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Diversity

Hidden Disabilities

28 January 2022
Gayathri Eknath

Gayathri Eknath

DiSTEM’s first event!

On January 26th 2022, the first Diversity in STEM (DiSTEM) event of the year took place – and it was a major success! We had a record attendance of 68 people from a very diverse profile within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The event was introduced by Wendy Sadler who reminded everyone about our rebranding and upcoming events, and hosted by Rupert Perkins. We started with some remarks by Eluned Parrott, who shared her personal experience as an autistic person. This was followed by a presentation by Bethan Griffiths and Julie Budgen on hidden disabilities and what kind of support the University can offer. This sparked a very interesting and engaging discussion with the audience afterwards, who were curious about diagnoses, access to support, etc. It was a very enlightening event on hidden disabilities with plenty of useful information for all parties involved in supporting this concrete minority. Thank you very much Eluned, Bethan and Julie!

About the event

Hidden disabilities: raising awareness, our responsibilities and the support available for students and staff

This session gave an introduction to hidden disabilities and how they may impact on students and staff in relation to study and work. Although recognising the broad spectrum of hidden disabilities, the session focused on neurodiverse conditions.  The speakers highlighted our responsibilities regarding equality, diversity and inclusivity and the support available to students and staff at Cardiff university. There was also information on some of the wider work Cardiff University is doing to reduce stigma, heighten awareness and create an inclusive environment and how we could get involved.

About our speakers

Eluned Parrott – Eluned is the Institute Of Physics (IOP) Head of Wales and was formerly an Assembly Member in the National Assembly for Wales.

Bethan Griffiths – Bethan is the Senior Disability Adviser in the Disability and Dyslexia Service at Cardiff University. With extensive knowledge of neurodiverse and other conditions, her role is to assess the needs of students directing them to the appropriate support and advising departments on reasonable adjustments. Formally a study skills tutor, she now supervises the team of Disability Advisers who directly support students in accessing the support they entitled to.

Julie Bugden – Julie is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer in Human Resources at Cardiff University. She works primarily on staff areas to progress equality work and supports staff, networks, steering and other groups,  with their work (including in the area of disability).  She delivers training in the areas of disability, equality, diversity and inclusion and mental health as well as working on other diversity areas both within the university and with wider community projects.

Contacts

Anyone wishing to contact the Student Disability Service can email: studentconnect@cardiff.ac.uk. The slides from the event can be found here.

Video Recording