The Big Society and Localism: My thoughts

The government is widely endorsing the Big Society and the localism agenda as key principles to drive their policies forward. I admire many aspects of this but cannot help thinking that it is very disjointed and the relationship to place has been woefully underestimated. I argue that the government has so far been missing some of the point, is not radical like it proclaims and has been far too unilateral with geography in the projects that support localism. Ultimately I state that localism and schemes initiated to deliver it have potential to leave people out spatially and that this has a far more detrimental impact on our society and planning, outweighing the importance of putting people at the heart of decisions that localism aims to meet.

 

What do I read localism to be?

It was true to form that I first became aware of localism upon the release of the Conservative Party’s green paper ‘open source planning’ but only began to take it more seriously when the coalition government was elected. Localism is conveyed as a radical change to sideswipe the centralised state and provide less barriers to ‘the people’, who in the government’s mind should be at the forefront of decision making. I read for localism to be one of the more powerful tools in exhibiting the government’s Big Society agenda, again a pinnacle of Conservative policy prior to the election as a coalition in May 2010. By encouraging civic pride and responsibility, it is envisaged that local people will feel empowered to make change in their areas.

My initial perceptions

I am quite an unusual character in that I am quite unforgiving and hostile to this government’s attitudes to the built environment and always have been. This is despite supporting some of their work in other sectors and initiatives. I am a strong proponent of regional planning and have been sad to see it lost without a chance to let it breathe. There has been widespread criticism of that particular framework but it was only implemented for a small number of years as part of sectors that are well known for a rhetoric of slow progress (see Barker and Killian Pretty, among others). So how can it be commented on with such distaste? It comes as little surprise that I am finding localism rather difficult to interpret, but am a personality that is open to reconstruction on this matter.

I show a somewhat mixed reaction, but must stress that not all of it is negative. It is all too easy to start pinpointing the opposing argument; exhibiting a bullish personality and a vanguard of emotion. But even with a subject such as localism I cannot bring myself to respond in this way. The majority of  government policy does actually have meaningful elements to it, reflecting the aspirations of their creator.  I have tried to underpin those values instead of taking the lazy route towards nitpicking.

Unease but hope

At the moment there is more unease to be displayed than joy to endorse localism, but this is because I am holding back, wanting to (and willing to) understand more about the subject and its objectives. I feel that localism has been a mass of buzzwords launched too early in advance before government has convened most of the substance together, and that is worrying. Indeed most of the uncertainty does not stem from the continual pattern of frontloading that is taking place that others might transpire to state as their concern, such as the rapid but thwarted abolishment of the regional tier and frontloading of local government spending reductions. I admire cutting to the chase, being specific and going ahead with what you stated you would do. But in order to represent true grit and determination, there needs to be some dialogue of what happens, how are conflicts going to be mitigated and a transparent framework to evaluate success. With the localism agenda I see little thought on this, and a constant drizzle of policy introductions. While I would like concrete, all I see is blancmange – that is at least until we have a proper breakdown of localism’s powers, which are slowly creeping in. I see the ideas born out of localism and the big society to have a poor spatial understanding, with policies that are too simplified. For example the New Homes Bonus, intended to incentivise house building in areas of demand, will work extremely well in the South East and other areas with housing pressures. But this will be woeful in places with negative take up, causing a funding shortfall for local authorities who will receive little merit from the Bonus. I would endorse that if Localism is to provide these kinds of measures, there needs to be multiple versions to specify not just who but where will benefit from them.

Radical? Not quite!

 I find localism to be less radical than previously thought – take the whole concept of ‘decentralisation’ for example. Under the new localism based principles local communities would have obligatory powers to produce their own neighbourhood development plan, but the housing numbers still have to either match or be higher than any previously proposed under regional planning or the local plan. We also have environmental directives to consider from Brussels, which we have little enforcement of. Therefore I would argue that true ‘pure’ localism cannot be achieved, instead an uneven patchwork quilt of civic responsibility will be encouraged across the country.

