I an very interested in this discussion on difficulty with access to
employment for disabled people. As a disabled student at the Open
University people might be interested to know that I was suspended
from the university on 17 July 2009 amd effectively thrown out. Did
I get a Hearing? Certainly not! I got a letter throwing me out. I
also got a letter from the Regional Director of the Open University
in London who gave me a final warning amd cut off my access to
communication with Open University law students. Where was the prior
warnings? There were none. This person is going through my file with
the aim of dicipling me. All of this flies in the face of natural
justice. My offences are as follows:
I want to know the number of students who have sat 50 per cent of
the third level law course W 300 since its inception 9 years ago.
I want to know why Special Arrangements were not made for me as a
disabled student in the last course I did in 2008 which I failed
despite having done very well throughout the assessments over the
year.
I an firmly of the opinion that the university threw me out because
they wanted to silence me on the issue of 50 per cent re-sit of an
examination. I discovered that students had been allowed to do this
which was hush hush.
I an not now going to be able to sit an exam amd pass it this year
as I an currently out amd the way the Open University works is that
assignments have to be put in every month. My next one is due on 12
August but I will still be out!
I have Appealed to the Senate of the University for lifting of my
suspension. Meeting not until 1 September. There are going to be 2
students on the panel. I wrote today saying that one of these
students should be blind, female amd the same age as myself. What do
others feel? In terms of information technology I communicate with
fellow students over the university website but they have stopped me
being able to do this. I have been unregistered amd isolated. I an a
disabled student amd thrown out amd not one staff member within the
university has given me an opportunity to speak. So from 17 July
until 1 September I an being punished without a hearing amd my
chance of doing amd passing my course this year are gone. I managed
to obtain my course material electronically but only after much ado
amd a written apology from the university. Someone wrote to the
university on my behalf about the course material in alternative
format. This was before I managed to get the material in alt
ernative format. The university wrote back to this Professor telling
him that 2 senior members of the law faculty visited me in my home!
I had to get the Open University to write back to the Professor to
say the information that 2 staff members visited me in my home was
not true. A total case of discrimination. I can assure everyone that
I have not had gross misconduct which I have been temporarily if not
permanently removed for from the university. There is no guarantee
that my suspension will be lifted.
-original message-
Subject: [access-uk] Re: action for blind people employment officers
From: "martin wilsher" <m.wilsher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 30/07/2009 6:04 pm
HIBarbra and all.
I am in a similar situation to will, and have gone for job
interviews and
also have gone on govt schemes to help get into work. Now let me
relay aa
few stories. I went on the new deal for disabled people. The DEA
basically
threw me at employers and said, the law says you cannot
discriminate, so
employ him. Most employers were enthusiastic until they actually
had to do
soemthing to help me over and above their usual, then they binned
me, after
about three days in one case. Then I went on another scheme that
afbp told
me was accessible to blind. Turned out they weren't, and that they
were in
it for the EU money. I went in dressed in a suit, with laptop, copy
of jaws
on pendrive, for SATOGO and SA weren't known to me then, and with
NRA in
hand. I was first asked, where's your carer, then when I told them
I'd
lived on my own for years, they dropped that question. I explained
about
jaws for windows, and about what it was. They wouldn't let me
install it.
In the end, I had to jobsearch with my own computer. They could not
even
make the course amterials in accessible format. About the only
thing this
place did was give me funding to do voluntary work with a riding
stable.
Now they were meant to come to the stable to check I was actually
doing the
work, and did they? No. They were meant to get in touch with my
boss, but
tdid they? No. I spent six mmonths doing my part of the thing,
while they
did nothing. This was another govt scheme btw, and at one point,
they tried
to claim that giving me an ethernet cable to allow me to connect to
their
intrnet was accessibily, and they'd complied with the Dda because of
this.
Hmm, no. AFBP blew hot air at this company, but that was it. And
yes, this
was new labour. I am going for an nvq this september, and I wonder
if AFBP
will help me if I get into trouble with access? Probably not.
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