site, as many of them don't normally allow students to do this (I remember one place where I was allowed to park in the Consultants' car park, much to my slightly embarrassed amusement and the disgust of some of my fellow students!).

In addition to this, your personal tutor or whoever is responsible for pastoral care should obviously be kept fully informed. I remember I started off by playing things quite close to my chest but quickly realised that the more information they had, the more help they could be, and that to get the best help, you had to ask for it. There is often a lot of help available, but it may not be spontaneously volunteed so you have to speak up and make sure people know your needs.

All the best, and keep us posted,

Take care

Em H

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hey, i'm going 2 uni in 10 days 2 studty occupational therapy and also require an occy health review,i woundering if any one nos what this would invovle? as i'm worried they migth keep m eff the course if they don't deem me fit enough.

chloe x

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Hi Bizkid,

I have just started doing a Nursing degree up in Edinburgh and suffer with brittle Asthma whihc caused me to stop doing my previous university course- despite my best efforts.

i had to go through Occy health as everyone has to. Before I went though i spoke to my consultant and got a letter from him telling them what my limitations were and that he though iwould be up to managing the course etc. i think this is what got me through my occy Health as he said i was fit enough to manage but he did say that i would need support at various points etc liek on placements and needing nebs and if I was to be taken ill etc.

the uni have been great too. despite some inital mix up over what brittle asthma was. they had neevr heard of it!!! (reassured me alot to begin with!!!) but now I have alot of support and the lecturers understand that i need to elave lectures for nebs etc and i get elcture notes ahead of time so if i lose concentration or dont feel great i dont miss out on things.

if you ahve any other questiosn feel free to pm me.

Olive

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I was only diagnosed about a year ago after months of problems and at the time I was in the middle of a Degree in paramedic science. They didnt support me at all and OH cleared me for placement the uni still wouldnt let me continue and suspended me (said mental health but saw a pysch and he said I was fine!) in the end I got so fed up I left. It was a good decision at the time as I needed to consentrate on health. But now ready to start.

I already work as a HCA so understand the placements and think I could manage. Its the time off I am worried about. My tutors didnt like I had to miss lectures and wouldnt give me any support in catching up. I am planning to be open with the people that matter.... Disability services and my tutor.

I also have dysleixa so like having notes before so I can read throug them first!

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Hi

I am still at Birmingham Uni and they are very good. It is a case of being open and honest which is hard at first. Regards to financial support, it is still through local authorities. Just one extra form to fill in when you apply for a student loan. Good luck and follow your heart.

Steph

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Well I think all these nice positive messages need some balancing out...!!!!!

It would definitely be against forum rules for me to go naming names and I wouldn't want to expose myself in that way, but I have had an experience far from the positive ones outlined here with my university's disability dept. I have another disability and another health condition too (well I don't like to make it easy on myself!) so was already known to the disability dept when my asthma went from mild and manageable to severe and uncontrolled. My university simply couldn't cope.

I have to say at this point that the university's medical services were and have been fantastic and they've even contacted/shouted at the disability dept, halls, etc. on my behalf and written numerous medical certificates and letters for me. However, these other services just haven't 'got it' and most of that stems from ignorance as to what asthma is and that it can be life-threatening: once I had a member of staff who wouldn't take it seriously or call an ambulance and by the time I was at hospital my sats were in the 80s and I was straight into resus. They get it more now after lots of telling and the fact I've had multiple hospitalisations, but I still don't feel totally secure that were the worst to happen, I would be safe and handled appropriately.

On the other hand, I've had a lecturer throw a right flap and run around shouting ""I need to call a doctor, I need to call a doctor"" when I had an attack at uni! Maybe if I combine them, I'll find the right level of support!

One issue that is important to nearly all students and also to universities is funding. As a result mainly of my repeated hospital admissions in this last academic year, I haven't completed my course on time (I should have graduated this year ) and am staying for an extra year to essentially repeat the final year. Getting the funding for this has been a NIGHTMARE and caused me extreme anxiety which affected my asthma... It has, finally, hopefully (we'll see if the cheque comes) been sorted, but it is definitely worth knowing where you stand in advance were you to need extra time to complete you course. Even if you don't need funding, it would be worth knowing how flexible they can be on issues such as essay deadlines. The last thing you want if you're struggling with your asthma is to be thinking, I can't go to hospital, I have to finish this paper: that's a recipe for disaster.

One thing if you do/will need support is that the uni need to know you have a) a disability and b) what it means specifically for you. I would suggest that once you have an idea of possible unis (i.e. based on courses, places you like) you contact their disability departments and get a feel for them - oh, and don't rely on websites as universities can say all the right things and have wonderful glossy brochures but do none of what they say. Also look to see if particular unis seem to specialise in supporting certain disabilities; this is good, but can unfortunately be at the detriment of students who don't fit that support.

Oh, one more thing to consider is proximity to hospitals either for emergency treatment or ongoing care particularly if you will be transferring to a consultant near where you go to uni. You could also ask the uni medical centres (if they have them) about support as they may know how good the university is generally at supporting students with various health conditions and they are generally NHS practises and so independent of the university itself.