The Student Equality Network is a group committed to promoting equality and ensuring the Union and University are shaped by diverse student experiences. The Network is run by paid part-time student leaders who share this commitment, and organise and lead the relevant meetings, ensuring that issues/concerns are being resolved and all students feel supported and celebrated. With this in mind, we wanted to introduce our Network Leader Spotlights giving you a bit more information about the wonderful team that make up the Equality Network. Each post will provide you with a personal insight into the Network Leaders, their experiences and ideas and why they have chosen to be part of the Student Equality Network. 
For our third Student Leader Spotlights, we talk to Abigail Hayes- our Disability & Neurodiversity Subnetwork Leader.

Hi everyone, my name is Abi Hayes, and I am your new Disability and Neurodiversity subnetwork leader! I have been at the university now for 5 years, and I am working my way to completing my degree with my complex disabilities and neurodiversity. My degree is biochemistry and I have a huge passion for biology and diseases. My time at the University of Surrey has shaped my passion for accessibility and celebrating our identities as disabled people. I have thoroughly enjoyed my degree so far through my successes and challenges 

I have a lot of health conditions which impact me in various ways; they fluctuate, meaning I don’t know how I will be from one hour to the next. My disabilities are also energy-limiting, giving me a minimal amount of time in a day that I can do anything. On top of that I even have spinal fluid leaking out of my spine! That means eating breakfast, brushing my teeth, getting dressed and other daily tasks are incredibly challenging. 

Combined with a full-time university degree, this has been a real challenge to navigate and means that I need a lot of support and accommodations. I truly believe that disabled and neurodivergent individuals deserve to have a degree as much as any other person. We deserve these accommodations – however complex and inconvenient they are for other people – because our knowledge and passion is so so valuable. This means that the correct accommodations, support and anything else we may need is crucial and can be the difference between having your own autonomy and not. 

 

Why I applied for the position:  I have spent the last 7 years of my life navigating a very complex world that was not designed with me in mind, and through that, I have developed a strong passion for change and advocacy on behalf of those with disability and neurodivergence. Getting the accommodations, diagnoses, help and understanding I needed has been quite a process and a challenge. I can look very young and fit and well but be incredibly poorly at the same time. 

That’s not to say there haven’t been so many wonderful people who have been extremely kind and helpful and have gone above and beyond to help me. It’s just a reflection of society as a whole, how the barriers are still there despite our efforts, and that our education and campaigning need to continue. We should pause and celebrate how far we’ve come and the tremendous strides made regarding disability and accessibility.

I would like to create a safe space to talk about disability and neurodiversity in all of its aspects where you feel you can bring something forward, and it will be valued and carried onto an acceptable next step and resolution. I also want to create a meeting where you can feel a sense of belonging and community as neurodiverse and disabled people and allies. I want there to a confidence in the knowledge base we can provide and share and that anyone can come to us and ask for help, reassurance or acceptance with their struggles as students as well as the positive things they have found.  

We would love for you to join the new Disability and Neurodivergence subnetwork as your views as so important to forming the university into a place where you feel safe, respected and valued. We want to hear what’s going right and what’s going wrong! 

Being a part of the disability and neurodivergence community can be very rewarding and challenging and importantly can also give you invaluable insight and knowledge into so many different things.  It gives you a different point of view to many people and sharing your views is a great and easy way to get change happening around the university that you shape.  

We would love to hear from you about anything you feel passionate about. It is a safe and open space for sharing and can just come along to listen if you want to! 

Through campaigns, events, paid opportunities, and projects that celebrate diversity and amplify student voices, we encourage you to get involved. Led by students, for students—make a change together. Find out more about the network here and sign up to the Disability & Neurodiversity Subnetwork here.