Civic responsibility is something I find a virtue here, albeit with caution

Civic responsibility is a fundamental feature of society that has in part been lost. I treasure attempts to bring some of this back into the wider rhetoric on the street and at the local level. However, the reality put into practice is that our lifestyles do not always arrange well to being responsible, supporting others and working for nothing. It is something I personally advocate, but know many personalities who would not work with the concept. Having said that, I can imagine that the element to embrace civic responsibility will work well in certain places, but will be severely dictated by geography. Places including rural areas that still have community spirit and diverse urban neighbourhoods such as student areas with higher levels of volunteering rates could benefit from localism principles and the big society. But in places that are comparatively deprived and facing similar budget reductions, or rural areas that have lost their soul to poor attitudes and wrong decisions, localism is bound to be a struggle. The big society motive may be better in these areas to rally people together as part of a wider social welfare remit, but it will be particularly weak when applied to planning. Big society and localism will no doubt fuel the power relations of whoever has the greatest stake, and the greatest influence on development proposals. With the advent of neighbourhood plans, this is likely to get larger as the prospect of developer funded plans may become a reality.

But there surely will be a  rise of the third sector even during times of restraint and potential austerity

Overall, I see much potential for the third sector, despite their own financial pressures brought on by questionable times, to experience a rise of take up or interest in their work from local people as a result of localism. This is inevitable, no matter what the variety of opinion is on the matter, and is accentuated if protest goes unheeded.  If the government acts on its ideologies and mobilised campaigns to protect the built environment fail, then in certain places people will have no choice but to join such organisations to try and make their areas work once again. Furthermore, the voluntary sector can be a means with which to represent a stronger unified voice to inform the government on best ways forward. I can increasingly see the third sector starting to lean on the side of pressure groups as a result of localism; their bargaining power increased but the eventual decision not necessarily as decentralised as first imagined.

 Thanks for looking,

Chris

This article is written from a personal perspective.

New developments for 2011

Dear all,

This is actually my first blog post of 2011, which is pretty shameful. But today is Autism Sunday and marks a good time to write a new blog post. Tthere have been many work developments during the tail end of 2010 that were part of a ‘restructure’. For example, while work in the student movement is still alive it is now more compact than it once was. Some of the earlier work had been inspiring roles with mostly excellent people and projects but I often misjudged the complexity of characters and structures I had to work with. The end of 2010 also represented a time whereby I was operating in a clique situation which is one of the more detestable frameworks to be part of for a person with Asperger Syndrome. I do however miss the work at the NUS Disabled Students’ Campaign which was accompanied to the other NUS roles and had to go with it. The restructure had nothing to do with the student protest movements occuring (unfortunately) at the same time, even though I had made it quite clear on some of the important advantageous (and disadvantageous) effects of that on the students  I was representing.

I firmly believe that representing students is still very important, but now possess a greater understanding of the most efficient avenues where success can be achieved for student welfare. I felt bizarrely drowned out of the wider concept of ‘who has the loudest voice’ for a short while, but now I am back and willing to be involved in more items. Incidentally, I took the choice of being a commuting student in autumn 2010 which was not one of lifes greatest decisions and both of these emotional drawbacks led to the restructure. Hopefully for 2011 I am back once again to develop new opportunities for students. I have started to engage with new extra-curricular society and built environment roles, including as a Parish Councillor from November 2010. Hopefully I can give balance to local issues and concerns and be pragmatic with solutions. I am no NIMBYist which can often (rightly) go attached with local representation. On a personal note I am quite a vociferous objector to the emerging localism agenda but if this is preferred locally to me then I am of course willing to endorse it. Expect a new blog article on the big society and localism principles very soon.

Recent work

Degree and work

Recently I have been busy completing coursework assignments on the National Infrastructure Plan, Local Area Action Planning and a Strategic Planning debate. I have also been completing the Green Space Strategy at work which is a great scheme to be given the opportunity to be involved in, especially for developing competencies of forward planning. It feels terribly odd to be finishing the degree this June, but exciting to be looking forward to the rest of the year. In terms of where I would like to be, transport planning or environmental planning is the most favourable but developments in the disability field since participating in voluntary activities has led me to consider this field in the future. The likes of the National Autistic Society and Equality and Human Rights Commission are always on the agenda.

Aspergers and Me

2011 is an important year as I finish my final year of the Masters in Urban Studies and Planning. It also marks a year where I will restart parts of my book, ‘Aspergers and Me’ to develop it into an exciting collection of major interest areas that form educational life. I am putting more attention into finishing it off this year but have always had no set end date for the book – it is something that has to be developed, not rushed. If you are a publisher that specialises in books on autism and Asperger Syndrome please contact me for more details. It would be excellent to discuss the book in person.

