---
title: Why It’s Critical to Support Students with a Disability During Lockdown
description: For the 16.7% learning disabled university students, support is critical to ensure success during and after lockdown.
---

[Articles | Symplicity ](https://www.symplicity.com/blog)

# [Why It’s Critical to Support Students with a Disability During Lockdown](https://www.symplicity.com/blog/why-its-critical-to-support-disabled-students-during-lockdown)

 Written by [Helena Okolicsanyi](https://www.symplicity.com/blog/author/helena-okolicsanyi) | Feb 3, 2021 3:06:57 PM

COVID-19 has the potential to derail the progress made in numerous areas from [working women](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/22/younger-women-bearing-brunt-of-second-wave-of-covid-in-uk), [low-income households,](https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/system/files/resources/files/The_impact_%20of_COVID-19_on_low-income_households.pdf) and especially the disabled. While much progress has been made since the UK Government passed the [Disability Discrimination Act in 1995](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/contents), the pandemic is likely to hinder much of the progress made for the disabled due to economic uncertainty, vaccine rollout delays, rise in COVID-19 deaths, and mental health concerns worldwide.

For the 1.5 million Britons with a learning disability, the challenges are all too real. In fact, [according to the November 2020 Public Health England report](https://www.news-medical.net/news/20201119/People-with-learning-disabilities-are-more-likely-to-die-from-coronavirus.aspx), those with a learning disability are over six times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the rest of the population. This grim report highlights that those with learning disabilities are in greater need of assistance for coping and understanding lockdown restrictions, [understanding information](https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/12/10/learning-disabled-britons-are-the-pandemics-forgotten-victims) on social distancing best practices, recent health guidelines, and communications from universities. Additionally, the rates of social isolation and loneliness [are incredibly high](https://theconversation.com/how-coronavirus-highlights-the-everyday-challenges-of-people-with-learning-disabilities-139518) among those with a learning disability, and those at university will turn to their institutions for support academically and for their mental health.

In the 2018/19 academic year, 16.7% of students attending an English university or college reported having at least one disability, [according to HESA](https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-15). With such a large percentage of students with a disability, universities are in a distinctive position to provide support for students to empower them to succeed while at university and beyond. And with a third lockdown underway, the pressure is increasing for universities to swiftly adapt to ensuring that students with a disability are properly supported with assistive equipment such as screen readers, support for managing ADHD, autism counseling and support, among many others.

[In a post](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/we-cant-let-the-pandemic-derail-progress-on-inclusion-for-the-disabled/) for the World Economic Forum Susannah Rodgers, a woman with a prostatic leg, wrote that the pandemic will continue the progression in which a, “Disability is all too often an after-thought and not mainstreamed enough into thinking and planning, regardless of the industry. I am not sure people really understand the transformational impact that interventions, programmes, funding opportunities, education and technology (amongst other things) can have on the lives of people with disabilities globally.”

With [Symplicity Access](https://www.symplicity.com/higher-ed/solutions/access), educational institutions can effectively help with all of the necessary services students with disabilities and learning difficulties need. With our user-friendly platform, universities are able to simplify the delivery of reasonable adjustments to students with a disability for a better user experience, higher accountability, compliance and transparency across the institution plus increased operational efficiency and savings for the university. Additionally, through its intuitive, mobile-friendly student interface, it’s easy for students with a disability to find how they can get the support they need. This allows for effective communication among students, teachers, staff, and family members to ensure that students with a disability whose academic coursework has been impacted by COVID-19 can get the critical support they need to succeed academically and beyond.

For more information about how over 200 universities worldwide are virtualising student services with Symplicity Access, email [info@symplicity.com](mailto:info@symplicity.com) or [schedule a conversation](https://www.symplicity.com/higher-ed/demo).

[View full post](https://www.symplicity.com/blog/why-its-critical-to-support-disabled-students-during-lockdown)

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