Favourites: Add | View

James Rose

A student who happens to be in a wheelchair

My move from college to university was a big one! Everybody finds this move difficult – especially when living away from home. The thought of coming to live in Falmouth did scare me as when I visited, I didn’t see many people, as Tremough campus was still being built. So why did I come here? As I use an electric wheelchair, one of the big factors was to find somewhere to live, which had enough space for me to move about. Well, when I visited when Glasney Parc was being built, I was disappointed when I found out that my room would be smaller than a standard room! Yes, that’s right – the architect cleverly thought that he would make the bathrooms bigger thus taking up more floor space in my bedroom leaving me with very little space to move around in. They have now sorted this out by combining two rooms, so that I can have my workstation in the room without being trapped!

When I started at Falmouth, I was very anxious to meet people and make friends. Making friends, up untill now, had been difficult due to others being nervous about talking to me due to the fact that I’m in a wheelchair and having a speech problem. I was also very homesick when I began – however, this distracted me from trying too hard to make friends. Before I knew it, I was making friends all over the place – I got over this massive hurdle!

Actually, my friends are the only reason why I’m still here! Don’t get me wrong – the academic side of things are cool – it’s when I’m not at university, which is the problem! Well, most of it anyway! For the very first semester, I had to rely on my friends to help me round college all the time, as I didn’t have any funding for any academic support. Why? Because my social worker (from Hampshire) decided to combine the funding for academic support with the funding for ‘personal care’. In other words, she expected one qualified ‘carer’ to help me at home as well as at university for each semester. Well, firstly, the ‘carer’ was not trained in note-taking, and secondly, this arrangement meant that the ‘carer’ didn’t have a lot of time for himself. Ergo, this put a strain on the working relationship between us. I am on Direct Payments now, so this means that I can now employ people privately without going through an agency.

I am going to see if I can get more hours of non-academic help – socialising is a big part of going to university. If I can’t do this, I might as well not be here! The funny thing is that the people who are used to working with this thing called ‘disability’ (at Social Services) seem to be making it harder for me to succeed at university compared to the people at the university, who are trying to make my life easier!I don’t like complaining but I want to live my life – this includes going out in the evenings, having a few drinks, and then coming back home in the early hours!!!

By the way, earlier when I was discussing carers, I put the word carer in inverted commas. I call the people who are employed to help me Personal Assistants or Assistants. I don’t need caring for or looking after – I know how to look after myself – I just need help physically to do it. So many people automatically assume that I’m not responsible for my actions. However, most people at university know me enough to know that this is not true. My black Labrador Assistant Dog has helped people to realise this, as they see me being responsible for a dog.

I am currently suffering from drama withdrawal – I am going to join or create a theatrical production group, as my ambition is to work in performing arts. I believe that live theatre performance is the most expressive art there is – my opinion, of course!

Overall, being a student who uses a wheelchair is not easy, but I’m not saying that anyone (including me) should feel sorry for me either. Being around friends does help a lot. I am a normal person, but I can’t walk and talk fluidly.

More Stories >