dis(gruntled)postgrad

Ex UK HE EDI Officer with STORIES to tell. returning to PG study as a disabled student chronicling my experiences. #spoonieScholar #actuallyautistic

[Zara B @zaranosaur]

Keeping tabs on how this case is playing out and to be honest the one thing I want from Disability orgs is to acknowledge that while this was an awful thing that happened to disabled student, that the disabled student was a black man is also significant.

[Zara B @zaranosaur]

this thread but also, first up, I wanna know which Russell Group unis are taking people in w DDDs bc it’s so unlikely that they are that this is basically a hit piece on newer, pedagogically oriented institutions that take in “weaker” A level students & teach them well

[Zara B @zaranosaur]

the golden girls has a main character with CFS who confronts her shitty, dismissive doctor in a restaurant and tells him off for having failed her?! I had no idea!

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

@ddubdrahcir I did it! Although I also kinda did a massive brain-dump. 😂😂

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

First meeting with my dissertation supervisor today, in what has been a VERY brain-foggy week. Hoping I can be coherent. #SpoonieScholar

[Laura Elliott @TinyWriterLaura]

So here’s a very simple statement: seriously ill ME patients campaigning for extensive funding into biological research and against psychiatric involvement, ARE NOT ANTI SCIENCE, and are *definitely* not anti-vaxxers or conspiracy theorists.

[Laura Elliott @TinyWriterLaura]

I’ve read this quite closely now: the article does mention the critique of the research (the bear minimum she should expect tbh) but seems to suggest GET isn’t harmful, only occasionally ineffective. It is harmful, and has not been proven effective.

[Laura Elliott @TinyWriterLaura]

Fact Check: scientists researching a biological basis for ME are funded and supported by patient ‘activists’ desperate for a cure, because the largely psychiatric ‘research’ discussed here has been debunked, debated in parliament, & found to have harmed thousands of patients

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

NB by kind, I’m not saying don’t be critical; by all means tell us how to do things better, but do it in a way that isn’t unnecessarily cruel or harsh.

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

TFW your PhD application funding (through a research council) is denied, and the feedback is written in such a way as to demonstrate the very reasons you are doing the project. #SpoonieScholar

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

If you’re a student that’s going through this too, it’s not you - it’s the whole system and culture.

And if you’re an academic reviewing students funding applications, please try to be kind in your feedback.

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

@coldwarmegan @killhopelaw Indeed.

I pushed back against this, specifically because I know the law and I worry how many other students have fallen foul of this policy. It makes me furious not just for myself but for all disabled students.

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

This week in accessibility fails: getting an email threatening to remove support (for my mobility issues) due to my (repeatedly) failing to give 24hrs notice for cancellations.

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

@coldwarmegan @killhopelaw And your story highlights that many of these issues are similar internationally. Disabled students face difficulties whether in the UK, the USA, Australia....

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

Just another example of how academia tells disabled students that we don’t belong, aren’t wanted and are too much trouble.

[dis(gruntled)postgrad @DisPostgrad]

NB my support worker gets paid anyway when I cancel with less than 24hrs notice. And I ALWAYS contact them directly as early as I can.
I do everything I can to minimise the disruption that my illness causes. (Wanna unpack the ableism in that statement?)