Intersectionality reveals how overlapping forms of structural oppression shape experiences of marginalisation (Crenshaw, 1991). Originally rooted in Black feminist thought to explain how race and gender intersect, it now encompasses additional characteristics such as disability, class, and neurodivergence that compound exclusion within dominant white, ableist societies.
University of the Arts London (UAL) adopts the social model of disability, which “seeks to remove unnecessary barriers which prevent disabled people participating in society, accessing work and living independently. The social model asks what can be done to remove barriers to inclusion. It also recognises that attitudes towards disabled people create unnecessary barriers to inclusion and requires people to take proactive action to remove these barriers.” (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, n.d.). With 18% of UAL students declaring a disability in 2024, a 3% rise from 2022 (University of the Arts London, 2024; 2022), this growth may reflect students’ increasing agency in seeking support and accessible environments. As Spaeth and Pearson (2023) emphasise, “With the increasing recognition of the number of neurodivergent students in higher education, it is essential that we understand how to provide an inclusive educational experience that facilitates a positive learning experience.”
Moving away from the medical model towards the social model is vital, particularly for those with non-visible disabilities. Yet support systems such as Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) continue to rely on medical diagnosis, which remains inaccessible for many. From personal experience, this requirement creates significant barriers—some students may only realise they are disabled through academic struggles or stress-induced symptoms (Ormel et al., 1997). While UAL offers a range of assistive technologies (Fernandez, n.d.), government-funded support often operates within the medical model and relies on clinical gatekeeping.
Chay Brown, speaking from his lived experience, shares: “I’m a trans man with mental health difficulties, and I’m probably not neurotypical” (Brown, C. 2023), illustrating how neurodivergence and mental health challenges are often entwined. Emotional regulation difficulties are common among neurodivergent people: “Differences in emotional processing might make It more difficult to regulate the emotional impact of perceived challenges. Many ND people struggle with emotional dysregulation (feeling emotions particularly intensely and finding it hard to control them” (Motti, 2019; Webster, 2018, in Spaeth and Pearson, 2023). Long NHS waiting lists for autism or ADHD assessments, the cost of private routes, and stigma all deter individuals from pursuing diagnoses. UAL’ states “Change buildings, courses, and attitudes” — is constrained by a government model that “focuses on the impairment and what can be done to ‘fix’ the disabled person or provide special services for them as an individual” (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, n.d.).
Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory helps unpack these layered barriers. Class and gender inequalities are evident in UAL’s own demographics: “34% of home undergraduate students enrolling in December 2022 are from higher deprivation areas,” and “76% of all students are female; 24% are male” (University of the Arts London, 2024). Showing many UAL students face compounded marginalisation due to class, gender, and neurodivergence, further complicating potential access to support, and attainment and retention gaps.
Chay Brown acknowledges his privileges within the LGBTQ+ community —being white, cis-passing man—allows him to mask some challenges. In contrast, figures like Ade Adepitan cannot mask his visible disabilities or race. Using the visibility of the Paralympics and the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement, Ade spotlights how structural barriers prevent people from thriving. “With the correct support, coaching, and equipment, great things can happen.” As a Black British-Nigerian wheelchair user, Ade envisions a future where race and disability are not obstacles to success, prompting a collective reimagining of societal norms.
UAL’s own attainment data reinforces this potential. “For 2023/24, degree awarding has increased by 4 percentage points for students declared disabled and around 2 percentage points for students declared not disabled. As a result, the gap between the two groups has increased slightly to 4 percentage points in favour of students declared disabled. This continues the now long-term trend of disabled students having higher degree awarding rates.” (University of the Arts London, 2024). Echoing Ade’s message, this suggests that with the right support, disabled students can outperform peers—challenging assumptions of deficit and need.
Nationally, disabled educational attainment is improving: “The proportion of disabled people who had a degree or equivalent as their highest form of qualification increased by 9 percentage points between the year to June 2014 and the year to June 2021… In comparison, the proportion of disabled people with no qualifications has decreased steadily in recent years.” (House of Commons Library, 2023). UAL contributes to this shift, exemplifying how inclusive practices and accessible learning can drive educational equity.
Image 1: UAL Active Dashboards 2024/25 Available at : https://dashboards.arts.ac.uk/dashboard/ActiveDashboards/DashboardPage.aspx?dashboardid=5c6bb274-7645-4500-bb75-7e334f68ff24&dashcontextid=638681486282992055 ( Accessed 13 May 2025)
Image 2: House of Commons Library (2023) UK disability statistics: Prevalence and life experiences. Briefing Paper No. CBP-9602. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9602/CBP-9602.pdf (Accessed: 13 May 2025).
References
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (n.d.) Introduction to the Social and Medical Models of Disability. Available at: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/sites/default/files/FDN-218144_Introduction_to_the_Social_and_Medical_Models_of_Disability.pdf (Accessed: May 2025).
