University of Edinburgh was very impressive as they racked in the top 200 in the world, the vast degrees and classes they offers are impressive. Although, I was impressed; I was also disappointed to hear that they’re struggling with two things, one of which other local Universities doesn’t seem to have an issue with.  When it comes to adding a line that will enable the students to declaring a disability on the application. I was shocked to I hear  the issue they were having at the University of Edinburgh. It appears to be  minor issues to us but unsolvable for them which doesn’t seem right for such an elite University to have such an issue. It’s uncertain why the University officials don’t want to add a line in the application to ask the applicants to declare if they have a disability and what assistance they will need. I don’t see why that’s an issue with just adding it on the application. At first I thought it was for legal reasons but after visiting Napier and QMU I realized it’s not a legal matter to ask the students to declare on their application as the two other Universities are asking their potentials students and it’s making a major difference for them with being able to assist their disables students and also have better statistics.

My second concern was the safety plan for fire. I was curious to know why they’re unable to come up with a system. I think they should be able to use a bracelet for an individual who needs assistance to evacuate to activate the bracelet by pressing the bottom in case of an emergency which will locate their location and a team should be train of how to help to individuals during an emergency. It may sound pretty simple to me since I’m not the one dealing with the issues. However, I don’t see all the barriers that enabling them to resolves these two issues so i’m enable to make a fair judgment.

While we were in Edinburgh and more specifically the Downtown area it was somewhat hard to get around. While walking you can begin to notice very quickly how it is almost all cobblestone. This makes it difficult to walk around because none of it is leveled, even I was tripping while I walked. Now, imagine if you had a difficult time walking around and you had tripped. I understand people go to Edinburgh for the shops, history and the experience but it’s going to be hard to if it’s hard to get around. Finding a way for everyone to be mobile will be a hard task but it’s something that needs to be done in order for everyone to enjoy the area.

I also saw how while in Glasgow they had a lot more availability for people who have disabilities to be welcome at any place they might be going. While in Edinburgh, I noticed they didn’t have Braille anywhere and they didn’t have many lifts. One thing I did find out was how they had sign language on the public buses for people who couldn’t hear when their spot was coming up. This is at least a sign of progression in the right direction for a population that is not always looked at.

While being at the conference I was really interested about learning how individual speakers were trying to work towards inclusion within society and within the classroom. After I had immersed myself in anything to do with inclusion I had started to see how there was more talk about what people were doing within their research rather than how it should be implemented in a classroom setting. However, this isn’t to say none of the work would be good to use. What I am trying to say is, maybe there should be a little more attention on how the research can actually be applied. Whether that be in a school setting or in public activities. At times there was a speaker who, for 15 minutes, only talked about what people could do but never once said anything about what they were going to do to make inclusion a more realistic plan.

Dr. Garry Hornsby has been working since the beginning of his career to make sure that classrooms are more inclusive. He has been working to make sure inclusive education is spread worldwide. Places like the Us and Germany have been harder to try and make them comply because they don’t want to go along with the CRPD. This is partly because the CRPD would make education a full inclusion area for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Although I do believe inclusion is a great plan and it should be implemented I think it can be hard to do especially when some students don’t work well around certain environments. I believe if we can find an equal balance with inclusion in mind then soon, hopefully, we will see inclusive classrooms all around the world.

Although this may be slightly off-topic, this trip really made me reflect on how having Universal Healthcare may not be as good as it seems, especially for those with disabilities. The speaker of Napier University spoke about some of the negatives aspects of universal health care, as individuals with disabilities are unlikely to receive any form of services, such as ABA therapy, until they begin primary school. This information shocked me as i believe it is important to implement behavioral therapy for Individuals with autism as early as possible. The speaker at Number 6 also mentioned that just getting an appointment for a diagnosis for a disability can take years to happen. I was appalled when the speaker mentioned a story of a client who has been begging their doctor for a diagnosis for years and was unable to receive services for a majority of their life. Prior to this trip, I was all for having Universal Health Care as I watched some of my favorite presidential candidates speak upon this topic the during the democratic debate. Although the idea of Universal Healthcare seems great, as I believe healthcare should be a right, not a privilege, I can’t help but wonder how this can negatively impact services for those with disabilities. Research has shown that an early diagnosis and services can lead to better outcomes later in life. Although our current healthcare system is FAR from perfect and needs a lot of work, I fear that implementing universal healthcare can take away from the quality of services that is necessary for healthy development throughout the lifespan.

