Disabled students at Queen's University offer a unique plethora of talents, skills and experiences to fellow students. But they need a voice; someone to fight for their rights, campaign for further adjustments and reawaken their social avenues. We need to bring opportunities for a Disabled Society back to the Students Union and campaign for awareness and further support from the Disability Services and the SGC. With your vote, help me deliver these campaigns and encourage participation.
Disability is not a word everyone understands. From physical disability to mental health conditions, it is an umbrella term that is perceived by many as something that doesn't apply to them or affect their lives. But it affects all of us. There are many disabilities which society compels us to wrongfully conceal, to deal with the consequences ourselves and not involve others. With a vote for me, I hope to change this consensus. By encouraging participation across campus, we can help all students to understand how they can adjust their social interactions to help those of us who deal with a disability on a day-to-day basis. We need to raise awareness, start a campaign, lift our voices. Disability adjustments do not stop at the wheelchair ramp to lecture theatres. We need to campaign to university staff and our fellow officals that physical disability adjustments across campus are not set at a fixed level. They can always be furthered, whether through improved access or the use of new technologies. And each of us can adjust our actions and behaviours to help someone with a disability.
Lets campaign for a society dedciated to the emotional and social well-being of disabled people in our Students Union, encourage participation and continue to support the good work of the Student Guidance Centre with support groups and Disability Services. A vote for McConway is a social contract, and the pledge on the other end of it is summarised in these short lines. By the end of Semester Two, lets involve external parties such as charities, careers services and media outlets across Belfast and tell our stories to prove that Disability Services are not merely adjustments arranged by an offical in an office. Disabled students, like other minority groups, have a vibrant social purpose enriching student life in Belfast. Let's bring it to the World.