Fernandez, C. (n.d.) Assistive tech tools: quick and easy accessibility apps and extensions. Padlet. Available at: https://artslondon.padlet.org/cfernandez190/assistive-tech-tools-quick-and-easy-accessibility-apps-and-e-cvrv23tcnvjsvnp6 (Accessed: May 2025).
- In a representative sample of the UK population we found that common mental disorders (as a group and in ICD–10 diagnostic categories) and subthreshold psychiatric symptoms at baseline were both independently associated with new-onset functional disability and significant days lost from work at 18-month follow-up. Subthreshold symptoms contributed to almost half the aggregate burden of functional disability and over 32 million days lost from work in the year preceding the study. Leaving these symptoms unaccounted for in surveys may lead to gross underestimation of disability related to psychiatric morbidity.
Ormel, J., VonKorff, M., Ustun, T.B., Pini, S., Korten, A. and Oldehinkel, T. (1997) ‘Common mental disorders and disability: a longitudinal study’, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 171(6), pp. 507–513. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/E9637621B55F1B8251570BBE28E46C49/S0007125000253555a.pdf/common-mental-disorders-subthreshold-symptoms-and-disability-longitudinal-study.pdf (Accessed: May 2025).
- Crenshaw, Kimberle´ Williams (1989 and 1991) “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 1989
- Brown, C. (2023). ‘Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023’. Interview with Chay Brown. Interviewed for Parapride, 13 December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc ( Accessed April 2025)
- Adepitan, A. (2020). ‘Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism’. Interview with Ade Adepitan. Interviewed by Nick Webborn for Paralympics GB, 16 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU ( Accessed April 2025)
- University of the Arts London (2024) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion data report 2024. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/472836/UAL-EDI-data-report-2024-PDFA.pdf (Accessed: May 2025).
- UAL Active Dashboards 2024/25 Available at : https://dashboards.arts.ac.uk/dashboard/ActiveDashboards/DashboardPage.aspx?dashboardid=5c6bb274-7645-4500-bb75-7e334f68ff24&dashcontextid=638681486282992055 ( Accessed May 2025)
- House of Commons Library (2023) UK disability statistics: Prevalence and life experiences. Briefing Paper No. CBP-9602. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9602/CBP-9602.pdf (Accessed: May 2025).
- Spaeth, E. and Pearson, A. (2023) ‘A reflective analysis on neurodiversity and student wellbeing: Conceptualising practical strategies for inclusive practice’, Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 11(2). Available at: https://jpaap.ac.uk/JPAAP/article/view/517/662 (Accessed: May 2025).
Hi Leila. A great post which articulates the issue well regarding the limitations of the ‘medical model’ in addressing disability in the HE context – which “focuses on the impairment and what can be done to ‘fix’ the disabled person or provide special services for them as an individual” (PHSO, n.d.) rather than adapting the physical and social architecture in the way suggested by the ‘social model.’
I think that you also highlight an important point about the differences between the experience of Chay Brown and Ade Adeptian which draws attention to a key dimension of the intersections – race, disability and gender. Despite the other complicating intersections of disenfranchisement – Chay acknowledges his whiteness as an aspect of privilege in the LGBQT community – and as you point out he is a trans man who is “passing cis.” In the wider society this places him (at least on a superficial level) closer to the apex of the power structure – i.e. white and male. Whereas Ade cannot mask his visible disabilities or race.” This points to towards the paradox of visibility whereby structural disenfranchisement can both be exacerbated in the social world – and provide the essential signifier for *focusing events such as the paralympics or the Black Lives Matter movement, where the purpose is to promote the agenda of the disenfranchised in the mind of hegemonic (this is something which Christine Sun Kim also seeks to do through her art). Conversely, non- visible disabilities present barriers for students in HE, where support systems can remain inaccessible, as you have observed from your own experience. There is need to create a visibility for these characteristics, yet the inherent non-visibility makes this more difficult in the context of extant structures.
*focusing events – this is something that I learned about doing an MSc in International Public Policy – its an interesting concept about how events affect policy – The key articulation of this idea comes from Birkland (1998): https://www.jstor.org/stable/4007601?seq=1
Your analysis of UAL’s approach to disability and neurodiversity examines how institutional change and the capacity to support can be limited by systemic medical models of disability, perpetuated by external actors such as government bodies and the NHS. Your point that government protocols and clinical gatekeeping create bottlenecks and barriers that inhibit students from accessing support is especially important. It highlights how systemic delays and the stigma associated with obtaining medical diagnoses are deeply inhibiting.
