Tuesday 28 June 2011

Unreasonable adjustment?

I've had a lovely couple of days doing a resus training course. I really enjoyed the content, and getting to know some more people in my new-since-intercalating year.

I had one particularly good conversation which started with a girl asking me "How are you getting on this year, because the stick's a relatively new thing isn't it? If it's not too personal?" We then had a really interesting conversation about the parts of the course that we both find difficult, as introverts. She seemed to instinctively understand, as well, the parts of the course that would be difficult as someone with a relatively hidden disability - such as always turning up in new places and working with staff who haven't got to know me, and therefore don't know that I wobble-and-fall-down if there isn't a handy chair.

She couldn't believe that the medical school (or rather some individuals within it) didn't share her common sense. To her it seemed as obvious as it does to me. As I have discovered, which will come as no surprise to some of you, on a personal level folk within the med school do understand. The problem is not that they can't see the issue, the problem is that they cannot see how to deal with the issue within the current way of doing things, and therefore pretend that the issue doesn't actually exist. It's incredibly frustrating, and humiliating - and, over time, leads you to question whether there is actually an issue, or if it's just you being unreasonable. Sometimes it takes someone else to state the obvious to redress the balance.

Has anyone made you feel unreasonable for requesting "reasonable adjustments"? How did you deal with it?

I've updated my links page into two separate pages, Disability and Medicine, and Other Disability Links I hope you find them useful.

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