Disabled learners celebrate changes to copyright law

News release
02 June 2014

Today Jisc welcomed reforms to copyright law that expand the ability of ‘authorised bodies’, including colleges and universities, to copy work and make it more accessible for disabled people. It does this by removing previous legal restrictions on what can be copied and by whom.

All disabled people, regardless of impairment, are now covered by the legislation where their impairment affects their ability to access work on an equal basis to someone without the impairment. The previous law restricted the exception to visually impaired persons only. This brings the law more in line with the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability and means, for example, that students with dyslexia, are now covered by the exception. All copyright work is now covered, including recordings of performances and broadcasts, film and video clips.

Betty Willder, legal information specialist, Jisc Legal said: “Universities and colleges, as authorised bodies under the reforms, can now make more materials than ever accessible to disabled students. They can for example now subtitle a lawful broadcast or a video clip for disabled learners, where there is no commercial alternative available, without risk of infringing copyright. These changes are a positive step forward in bringing copyright law up-to-date with the digital learning environment and accessibility needs.”

Alistair McNaught, senior adviser, Jisc TechDis said: “These changes are of great significance to library and disability staff in higher and further education. They can now support learners more quickly and confidently because the law is more inclusive and much clearer. The challenge now is to encourage more disabled learners to take advantage of the opportunities presented by alternative formats. Increasing demand will create the incentive for suppliers to make their mainstream products more accessible at source.”

Jisc is providing support and guidance for UK colleges and universities on the changes.

With thanks to our colleagues in Bournemouth University Library.

Brilliant Ted Talk

Please have a look at this talk given by Maysoon Zayid who is an advocate for disability – very funny

http://www.ted.com/talks/maysoon_zayid_i_got_99_problems_palsy_is_just_one.html

 

 

Seen but Seldom Heard

Seen but Seldom Heard is the culmination of a collaborative project between BU and Victoria School. It’s a fantastic show of poetry about disability performed by disabled students.

For some reason, it’s not currently advertised on the Lighthouse website. However, you can read about it and book tickets by clicking on the link

https://seenbutseldomheard.eventbrite.co.uk/?ref=estw

Fantastic new site

Thanks to ALS manager, Chris, for alerting us to this new careers website for students with learning differences and disabilities. This is really positive news.

Please recommend it to all your students.

I just wished to inform you about the exciting launch of our new website: www.greatwithdisability.com and to ask for your assistance in marketing it to those who may find it useful.

This new website provides students with a disability or long-term health condition with all the information they need as they apply for graduate jobs and prepare to go through the recruitment process. The site affords information which is specifically relevant to them such as disclosing a disability, requesting adjustments, requiring support, gaps in the CV, lack of work experience, etc. Currently there is no other website offering all of this information.

www.greatwithdisability.com also provides information about employers. In addition to marketing their opportunities, employers can also include specific information about disability and the support they offer which their own company website may not allow.

I would appreciate your help in marketing this website to your students in what ever you can. Going forward we will be producing printed materials that we will forward to you. There will also be a formal launch of the site in September to coincide with the key graduate recruitment season. At this point we will be looking to do further marketing and also gain press coverage to increase awareness of the site amongst both employers and end users.

The site has been made possible thanks to our 3 key partners: Barclays, EDF Energy and Ernst and Young.

To find out more about the site and the information included, visit www.greatwithdisability.com

Sweet dreams are made of this

A few members of Additional Learning Support attended the Festival of Learning session “Oh for a good night’s sleep!” last week.

 One of the speakers was Dr Phillippa Lawson, who gave us some very useful tips on how to improve sleep, which have already been of benefit to some members of staff. The ideas are simple but powerful, and include the following:

•  Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day (yes, even weekends!)
•  Getting ready for bed an hour early, then winding down & relaxing without looking at screens (phones, laptops, TV)
•  Covering or turning away the clock so that you don’t know what the time is if you wake in the night
• Restricting bedroom activities to sleep, and one other which has been censored by the blog police

 Students who have Specific Learning Differences and other disabilities often report problems  with sleep, either in dropping off initially because of thoughts racing round their heads, or having disturbed sleep, so these tips may be of some assistance.

