HE Enabled: The Disability at Uni* Podcast

About the episode:

Rachel is the Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Northumbria University. She has been at Northumbria for five years, and in EDI for over three decades!

Her previous roles include the Diversity and Inclusion manager for the NHS Business Services Authority, and five years as the head of the sensory support service at Newcastle College, which is one of the largest further education providers in England.

In this episode, Rachel shares the impact of late-diagnosed AuDHD and other health conditions (including ME and chronic pain) on her educational and career journeys.

We learn how student support has changed over the decades, and where the culture is still changing (especially around rest and perfectionistic tendencies).

 There is also plenty of discussion around how we can make higher education a more accessible place. Spoiler alert: it all starts with clear communication!

Thank you to Rachel for coming on the show. I’ll see you in 2 weeks with another episode!

Useful links:

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabled financially, volunteer your time, or hire Cath for freelance work? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check out the HE Enabled website!⁠

About the episode:

Nia is a vocalist and Y Llais (The Voice) 2025 semi-finalist from Carmarthenshire. She is also a psychology graduate from the University of Cardiff, where she transferred for the final year of her degree after experiencing a stroke.

In this episode, Nia tells us how her stroke impacted her university experience. After relinquishing her grades at her previous university, she had to re-enrol at Cardiff without the safety net of existing course credit. Everything was weighted in her third year.

We learn how Nia completed her degree during the remote learning period in 2020-21 and proceeded to enter a career as a vocalist. As you can imagine, the intersection of music and psychology is discussed at length!

Thank you to Nia for coming on the show. We hope that you enjoy this episode.

Listen to Nia's singing on her YouTube channel

Read the 'Stroke Information and Support' page on the Stroke Association website

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabled financially, volunteer your time, or hire Cath for freelance work? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check out the HE Enabled website!⁠

HE Enabled is back after a short hiatus! Apologies that it was unannounced; I have been having a very (not) fun fight with ADHD services, which should hopefully be resolved now :)

About the episode:

Isaac is on HE Enabled! He is studying for an MA in Social Work at the University of Birmingham, and previously completed his bachelor’s in Education in Autism, Disability, and Special Needs at Sheffield Hallam University.

In this episode, Isaac shares his experience as a student with dyslexia, and how this has shaped his experience of university. He talks about his decision not to use DSA in his bachelor's, the lessons he learned from studying disability, and the power of his special interests in getting a first-class degree.

Isaac and Cath also discuss mental health in men's university sport, and the work Isaac did in the Sheffield Hallam Men's Cricket Club to be there for his peers. He also gives top tips for those looking to help others who may be struggling.

Thank you for your patience with HE Enabled. We hope that you enjoy this episode!

To learn more about how to help talk to friends about their mental health, have a look at the Be There Certificate.

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabled financially, volunteer your time, or hire Cath for freelance work? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Check out the HE Enabled website!

About the episode:

Heather is on HE Enabled! They are about to start their third year studying biomedical science at a university in the West Midlands. Heather documents their experience as a disabled student via social media, especially on Instagram/TikTok.

They’re also heavily involved in student life, volunteering with St. John's Ambulance and their university's theatre society!

Join Cath and Heather as they discuss the benefits of DSA software in biomed, Heather's advocacy for wheelchair-friendly lab space, and how Heather plans to document their journey to becoming a wheelchair-using doctor in graduate entry medicine.

Thanks so much for listening to HE Enabled. We hope that you enjoy this week’s episode!

Follow Heather on Instagram

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabled financially, volunteer your time, or hire Cath for freelance work? ⁠⁠⁠Check out the HE Enabled website!

Are you a student who is curious about different ways of learning, a module convenor who wants to diversify their students’ learning, or someone who wants to learn about some cool research? Join Cath and Kerry-Jane Packman (CEO, Learning on Screen) as they discuss the results of the Teach Beyond Text study. 

Teach Beyond Text aimed to investigate how students experience teaching that takes a multimedia approach beyond text-based learning. Over 1,000 students in UK further and higher education had their say—the results are genuinely as comprehensive as they are insightful.

Thanks for listening. We hope that you enjoy this special episode of the show!

Read the Teach Beyond Text Executive Summary

Download the full Text Beyond Text report

 See part of the Tiktok ads discussed in this episode (Instagram link)

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabled financially, volunteer your time, or hire Cath for freelance work? ⁠⁠⁠Check out the HE Enabled website!