Aim Higher and National Autistic Society lecturing

In November 2010 I lectured on the “student and personal experience” the Postgraduate Certificate in Asperger Syndrome for the National Autistic Society/Sheffield Hallam University. This took place in Glasgow and I have been asked to do a third session in Nottingham in March 2011.

On January 28th, I spoke at the Action on Access Aim Higher National Forum, University of Greenwich. This was on the importance of the outgoing Aim Higher programme to disabled students to an audience mostly confined to disability practitioners in higher education. The session included a rountable discussion at the end and I gave suggestions to the audience as to how the more successful aspects of Aim Higher could be incorporated into a new rationalised framework, and the importance of student unions on the concept of “student experience”.

It is planned that I will be working on multiple projects during Autism Awareness Week. If you would like me to be involved in your organisation’s preparations please send a message via the contact page.

Thanks for looking.

Chris

Living through the world of Aspergers in Higher Education

Hello,

In my first comprehensive blog post for a while, I write to go through some of the worlds and scenarios experienced on a daily basis and how the contribution of Asperger Syndrome fuels the their appearance, management and operation. This post is indeed a precursor to the more detailed section on university life that forms part of my book, Asperger and Me. I hope you read this section with interest and take an understanding from it. Please get in touch through the ‘Contact page’.

Living through the world of Aspergers in Higher Education

As I commence fourth year studies, I reminisce about the way in which AS is presented to fellow students. Plenty has been asked in the past three years in Sheffield as to how I essentially view items in life compared to other students and it is more under preoccupation now that this is not always communicated in the best way. I realised towards the end of third year that I had become rather bitter about communicating with some people and came across stern, stubborn and without empathy, and for this I apologise. To you I hope this post will help you in the understanding and that I, and other people in similar situations sometimes have little self awareness on expression and presentation to other people. Some of your inquisitiveness to ask more inquisitively, and not patronisingly about AS has most definately been a good standpoint as despite the environmental difficulties imposed on the wider field of disability, I appreciate it can be very difficult to ask someone of the parameters of their condition.

General Context to Specific Interest Areas

Asperger Syndrome is more commonly associated with undertaking more intense specific interests and having remarkable attention to detail. For me, this has extended over the years to most forms of transport, geography including buildings. Most of the transportation agenda waned by the time I was fourteen, resulting in a less compulsive desire to memorise train timetables, or indeed be enthralled by a comparatively banal regional service to my local town. Equally, by fourteen there was less of a preoccupation to visit East Midlands Airport to view that same Sunday afternoon arrival from Jersey. But the specifics of going to that venue to see that particular vehicle transferred in other ways and today the specific interests have taken a different turn.

In recent years the transportation agenda has been mostly exclusive to cars – I’m in incessent petrolhead – the sort that does not know how to change anything mechanically but reminisces about certain specifics of cars. I was well known for example of ordering car brochures, reading them once and never again, only to read off the equipment specifications and where they were built. I also am a strong proponent of British Cars (despite the lack of nowadays) and have such a belated following to MG Rover vehicles. I source these specifics down to a routined way of thinking and understanding that comes with my AS diagnosis. I stand out in this regard for being so rigid. For example, no other car other than an MG Rover product was considered when buying a motor. Even with them going bankrupt 5 years ago and the vehicles getting ever old the aim at some point is to stick with idiosyncratic opinion and conform to the pipe and slippers beige leather/walnut dashboard environment that is so nice to sit in!

Where Town Planning as  a ‘Specific Interest Area’ arised from…

A second specific interest has been in geography, maps and buildings, commencing a long time ago. Back in 1997 at the age of 8, when everyone else at the kids club was away on the playstation or getting sucked into some other technology, I was sat at the table producing large A0, A1 and A2 maps based on the AA mapbook system or intricately laid out place with every individual building, road, road sign, tree, gate, and so on created on the paper. The specifics within the maps in particular were churches, cathedrals, railways, airports and brands, reflecting major interests of the time and things I saw out of the window on random car trips to town. Towns and cities were based on real places but often with a change of name , and I am pleased to say some of these maps still exist – place names included “Teeds”, “Tollbridge”, “Halifax”, “Harborough” and so on. Halifax even had the National Railway Museum, miraculously moved from York.