 Here’s a link to Dr Lawson’s website if you would like further information:-

 http://thegoodsleepprogramme.com/

 Sweet dreams!

(Thanks to ALS advisor Sue for sending in this post.)

And you thought you had problems?

Noemi has shared this link to someone she describes as ‘an inspiration beyond experience’. The video is about 20 minutes in duration but well worth a look.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l91cgdFCkJ0

A poem by Mario Quintana

Here’s a poem translated by Joao Sousa. Thanks to ALS tutor, Noemi for sharing this.

“Disabled” is the one who cannot change their life, accepting others impositions or the society they live in, without any awareness that they are responsible for their own destiny.

“Crazy” is the one who does not want to be happy with what they have.

“Blind” is the one who cannot see the others dying of cold, starvation, misery and only has eyes for their own petty problems and little sorrows.

“Deaf” is the one who doesn’t have the time to hear a friend, or a brother’s plea, as they’re always rushing to work and wants to make sure they have their pennies at the end of the month.

“Mute” is the one who cannot speak out their feelings and hide behind the mask of hypocrisy.

“Paralytic” is the one who cannot walk towards the ones who need help.

“Diabetic” is the one who cannot be sweet.

“Dwarf” is the one who doesn’t allow Love to grow.

Face blindness

This is Dr Sarah Bate who is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology here at the uni. Sarah has an interest in disorders of face recognition, particularly prosopagnosia (face blindness).

This is a relatively unknown condition that affects one in fifty people and has been a popular topic in the media in recent months.

If you would like to learn more about this disorder, Sarah will be giving a talk at Cafe Scientifique Bournemouth at Cafe Boscanova, Boscombe on 5 March at 7.30pm http://cafescibournemouth.wordpress.com/

Once again, many thanks to Sarah who, thankfully, has made it her mission to regualrly update this blog.

Disability and archaeology

Archaologists have released research suggesting that the disabled were cared for in the community from the earliest of times.

‘Burial 9’ is a young man who died 4000 years ago from a congenital bone disease called Klippel-Feil Syndrome.

Paralysed from the waist down, the body indicates that he was cleaned, clothed and fed throughout the ten years that he struggled with his incapacity and thus perceived as a valued member of his society. Far from the picture of stone-age life being seen as selfish and brutal, Tilley & Oxenham, from the Australian National University, argue that empathy and tolerance were the norm. Furthermore, other bodies exhumed as far afield as Iraq, Florida and Kenya also show evidence of severe disabilities which would have resulted in premature death had there been no support from the respective communities.

The full article from which this information was drawn can be found in The Times, 28.12.12. Thanks to Sarah Faulkener for sending in this very interesting piece.

Disability History Month 22 November – 22 December

Here’s a taster of a series of events marking Disability History Month at BU. To register attendance at any of them, please email diversity@bournemouth.ac.uk

Film screening of IRIS. This is a biopic about novelist Iris Murdoch and her partner, John Bayley. Naturally, Judi Dench is superb but look out for a fantastic performance by Jim Broadbent. Monday 26 November, 18:00, Kimmeridge House

How did the Paralympics impact people’s views on disabled sport and disability?

This presentation, given by Dr Richard Scullion and Dr Dan Jackson (Media School), considers a review of relevant literature and the findings of a series of interviews about disability and sport Monday 3 December, 13:30 – 14:30, The Ocatagon, Sir Michael Cobham Library

Reading and dyslexia: as easy as ABC?

This wide-ranging talk given by Prof. Sine McDougall (DEC) considers the difficulties in learning to read English including the similarities and differences between poor readers and those who might be dyslexic. Thursday 6 December, 14:00 – 15:00, The Octagon

An audience with Ben Rushgrove, Paralympian sprinter

Ben will share his experiences of participating in the Paralympics in Beijing and London and will also talk about life as a disabled student. The audience will be able to ask questions. Friday 7 December, 13:00 – 14:00, Student Centre, Talbot House

Seen but seldom heard premiere

The first showing of the documentary made about the collaboration between BU academics, Victoria Education Centre students and performance poets, Liv Torc and Jonny Fluffypunk. Highly recommended. Friday 7 December, 15:00 – 16:15, Student Centre, Talbot House