Well folks, it is time to reflect on the first half of the second week. Edinburgh was an amazing experience and definitely different from Glasgow. While Glasgow is a bustling city center, Edinburgh is more of a tourist destination. During the first few days, we attended an information session on disability at the University of Edinburgh, went on a tour of Edinburgh Castle, and visited Edinburgh’s Napier University.

Each experience was characteristically different from each other. For one, the disability discussion at the University of Edinburgh related to the student population and services available to students at the university. While applying to the university, a student has the option to disclose whether they have a disability of not. One of the challenges discussed in acquiring data of the total number of students with disability is that some choose not to disclose they have a disability to the university for various reasons. This causes data of services provided to students and the number of specific disabilities that exist within the student population hard to quantify.

Next, we toured Edinburgh Castle, a highly sought-after piece of history within Scotland. It was absolutely beautiful and I really learned a lot about Mary, Queen of Scots while walking through its halls!

To round off the first half of the second week in Scotland, we attended a session at Edinburgh’s Napier University. There we learned about the specialized career of Disability Nursing. This was a fascinating career to learn about, as well as the general structure of healthcare in Scotland compared to the US. Overall, this visit was very informative relating to healthcare and eye-opening as to how the education path differs from the US!

The last few days In Scotland were a mix of emotions, ranging from intrigue to sadness (not because of the weather, but because we were leaving Scotland so soon!). We completed our last week with a visit to Autism Initiatives and ended with a day exploring Queen Margaret’s University.

While visiting Autism Initiatives, we found that there were no accessible entrances for wheelchairs. I found this ironic and disappointing for an organization that aims to help those with disability. Other than that, our visit was pleasant. We discussed the group activities that took place for autistic individuals and how the organization carried out helping those people throughout their lives.

Our last visit was to Queen Margaret University, in which we learned a variety of things. We learned about the students with disability population and how the university caters to those individuals. We learned about how significant Queen Margaret University is in the realm of education in Scotland. We also learned about the Speech and Language Therapy course designed for Postgraduates. Overall, I found it to be quite interesting and informative.

My final thoughts regarding Scotland revolve around the fact that I am very, very sad to leave it. I gained new perspectives on all things disability and also on myself, regarding what I wish to study in the future. It allowed me to make relevant connections and lasting memories. This trip has revitalized my goal to aid in healthcare reform and to provide medical care to those who need it. I am super super thankful for the opportunity 🙂

At the University of Edinburgh: I learned that the disability services at the University of Edinburgh has mental health mentors. Mental health mentors are readily available to students who have, “persistent and long standing mental health conditions e.g. psychosis, phobias, bipolar disorder, moderate/severe depression, and anxiety.” Students who have submitted documentation to disability services about their difficulties with mental health are welcome to see mental health mentors whenever agreed upon by the student and mentor. Meetings with the mental health mentor may include discussing motivation, mental health self-help and self-management skills, time management, coping skills, dealing with phobias, dealing with panic attacks, etc. These meetings may be done in person, over the phone, or on Skype.