The overarching interest in geography has extended from this initial base point of maps right way through the educational stages. I would not have been so rigid and focused, more so than most other students, to be able to say at age 12 that I wanted to do Town Planning at University. ….

And so thats what I went for….

I took a route towards Higher Education to serve my specific interest of the built environment, but also because it is the only option for full town planning chartership. This suits the no-nonsense approach that many might associate me with, cutting to the chase and not allowing for much wish wash on the ways that you can achieve something.

Delaying aspirations and support methods that brought them back

Through secondary education I had to delay those aspirations at times, as these stages brought toil and trouble through bullying, crushing of ones specific interest and commitment into a culture of sameness, being sheeps and lemmings, a ‘me-too’ attitude, among the other pupils that is. The methods of support in place for my AS stemmed from a long winded but successful process to obtain a Special Educational Needs Statement, and these support methods helped lift those aspirations out of the hole in the ground and keep them alive. For example, it supported ways for me to manage a special interest so that it would not detrimentally affect social relations with other people, as it had done previously by boring others to sleep or accentuating teasing. It also helped identify where my additional skills were, as previously these were unbeknown to me including articulation of handwriting and speaking in front of audiences. The characteristic of AS to have difficult self perception was very rife at this stage for me and partly overcoming this can be sourced to educational support methods.

Importance of Routine in the daily life at University and other Commitments

On the most part, despite the odd difficult piece of work or annoyance that I am only in for a few hours a week, I have thoroughly enjoyed town planning as a degree and have bolstered it with as many other commitments as can be enjoyed to my interests within the routine. Living with AS is all about routine, schedule, time commitment and dilligence. I deliberately work on a schedule of making my university week comparable to a full time working week, including getting on with the work in some ways, shapes and forms and even deliberately checking over and working on things to the day before the deadline. I assign a programme of work right from starting an assignment right until the end but often hand in items early to give knowledge that I have that leeway. By comparison, iff you leave things until the last minute there is no chance for a leeway. It is something that I thrive on and being on an ordinary University schedule makes me feel extremely lost, at times lazy and generally uneducated about the wider world. That does not mean I think that fellow students are like this, its just that I cannot suit myself to a slower pace of routine. Despite the packed schedule I hope to convey a dilligence to always be there for people in some capacity. This is part of the compassionate nature that is often forgotten in AS, to try and broaden out to everyone, sometimes manifested out of earlier social problems. I certainly believe that after having no one and establishing better social communication principles that I lead a better life with acquaintances. Cliques are something that depresses me but constitute as everyday life for some. But I did find that in a give or take scenario where we are supposed to look out for each other, my busy schedule was perceived to be ‘Chris is not bothering anymore’. Far from it, I just am a strong convenor/rigid to the give and take principles of social communication. I contact you, you then contact me. Not seen me for a while? Come and visit.This all seems dreadfully authoritarian but in reality if not present there would be plenty of chaotic scenes. Without some rule abidance and schedule I am hardly anything and that is being frank. The anxiety of working without this would be to the scale that I could not go to university. So it has to stay. What I and other people with AS ask kindly without arrogance is that others work around the schedule where possible.

Social Communication

This is the most reported characteristic of having AS and involves the ‘brick wall’ that most of us with the condition experience when concerning interaction with other people. I started off in primary school by not speaking to others, instead communicating through hitting people and sealing off parts of the room for my own use. I also assigned my own table and own computer printed table sign for example. Social communication was limited to specific interest areas, although there was no interaction as this would involve physically taking my toy trains or interrupting my path on the pretend runway for east midlands airport that I was planning to take off from. Both were no go areas. Extend 10 years after this into secondary education and the fundamentals of this still existed but basic communication was still there. But the era is compounded by neglect and isolation and is not favoured in the viewpoints of many people with AS. The time was compounded by an ignorance to realise that ‘difference’ is a virtue sometimes and that not everybody has to be the same.

How has University benefitted me and possibly others with AS?

