Diabetes is a lifelong condition which causes your blood glucose (sugar) level to become too high, as your body cannot produce enough of the hormone insulin. Diabetes UK have recorded that “more than 4.9 million people in the UK have Diabetes”, a number which is predicted to rise to around 5.5 million by 2030.
There are 2 main types of Diabetes:
Type 1 – “where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin”
Type 2 – “where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react to insulin”
Diabetes Awareness Week 2021 is running from June 14th – 20th this year, and is a week dedicated to raising awareness of Diabetes & to encourage people to share their stories and experiences of living with the condition.
If you are currently a University of Reading student, or are starting with us in the next Academic Year, here is some of the support which is available to you:
Registering with DAS
Students can register with DAS by completing our online form and uploading medical evidence for their condition/s:
- Log on to the RISIS Portal with University username and password, plus RISIS security password
- Click ‘What to do next’ (on right hand side of the page)
- Click ‘Register with the Disability Advisory Service’
Once students have completed registration they will be offered an appointment with a disability advisor to discuss support. Any adjustments will be based on a students need. For instance, this may be arranging for food, drink and medication to be allowed in the exam as well as time to break for this if needed.
If you would like to find out more about the Disability Advisory Service, be sure to check out their page on Essentials.
Support
We hope to make your university experience as good as we possibly can, and have lots of different forms of support & adjustments that will be available to you. These adjustments can range from being “standard adjustments” to more specialised ones, such as accommodation- specific adjustments.
To view all of the different kids of support available to you, please view the “Long Term Medical Conditions” page on Essentials. You will also find information of the different exam provisions & adjustments that may be available to you through the DAS team.
Disabled Students Allowance
We would recommend that you consider applying for the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) through Student Finance England. If you are considering applying for DSA, we do advise checking to see if you are eligible to apply. To check this, please see the Eligibility pages on Student Finance England.
If you are eligible for DSA, we have a “Guide to Disabled Students Allowances” to help you along the process.
If you do have any questions, or would like to find out more about the support that may be available to you, please email the Disability Advisory Service team.