Is asthma a disability?

Im sending my univeristy forms off soon and on the form i have to put if a i have a disability. Ive put down about my leg but iwondered if asthma is classed as a disability?

Anyone able to help?

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I think it depends on your perspective of your asthma. Some people have very mild (as in blue inhaler only) and think they're severely disabled, and then you've got people who are on a lot of meds, it impacts their life daily and they don't think they're disabled. It's about personal preferances. If you're in doubt I'd speak to your GP and uni disabilty services!

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Hey

Do you mean on your UCAS form? If so I was told by school that regardless of severity it needs to go down under the special needs/ disability section as a long term condition, just so they're aware. You have space to put any comments so you can put down the severity or the assistance you might require.

x

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I never put it down on the ucas form because i'm a bit stubborn when its coms 2 admitting i have a health issue, but once your exected at the uni they ask u all this again several times at different points and i have given in and put it down, So its prob best 2 put it down staright away but they r more oppurtunites 2 make your uni aware if u don't

clo x

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I guess at times it means you struggle to breath, so this makes you unable to take part in everything you want to do therefore it is disabling you. So i guess it is.

But i am one of those people who was forced to acknolege it as a disablity. Depending on how bad you get it determind how much. Some people who only have a blue in haler lesser than some people who have nebs or subcut. but still a disability as at time it can stop you doing the things you enjoy. (note i say at times, not all the time when it is controlled you should be able to do all you want within reason)

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Does it ask: ""Do you have a disability?"" or ""Do you consider yourself to have a disability?"" - they might not seem that different but it makes a big difference to how your respond. Also, if you have something else that you consider/is a disability you then have problems when it comes to having to define your disability as some forms do not allow for multiple very different conditions.

The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) has a set definition of disability. This is probably the easiest to use. A link to directgov is here: tinyurl.com/yp2yrw from where you can access the full act, but the important parts are:

""The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.""

""For the purposes of the Act:

- substantial means neither minor nor trivial

- long term means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months (there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating conditions)

normal day-to-day activities include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping

- a normal day-to-day activity must affect one of the 'capacities' listed in the Act which include mobility, manual dexterity, speech, hearing, seeing and memory

Some conditions, such as a tendency to set fires and hay fever, are specifically excluded.

People who have had a disability in the past that meets this definition are also covered by the scope of the Act. There are additional provisions relating to people with progressive conditions.

The DDA 2005 amended the definition of disability. It ensured that people with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis are deemed to be covered by the DDA effectively from the point of diagnosis, rather than from the point when the condition has some adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.""

I think that for any condition, you need to make the decision yourself knowing your own capabilities. Is this just for university statistics or will it be used to support you? If it is for support purposes, I would put it down now if you think there is any possibility of your asthma impacting on your studies as the DDA is very clear that the university can only be held responsible if it is reasonable to expect they knew you were disabled.

Having looked at my uni forms as I've had to recently re-enrol, I think it would be included, I don't know if all universities have the same categories but we have ""unseen disability"" or ""other disability"".

Hope that helps. In short, there is no yes or no answer but it depends on how the condition affects you and a multitude of other factors.

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YES

Iwould Put Down Yes As Going Back To A Previous Post (The One That Mentions The Disability Act) It Can Stop You Doing A Normal Day - Day Activity