Reference to UAL’s statistics offers reassuring evidence of progress under the social model. Yet, identifying potential gaps in disability and ND support needs to be continually reviewed by the university. As a Stage Leader, I am involved and responsible for making sure ISA students get the support they need. I have found that ISA students are some of our highest attaining students year after year, and I also see that many ND students with ISAs struggle. That’s not to say the ND students with high attainment do not struggle, or that the struggling students are not capable of high attainment. There are many systemic, personal, and intersectional reasons that contribute to these challenges. For ISA students, we provide support in multiple ways, one of them being adjusted assessments, such as reduced or modified submission deliverables or extra time of up to 14 days for summative submissions.
ISA provisions such as extended deadlines offer immediate academic relief, but they do not necessarily prepare students for the dynamic demands of professional environments, where such accommodations may not be available. What ND students need is personalised planning: tailored guidance on time management, executive function, and project organisation that empowers them to develop sustainable working habits.
Clouder et al. (2020) affirm this gap in institutional provision, stating: “One-off interventions such as providing assistive technologies or learning support are not enough. Support needs to be relational, sustained and tailored to individual needs” (p.12). Students, I find, need assistance in building personal mental and productivity frameworks that offer them long-term success and well-being in contexts outside of the university. Without that, they risk being overwhelmed—especially ND students who have not yet, or have only recently, been diagnosed and are still learning what support they need.
Finally, consider Ade Adepitan’s statement,“With the correct support, coaching, and equipment, great things can happen” in the context of UAL. It sets a high standard that I sometimes feel we fall short of. At times, UAL’s supportive measures appear designed to help students get by in the moment, rather than to thrive in the long term. We nurture students to produce great work, and ND students graduate in high numbers. However, I wonder how ND students who really struggled with aspects of their neurodivergence coped after graduation. What aspects of support at UAL or on the course helped them in the long term? Support must be more than academic mitigation; it needs to be explicitly aimed at helping students build ways of working that will serve them throughout their professional lives. Support, coaching, and tools must work in concert, not just to enable success at university.
References
Clouder, L., Karakus, M., Cinotti, A., Ferreyra, M.V. and Fierros, G.A. (2020). Neurodiversity in higher education: a narrative synthesis. Higher Education. Available at: https://neurodiversity-engineering.media.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3154/2022/02/Clouder2020_Article_NeurodiversityInHigherEducatio.pdf (Accessed: July 2025).
Your analysis of UAL’s approach to disability and neurodiversity examines how institutional change and the capacity to support can be limited by systemic medical models of disability, perpetuated by external actors such as government bodies and the NHS. Your point that government protocols and clinical gatekeeping create bottlenecks and barriers that inhibit students from accessing support is especially important. It highlights how systemic delays and the stigma associated with obtaining medical diagnoses are deeply inhibiting.
Reference to UAL’s statistics offers reassuring evidence of progress under the social model. Yet, identifying potential gaps in disability and ND support needs to be continually reviewed by the university. As a Stage Leader, I am involved and responsible for making sure ISA students get the support they need. I have found that ISA students are some of our highest attaining students year after year, and I also see that many ND students with ISAs struggle. That’s not to say the ND students with high attainment do not struggle, or that the struggling students are not capable of high attainment. There are many systemic, personal, and intersectional reasons that contribute to these challenges. For ISA students, we provide support in multiple ways, one of them being adjusted assessments, such as reduced or modified submission deliverables or extra time of up to 14 days for summative submissions.
ISA provisions such as extended deadlines offer immediate academic relief, but they do not necessarily prepare students for the dynamic demands of professional environments, where such accommodations may not be available. What ND students need is personalised planning: tailored guidance on time management, executive function, and project organisation that empowers them to develop sustainable working habits.
Clouder et al. (2020) affirm this gap in institutional provision, stating: “One-off interventions such as providing assistive technologies or learning support are not enough. Support needs to be relational, sustained and tailored to individual needs” (p.12). Students, I find, need assistance in building personal mental and productivity frameworks that offer them long-term success and well-being in contexts outside of the university. Without that, they risk being overwhelmed—especially ND students who have not yet, or have only recently, been diagnosed and are still learning what support they need.
Finally, consider Ade Adepitan’s statement,“With the correct support, coaching, and equipment, great things can happen” in the context of UAL. It sets a high standard that I sometimes feel we fall short of. At times, UAL’s supportive measures appear designed to help students get by in the moment, rather than to thrive in the long term. We nurture students to produce great work, and ND students graduate in high numbers. However, I wonder how ND students who really struggled with aspects of their neurodivergence coped after graduation. What aspects of support at UAL or on the course helped them in the long term? Support must be more than academic mitigation; it needs to be explicitly aimed at helping students build ways of working that will serve them throughout their professional lives. Support, coaching, and tools must work in concert—not just to enable success at university.
References
Clouder, L., Karakus, M., Cinotti, A., Ferreyra, M.V. and Fierros, G.A. (2020). Neurodiversity in higher education: a narrative synthesis. Higher Education. Available at: https://neurodiversity-engineering.media.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3154/2022/02/Clouder2020_Article_NeurodiversityInHigherEducatio.pdf (Accessed: July 2025).