For me, further and higher education was the getaway from the above thought process. Both were far more inclusive environments to the sociologies of difference and despite lots of work to improve services for disabled people, they allow you to be yourself more. At University there is an ability among others to respect my interests, which in turn improves my ability to respect theirs – another skill added. The closed bubble of University suits me because I can move away from aspects of social life that present anxieties and crucially specify ones that I feel comfortable with. University is beneficial for people with AS including me as it bolsters the leadership skills that enhance group situations that were often so difficult for many of us in previous education, and can still be troublesome. The problem for many people with AS is actually getting to University due to hurdles earlier on. I for example was one of less than 10 students on the spectrum at my whole University upon arrival in 2007/8. Now there are more but we are still talking less than 20. That is a grave concern and I share the plight of going through those difficulties. Many people with AS are incredibly intelligent at what they want to achieve and be interested in and they are often witheld from getting this far.

Additionally, gaining confidence of AS prior to going to University established another specific interest area around the research of autistic spectrum conditions and helping other people with a disability. This has now extended to the representation work that is familiar on this blog and is something I am fascinated and proud to work with. It represents a point where I am happy to have changed to the extent that I have the capacity to help other people out.

What remains a daily difficulty through having AS?

I am going to focus on the most specific of these issues, and they are:

1. Taking conversation literally and struggling to adapt to change
2. Sensory difficulties
3. Trying to water down what I feel comfortable with.

1. The biggest ongoing problem for me with AS is taking conversation literally and struggling to adapt to change. This causes considerable anxiety and often over comparatively small items to other people. This is why there is so  much rhetoric on others presenting a different sensory environment to people with AS so that it is more legible and less full of hurdles.

For example, the worst questions ever posed to me or indeed anyone with AS could be on the lines of the following:

• “Chris, could you put the paper there please?”
• “Chris, would you like to meet in the morning, lunchtime or afternoon?”
• “Oh we’ll see how we feel in the morning and I’ll text you as to when we want to meet up”
• During a meeting, after bringing all paperwork, through being efficient “we have got full copies for you to take away ….”
• “Did you have a good weekend Chris?”

These questions are of no use to someone with AS, they do not include many specifics, to incentivise the social communication that can sometimes be difficult with us. It is not that we are weak, or challenged in any way, we just require bolstering to kickstart initial conversation.

But ask me more rigidised questions, and the answers are far more legible.

• “Shall we say 2.30pm Chris?”
• “The weather was good this weekend wasn’t it Chris, did you go out on Sunday afternoon too?”
• “Chris, please can you put the Guardian on the table?”
• Email before meeting “Copies provided for the meeting attendees”

2. I have acute difficulty with noise, to the extent of kicking up much fuss over fire alarm faults in first year that caused psychological problems and wearing earplugs at most nightclub venues. Without the support of peers this can turn into a very difficult and anxious situation and people with AS, no matter whether acquainted or close to others, need to be recognised that they want reassurance in these situations. Walking off in a nightclub and leaving someone and their AS to deal with it is not comprehendable. Equally, the sensory difficulties are often comparable to the mindblock experienced in exams, you literally freeze and it can often extend as far as a panic attack.

3. The final point is raised in my conclusion, but there have been times in  education where I am on undue pressure to cut back my ‘differences’ to fit in. I say that the way of being slightly bitter in third year at times was a way of fighting this back. I conclude by raising the following comment that I have often raised in presentations about AS to academics, students and professionals:

“Taking the negative issues out of the equation it is simply an absolute delight to recall past aspects of being a standalone figure in the class, the home, the street and other environments. Turn back the clock and I could not envisage any pride of having a behavioural problem, but now I find lots of the characteristics that define me as positive, not the generic person on the street as positive. A particular comfort zone is having old fashioned ways, itself manifested out of my AS. Here there is no chance of me retreating from the armchair, cup of tea in hand and the box set of Keeping Up Appearances being put to full use, in exchange of a hip life of being Mr ‘me-too’, watching the latest hit reality television nonsense and buying out any product with the letter i at the beginning. I am simply not like the latter, and instead prefer to blend idiosyncrasy with a slight hint of modern. I’ve only just got used to the idea of keeping up with fashions and at least consider myself as aware of cars and the music scene, house and chill out in particular which are certainly not backward. But that is crucially me and my ways in my world when appropriate that is surely something to treasure when there is so much pressure these days to be monotonous, and what the media or your peers insinuate you should be like.”

