(He/him) 2021 | MSc Disability, Design and Innovation at UCL

My name is Richard and I am doing an MSc in Disability, Design and Innovation at UCL. I previously achieved first-class honours in my BSc Psychology degree from Greenwich University, the home of Mile Oliver who popularised the Social Model of Disability. My dissertation there was about the subconscious predictors of disability prejudice. I am currently a research assistant at Queen Mary University and a disability commissioner for Lewisham Council. In the future, I plan to continue doing disability-related research to help our community. One of the projects I am developing is a cooperative for carers.
 
I have worked as a disability rights campaigner for many years. I am driven by a deep sense of fairness, which is informed by my personal experiences. While I have muscular dystrophy and use a powered wheelchair, I see impairment as an expression of bodily difference, one within the natural range of human diversity. In contrast to this, the Social Model conceptualises disability as the externally imposed limitations of opportunities that prevent equal participation in society. Disabled people are structurally discriminated against within existing systems.
 
I would not have been able to afford to do this MSc if not for the Snowdon grant. I have to pay for my social care which leaves me with very little money to live on. If I ever did manage to save towards the masters that would trigger a savings cap and I would have to pay even more and would likely never be able to save enough.