Disability Week at UEA

For the first time, the University of East Anglia's Student Union hosted several events across the week of the 13-17th October titled Disability Week.

A poster of the UEA Disability week event

The Inclusive Norwich Partnership was invited by UEA colleagues to attend and speak at the event. This was a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of our projects, and to connect with disabled students at the university.

Some of the talks included a workshop about microaggressions, hosted by one of the sponsors, US2U Consulting. This was allowed the partners to reflect upon our communication, and provided a valuable insight into the effects of marginalisation.

Dave Shraga, the chair of the Inclusive Norwich charity, provided an insightful talk about the social model of disability. Given that it is a guiding compass for the Inclusive Norwich Partnership, it served as valuable refresher on an academic concept.

A calendar of UEA Disability week, full of events across the 13-17th October.

The agenda for UEA's disability week was jam-packed; ranging from workshops, panels and film screenings, it was a successful series of events.

Denise Troughton, Ben Reed (chair of the Inclusive Norwich Partnership) and Dave Shraga (Chair of Inclusive Norwich charity) speaking on a panel

The partners of the Inclusive Norwich Partnership were invited to speak on a panel called "Life after Uni: benefits, job applications, housing & more". This was a successful talk, which allowed our colleagues to instrumentalise their knowledge on accessibility to encourage disabled students with their studies, and to reassure them about life after university.

Overall, UEA's disability week was a significant initiative for students to learn more accessibility and inclusion, and allow disabled students to feel more confident. It highlighted the importance of representation, and challenged key assumptions around disability.

We thank UEA for inviting the Inclusive Norwich Partnership to attend and speak at Disability Week, and we hope that this collaboration continues next year.