Beems Brealey

Hello!!!

I’m Beems, an autistic bean studying Mathematics with Statistics in my second year. I have extensive experience in voluntary work. I’ve been a secondary school mentor for students with needs, helped design a sensory room, and have helped on forums for mental and physical health for years. I’m currently Disabilities Officer for SUSU, and I’m looking forward to another year of helping our community!

My policies this year involve:

• Getting faculties’ hands on support

Abolish attendance marks, replace with check-ups for students who drop off attendance. Further pressure on support coordinators to implement support recommendations ASAP, and to fully verify that such accommodations are being correctly provided.

• More facilities, better signage

Installing Changing Places toilets as well as larger bins in existing toilets, adding braille stickers to lift buttons and signposts, redesigning stairs for high-contrast colour, thoroughly reviewing building information on the AccessAble website.

• Creating new and more accessible welfare training resources

Creating a new guide for physical and social accessibility for societies – make societies aware of existing (optional) disability disclosure forms. Work with web team to improve mobile compatibility for the Moodle training site where this will likely be hosted.

 • Further improving Disability History Month

Splitting up the overwhelming spam of SUSU advertisements to be more tailor-made to your preferences. For DHM itself, more History, more events across the month, and more activity on other campuses!

• Reviewing accessibility and connectivity between campuses

Monitor and push for far better wheelchair accessibility for BlueStar buses. Push for free passes to WSA students for upcoming new route between Winchester and Portswood

• Reviewing new Special Considerations system

Collecting feedback from disabled and neurodiverse students on the upcoming Special Considerations process, and continuing to act as a bridge between students and the Student Hub in general for issues such as this.

• More routine wellbeing events

I will organise joint events with the Disability and Inclusion Team for casual drop-in conversations with wellbeing practitioners, and will organise guest speakers for the Autism Matters workshops. I will continue the Chatty Cafés provided this year whilst also introducing “cuddly workshops” involving plushies and tea!

This year as Disabilities Officer has been a fascinating yet productive one. Changes have been promised to the Special Considerations process, SUSU’s own respite area being made in the Welfare Room, with a sensory wall due to be installed soon. To me, it is clear that there are many working at the university who are passionate to provide access to students of all backgrounds and health, but there is still so much more to be done to get disabled students the help they deserve.