Thanks for looking,

Chris

NUS Higher Education Coalition Budget Cuts Conference 29th June 2010

I went to this event to represent the NEC and tap into issues that may affect the NUS Disabled Students’ Campaign and University of Sheffield Union of Students. What took place was a majority verdict that a broader conversation had been outlined that pushes forward with a national demonstration and making a bigger and better activist base more advantageous, particularly to those less politically orientated. I would certainly advocate the latter as it can often be too crushing to be stuck in the political quagmire, even though it is necessary.

We spoke little on the effect of the budget cuts in the arena specific to disabled students, as the event covered ‘the student body’ in its entirety, although I would argue that a majority of channels that University funding goes towards will affect the students I represent at some point during higher education. We discussed at length the lists of such channels including:

• Student numbers
• Student support services
• Quality control & monitoring
• IT provision Courses
• Bursaries & Scholarships
• Estate Management & Rents
• Staff Costs

It was our role to decipher what was most likely to be cut, and why, and if there ‘channels’ that affected all or most of the others which one would it be? Overall a very valuable insight and at first, an appreciated clash of viewpoints and judgements (leading to a negotiation of compromise). The majority of the conference concerned workshops and speeches by NUS full time officers (Aaron Porter and Usman Ali), Student Union Sabbatical Officers (Liverpool Guild of Students), and the UCU.

One workshop of note was coping with cuts to the student experience, where three different Unions gave their perspective of forthcoming reductions in University spending. I listened to in the workshop, and later spoke to RUSU officers, about the proposed cutbacks at Reading University to disability support, among other services. An outcome of this conference has been to ask for more information about this case specific occasion, but am fully aware that this is likely to be a repeated issue nationwide as budgets are tightened and disabled students are affected. Kings College London also referred to a similar situation. One to note is that in instances where disability support is reduced financially, the effect on the student is not always that their support measures are cut, but instead are delayed. That is one importance difference to define and the conference helped in that respect.

Finally, something that could affect us is the clash between widening participation by increasing student numbers versus a financial reduction. Would we get into a situation where participation is proudly endorsed with more students yet the student experience is compromised and people graduate disenchanted? It is imperative that the government sticks with the internal statistics, percentages and goals for disabled students that come to university, regardless of the amount of places each year.

I did get a little cheesed off at times at the characters wandering around with petitions as the guest speakers took stand to voice their part and considered this insensitive. I too disappreciated the slightly robotic applause at times that appeared to be operated on a puppet string, But on the whole this was very engaging, both as a networking event (even though I remained mostly quiet and reserved) and as an opener of new opinion. It also made a case in hand that if Student Unions are to do a national demonstration about Higher Education funding, then they aught to do so effectively, organised in advance and a date set quickly for it to be successful. Mobilising the troops must commence.

Blog Post: Winning University of Sheffield Chancellor’s Medal 2010

Hello all,

I received an out of the blue phone call from the former Sheffield Union Welfare Officer Kathryn Axon on Wednesday to announce that she and others had been a little crafty. Over the previous month I had been asked many questions about work life, commitments and jobs concerning the disability field and the degree. This included requests to send over material and documentation, such as my book synopsis. Nothing ‘twigged’ to be honest here but it all fell into place upon realising the purpose of Wednesday’s phone call.

It was at this point that Kathryn said that those conversations had been to support a nomination for the Chancellor’s Medal 2010 at Graduation and that the call was to state that I had won the award for outstanding services to disability support at Sheffield University, to be presented on 21st July 2010.

I have to say I am absolutely honoured and stunned to be receiving this accolade. There are many deserving characters every year who are in line for recognition at this level and little would I have known that my name would have been considered. I will be quite frank and say that it will not truly hit home until graduation day when on the stage to collect the medal. I continue to this day to be working hard in the interest of equality and diversity and equal opportunities. University opened up a new field of opportunity to be involved in protecting the interests of students with a disability, at a time where I was becoming more robust to dealing with my own condition. It has been, and will continue to be I am sure, a tremendous experience to improve the student experience not only for students with additional support needs, but also to contribute to the wider student body. Most crucially, to be listed as a voice in meetings and as an advocate is probably what I most treasured, with the medal now capping off 3 years of work that I apparently ‘was too modest about and did not sit down and contemplate about enough as to the impact.’ It is fantastic to be recognised in this way, but if you don’t mind I will continue to get on with the job after graduation, it is not finished yet!