Cass is a fashion design student at Nottingham Trent University, specialising in adaptive fashion. They founded the Small Disabled Government to fight for accessibility at NTU, while also sharing their experience of being a wheelchair user at university on their Instagram (link below).

In this episode, Cass recounts their time at uni so far, telling us how they have found community, advocated for others, and gone hunting for accessible entrances. There are also plenty of instances of true inclusion: personal tutors who actively listen, pattern tables being adapted for wheelchair users, and the entire CAD lab being moved to an accessible space!

Thanks for listening to this episode. We hope that you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Follow Cass on Instagram

⁠Complete the 2026 Annual Disabled Student Survey⁠ (run by Disabled Students UK)

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabled financially, volunteer your time, or hire Cath for freelance work? ⁠⁠Check out the HE Enabled website!

Happy 50th episode everyone. Thanks so much for listening; here's to many more!

About the episode:

Carys is a senior lecturer in Creative Education at the University of the Arts London, after working in UAL's disability services department for 13 years. They have recently started a PhD at UCL, specialising in the intersections of art, design, and disability studies in higher education.

In this episode, we discuss Carys' non-linear career, including their transition from working in disability services to becoming a senior lecturer (while being a PhD student at the same time)! There's also plenty of chat around how Carys develops inclusive practices for their students, and see a special feature from their cat.

Thanks so much for tuning in, we hope that you enjoyed!

Complete the 2026 Annual Disabled Student Survey (run by Disabled Students UK)

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabled financially, volunteer your time, or hire Cath for freelance work? ⁠Check out the HE Enabled website!

CW: Mentions of alcohol use and nights out (especially around40:56-42:04), passing references to the COVID-19 pandemic throughout.

About the episode:

Melissa is an award-winning freelance journalist who focuses on disability rights and has published with Cosmopolitan UK, the Radio Times, Digital Spy, and Metro (among others). She is also the founder of the 'Hands Off Our Handles' campaign, ‘an initiative focused on stopping people from grabbing wheelchair users without consent’. She’s a law graduate and has previously been an associate lecturer.

In this episode, Cath and Melissa discuss how Melissa’s career trajectory transformed from being an aspirational career academic to a freelance journalist. We also learn of Melissa’s internalised ableism, get-on-with-it attitude, and how her early life has impacted her health today. There is also plenty of insight about how ‘Hands Off Our Handles’ started!  

Bonus tangents include brief conversations around media fandoms, and the perks of having a wheelchair on a night out.

We hope that you enjoy!

Melissa’s Article:

Don’t call me ‘wheelchair bound’ – it’s disrespectful (universitygraduation article)

Follow the Hands Off Our Handles Instagram

Want to be a guest on the show, support HE Enabledfinancially, or hire Cath for freelance work? Check out the HE Enabled website!

CW: Mentions of the UK heatwaves and the COVID pandemic.

About the episode:

Eden is a Belfast-based student at the Open University studying for a degree in Childhood and Youth Studies. She moved to online study following a long-COVID diagnosis and a negative experience with in-person university. Eden volunteers at multiple charities and organisations alongside her degree, and runs the Sports For All podcast after her health severely impacted her athletic ability.

The UK heatwave, big Tesco, and finding a new path are also fantastic topics on this week's HE Enabled! It was a pleasure to have Eden on the show, we hope that you enjoy the episode.

Listen to the Sports for All Podcast

HE Enabled links:

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy me a coffee and help to keep HE Enabled Running :)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



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Hiba is a student at King’s College London, where she is reading part-time for an MSc in Applied Neuroscience. Hiba is also a chartered linguist, qualified English/Arabic translator, AuDHD coach, and holds an MA in Translation from the Open University. However, I know Hiba from her work as a podcaster on The Neurodivergent Linguist, a short-form podcast where language, neurodivergence, and everyday life intersect.

In this episode, we discuss Hiba's bicultural identity and how this changes how she communicates in her personal and professional life. She shares her story as a late-diagnosed AuDHDer, linguist, and neuroscience student who now embraces the support which she needs to complete her studies. We also have a chat about her podcast and how it has shaped her current work!

Listen to the Neurodivergent Linguist (Hiba's Podcast: Linktree Link)

HE Enabled links:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the HE Enabled Patreon for £1 a month!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy me a coffee and help to keep HE Enabled Running :)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow HE Enabled on social media and listen on other platforms via the Linktree.