At Queen Margaret University: I learned that the disability services at Queen Margaret University is involved with a mentoring program called QMConnect. New students who are connected to the disability services at QMU are able to have a mentor that has taken courses that the new student is currently taking to help the student adjust to university. Students who participate in QMConnect typically meet with their mentors on a weekly basis. Another thing I found interesting at QMU was the way that attendance is taken. To be accounted for the class you have to swipe your university card that is located in hall where your class is. If students have less than 80% of attendance, they will be contacted to seek someone to discuss why they aren’t attending class. The person who works for disability services said that they have taken people off of the emailing list who get stressed out when they see that email but cannot bring themselves to go to more classes because of their mental health or disability. I think it’s a cool idea to have this attendance policy because we already have university cards at all times since we need it to access our dorms and dining halls.

It has been an ongoing debate around the world on how to include individuals with disability in regular classroom with all the other students. The keynote speaker Dr. Garry Hornby makes in his presentation titled “Inclusion or Special education or inclusive education” Dr. Hornby stated that “current reality in most countries is that special education system exists alongside calls and efforts to make mainstream schools more inclusive.” I would have to agree with him to a certain extent, in many cases in the United State there is a lack of inclusion in the school system. Many agreements has been raised that it would be a challenge for both the individual with disability and their peers to learn at the same pace as every one of them are learning at a difference capacity.  Dr. Hornby mentions the urgency of having full inclusion as it is policy in the UNCRPD, as Dr. Hornby stated the United State, Germany and UK has yet to sign the CRPD. Although, the United States has some reservation when it comes to fully adaptation of the CRPD, they’re one of the most advance countries when it comes to human’s right for individuals with disability. Being part of the multidisciplinary team with the school system, Massachusetts has done a tremendous job on accommodating individuals with special needs. Although the schools systems face many challenges with full inclusion they have develop system to involve individual with disability in varies activities with their fellow classmates. There’s still more work that needs to be done but each day we seem to be moving a step closer to the world of full inclusion.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect at Edinburgh Napier University but what I found was a very likeable and candid man with a lot of very interesting and useful information. I had no idea that the mental health sector was so different in the UK. I was surprised to learn that there are mental health nurses (among other specified nurses). I believe that this sort of specialization has several pros and cons.

Being specialized in one area likely means a higher level of expertise. For example, a mental health nurse is probably better equipped to handle a psychotic or depressed patient than would a regular nurse. But would the reverse also be true? Would a regular nurse practicing in the United States be better able to pinpoint and treat physical health concerns than would a mental health nurse? Although UK nurses of any kind must go through general training before learning a specialization, I am still skeptical of their overall competency towards things other than their specialization. If they are not consistently using what they learned in general nurse training I believe they would be more likely to forget it.

I do believe that are a lot of upsides to nurse specialization as well. In fact, I am rather in favor of it. So much so that I wish I could go to school to become a mental health nurse! Aside from learning about Edinburgh Napier’s nursing program and how the UK differs from the USA in terms of services, we also toured a mock hospital room and house where students treat “patients.” I think this is incredibly useful. However, I was very impressed that all feedback comes from peers rather than a supervisor. I believe this method would be very effective for learning. Overall, a really fun and interesting visit!

The show “Dummy” was such an amazing show. Anders is a young man who was diagnosed with Autism a a child. Although, it was a struggle for Anders and his parents to accept the diagnoses, they explored all the resources that was available to them in order to give Anders a good life.   It was delightful to see how Anders was able to turn the negative stigma into comedy. He was very passionate about sharing his story though comedy and storytelling in a positive way.   His experience is like many others but his outcome differs from what was to be expected. Anders is extremely intelligent; although, he stated that he has moments that he’s not so brilliant and often question his ability to do things.  For many people in the autism spectrum they got stuck in the mindset of the diagnostic and feel like they’re incapable of accomplishing much in life. The show  was an eyes opening for many audience members including myself as society often questions the intelligence of individuals with a disability. Anders stated that on many occasions it was said that if he’s in the autism spectrum he should be “very smart or very dummy” at his closing statement he stated “ I’m neither, I don’t fit into a  specific category, “I’m just me.”  That statement was very impactful, Anders sees himself as an average human being which is what society should also see when they look at him, not a person with disability but a human being just like the rest of us.