Disability work will continue to be high on the agenda. I will continue as a Town Planning Masters student at Sheffield University incorporating the disability support and advice roles, and with National Union of Students (NUS). Rest assured this is the beginning of a long and maintained interest in striving for equality.

Note of thanks

I thank former Students’ Union Officers Kathryn Axon and Rebecca Watson for submitting the nomination, the other Students’ Union sabbatical officers in 2008-09 and 2009-10 and staff in the Union (Fiona Bateson at the Source for one) for pushing me forward to run for disability roles in the students union and recognising potential, Head of Service Claire Shanks and Jayne Woodward, together with their colleagues at the Disability/Dyslexia Support Service for their very supportive work in improving disability support at the university. I too thank all staff I have worked with at academic departments,  to negotiate for a better student experience, friends and people on the course for perseveering through speeches, election manifestos and not always being around owing to an event, meeting or conference. I hope you will realise that my absense at times was because of enthusiasm in doing this job rather than anything else. I also pay many thanks to Lincoln Minster School for pushing me forward at sixth form to work hard in achieving what I wanted to do, and this accolade brings further thought to the support department at Sir William Robertson High School, all involved here has changed the personal outlook on disability that has brought on the interest to make achievable promises in the field. Additionally, the Vice-Chancellors, Pro-Vice Chancellors and Learning and Teaching colleagues at Sheffield University who considered my nomination to stand out of the crowd.

Finally, close family, an inspiration. You are wonderful.

Thanks for looking,

Chris

The University of Sheffield Chancellor’s Medal 2010 will be presented on the morning of July 21st 2010 during the graduation ceremony.

Faculty Student Forum

Good afternoon all,

I currently co-chair the Faculty of Social  Sciences Student Forum at the University of Sheffield, which meets twice per year and seeks to outline the ‘big issue’ among students within all 13 Social Sciences subjects. This is principally concerned with not merely “my journals cannot be accessed” but are instead a reliable portal for seeking best practice and devising a strategy for student identity and enagement with the Faculty itself. The forum could also be a voice for topics that students may consider as too ‘highbrow’ for any decision making to be dealt with at departmental level, as it may affect more than one department within the faculty. As such, the group met this morning to convey ideas about the strategy for the year ahead, recruiting new members and establishing where any clashes and overlaps are with similar committees within departments and the Students’ Union.

We also received a mention about the Academic Skills Hub (TASH) which is a commendable function, if again overlapping in the context of roles with other services. TASH provides support on the likes of job references, constructing dissertation analysis, report writing and much more. I highlighted in the  meeting that TASH had been especially relevant to dual-degree/honour students who had been lost in the mire of ‘ambiguity’ between the instructions of their main department and the voice of the secondary department. For them TASH was the even medium for them to go to to advise on the best way forward, particularly when the dual honours student was faced with two types of essay style and structure in both of their departments and they were unaware as to how to apply their skills on paper. Additionally it was felt in the meeting that TASH would be especially relevant for academic departments to take on board as part of a given module for new students; to almost employ TASH to convey lectures. This has been done through the Centre for Inquiry Based Learning at the Arts and Social Sciences (CILASS) network before.

The Faculty Forum is again a work in progress – it has been running for the past 18 months and we would wish to strengthen the role of the group for years to come – it is our intent to expand out ‘Student Ambassador Networks’ to replace part of the CILASS responsibility (CILASS projects end this year) and to reiterate the importance of Faculty identity into the future, Social Sciences currently feels ambiguous in the ‘home’ or ‘base’ it wishes to establish itself with and we will be working on how students can understand us better.

Thanks for looking,

Chris

Sheffield Students Union Council Meeting 29th April 2010

Sheffield Union Council

Good afternoon,

29th April was my first Union Council in a while (woops I missed the last one because of NUS National Conference), but even then I feel slightly less representative than usual because I had to leave early because of the Town Planning Ball! The meetings are far less controversial these days compared to last year when there was so much to be angry and passionate about, although there was another “welcome” return to a motion on Gaza that I would otherwise talk for England on but by then I’d lost touch and got tense instead (I left during the motion). All I will say is that until a fair system of providing aid to “countries, areas or educations in conflict” is suggested I will continue to dismiss the reasoning to specify Gaza as the special example in the world. I find it extremely exclusionary to whatever else is going on here, and it could not come at a worse time when our Union and University will no doubt have to cut back its own resources.

