Trinity receives funding to help students with disabilities
Posted on: 22 January 2021
Trinity Disability Service is delighted to announce that it has secured funding for strategic initiatives to support students with disabilities and to make the University more inclusive and accessible.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris today announced €5.4m in extra supports for college students with disabilities and Trinity College Dublin will receive €482,364.
The projects that will be funded by this grant are:
Sensory Processing Project
This ambitious project aims to develop an inclusive campus by focusing upon developing specialist supports and resources for students who have sensory processing issues. Additionally, it will aim, in collaboration with key areas of College, to create inclusive physical environments and increased awareness amongst staff of sensory processing difficulties.
Inclusive Online Technology Project
As College reimagines the curriculum for 2020-21 in the blended online and/or face-to-face environment, it is critical to ensure that no students are left behind. The COVID-19 challenge provides us with a timely opportunity to embed inclusive principles and practices which value the diversity of the student body and enhance the learning experience in the virtual learning environment, thereby enabling all students to access and engage with modules, programmes and courses, participate fully in learning activities and demonstrate their knowledge and strengths through a varied suite of inclusive assessment tasks.
Global Safety & Security Solution
Trinity College Dublin is planning on implementing a new Global Safety and Security Solution which will significantly contribute to improving communications to/from students and staff to/from the University. Some of the possible benefits for students with disabilities are:
· Targeted communications to students with disabilities
· Sensory assistance reporting
· Hearing impaired assistance
· Mobility impaired assistance
· Emergency alerts
Physical Access Improvements
Trinity College is committed to the principle of universal access and actively working towards providing access to all its buildings. With over 100 buildings in Trinity, significant accessibility improvements have been carried out making many buildings more accessible and ensuring students with disabilities have access to all strategic buildings. The primary aim of this project is to provide unobstructed access to all strategic buildings. This is critical to ensure students with disabilities face no unnecessary barriers. The project aims to make entrances to buildings, lecture theatres and laboratories fully accessible. Forty-eight doors have been identified for accessibility improvements across Trinity.
Extensive planning for each of these projects has already taken place and now that funding has been guaranteed, project work can now begin in earnest.
The Disability Service will endeavour to keep you up to date with the progress of these projects throughout 2021.