Did I speak during the meeting?

You can always guarantee that I’ll have an opinion on matters at Union Council, and the meeting commenced with a presentation by the head of Univesity of Sheffield Accommodation and Campus Services, Pat McGrath. After a typical presentation of statistical data about how wonderful ACS was, and how poor it was in other areas like International Student integration and value for money (now there is a surprise),  I gave Pat a few suggestions.

1. The survey that ACS gives out to students for opinion of accommodation had a large increase of take up this year, but still stood at a woeful amount. As a fierce advocate of mandating methods like surveys, job roles, responsibilites and contracts I suggested why ACS had not logically thought to use the login system for new students at university to their advantage. ACS requires students to access a secure area for their housing contract, and with them having to keep details on file it seems fair to mandate students to reuse this login at the end of the year to a) fill in the survey and b) only after the survey is filled in, they can click on their room and sign out of the accommodation c) give over the keys in person at the desk as normal.
2. I also suggested that in light of recent open days that I have been to with prospective students, it was unfair to solely ‘glamorise’ the new accommodation premises and skirt over the issue that well over 1,000 places are provided in cheaper university owned accommodation like Stephenson/Halifax Halls, Crew Flats, Endcliffe Crescent and so on. With prices now being severely high I expected better from ACS and suggested that this be included for the benefit of students that might not be able to afford rents of four thousand pounds a year and counting.

I also spoke under ‘Councillors Business’, reporting on a meeting between myself, the Sheffield Union Welfare Officer (Jenni Hastings), Womens Officer (Amy Sutherland), and the Disability/Dyslexia Support Service/Student Health and Well Being. This was to discuss the prospect of a meeting room or ‘rest space’ for students with additional support needs, for example in between lecture times or away from the often presumed ‘haven’ of the library. I know that the library is not a haven at times, particularly the IC which has reformed into a “have a chat about any old tat” space during lunchtime, so it was important to find an alternative solution. Many academic departments also lack such a facility and an eventual aim from future meetings may be to direct faculties at Sheffield University to oversee and provide rest spaces for the representation of our students. In the meantime I reported that the meeting had brought an agreement to launch a pilot rest space in the Octagon Centre that could be overseen by existing security staff in the building, although a risk assessment would have to be conducted by the Disability/Dyslexia Support Service. It is envisaged that this pilot study will commence in September 2010 at the start of the next academic year.

Stepping down as Sheffield Union Disabled Students’ Councillor, June 2010

Hello all,

Just an update to say that after the current academic year ends I will step down as Disabled Students’ Councillor at University of Sheffield Union of Students. I have worked in the role from October 2008-October 2009 and again from March 2010 as an interim measure. On the whole it has been very good working in this job but next year I will be living in Lincolnshire and commuting to Sheffield so it makes little sense to continue when I will be in the city only sporadically. The job also requires plenty of time to have to do it properly (I wish some councillors would recognise this) and I have dwindling amounts of that. I still do plenty of work in disability representation for the National Union of Students’, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the National Autistic Society so there is plenty more to be getting on with!

A new Councillor will be elected at the Students’ Union at the beginning of the 2010/11 academic year in October this year.

For more information on the Disabled Students’ Councillor role and the types of work covered between October 2008 and June 2010 please click on the ‘disability’ page of this blog.

Thanks for looking,

Chris

Guest talk – Support for Students with Asperger Syndrome and their Parents, Sheffield 28th April 2010

A copy of this talk on Microsoft Word is available here: Aim Higher talk to young people on the autistic spectrum and their families

Document is Verdana font size 12, please contact me for alternative formats.

University of Sheffield, Wednesday 28th April 2010

At this talk held at Sheffield University, I will be giving a talk on my experiences going through the student finance process as a student with Asperger Syndrome, including how I have progressed to work with disability support on finding the provisions that suit me. The talk will cover Disabled Students’ Allowance, the value of student mentoring and the role of the academic department in the studies of students with AS.

Thanks for looking,

Chris