When I had to give up work six years ago, Super Sarah supported me in every way. One of the things she suggested doing was volunteering. I have shared many hours with different charities in this time and continue to do so. However, I really needed to do something for me, something to make the weight of unemployment lighter. I love to learn, I am constantly feeding my brain with knowledge and often find myself losing track of my surroundings as I follow a warren of information. I thought back to a time in my life that I was surrounded by information, the height of my education, when I was undertaking my degree at university.

I considered going back to university but my anxiety and depression were too intense to consider being there in person. During my research, I discovered The Open University. The brilliant thing about The Open University is that you do not have to be present face-to-face, it is distance learning and can be done from home. I ordered a prospectus to see what courses were available and was prepared to wait patiently for this to arrive through the post (I say patiently but literally as soon as I had ordered the prospectus I wanted to wait by the letterbox!). You can imagine my delight when I looked into my email inbox and found a digital prospectus waiting for me. Now to decide what course to do!

I enjoyed my first degree (this is where I met Super Sarah) in social sciences though it was incredibly broad. For example, it included subjects like psychology, sociology, economics and history. Thinking back, the topic that interested me most was psychology. Biology and the brain are fascinating to me, having Multiple Sclerosis gave me a thirst for knowledge on neurons and what happens when things don’t work correctly. Being no stranger to anxiety and depression and having recently completed a round of counselling I was intrigued as to how this worked too. That settled it, Psychology with Counselling was the course for me! You can complete the course of your choice at whatever speed you like, but I knew that full-time would be too much for me to manage so I opted to study part-time. This means it takes longer to do the course but I am in no hurry.

I had to think about funding, how was I going to pay for the course? Luckily in Scotland, if you earn less than £25,000 per year, you can apply for a Part-Time Fee Grant that covers the cost of the module you wish to study. You do need to apply annually and for each module that you wish to study, the form used to be tricky but now it can be completed in a matter of minutes online (one thing to thank the pandemic for!). I was lucky enough to be accepted for the grant and have been in consequent years so my studies have been of no cost to me financially.

I was concerned that my disabilities would impact my studies. I had to give up work because I was struggling to use my hands and I didn’t know how I was going to be able to type the coursework. The Open University are very prepared to help people of different abilities, from borrowing items such as a Dictaphone to helping you to apply for Disabled Student Allowance (DSA). When applying for DSA, you are asked if you would like to have an assessment so I said yes because I didn’t know what I needed. I went along to this meeting preparing to list everything that was broken and preparing to feel down afterwards as a result. However, the meeting could not have been any more different! I rolled in and the person assessing me looked over my wheelchair and asked a handful of questions. Then suddenly there were so many solutions! These included an adapted laptop, Dragon software that transcribes the words that I dictate directly onto the word processor of choice, Claroread software that reads webpage or document back to you (this is particularly helpful when I am feeling fatigued) and a mouse with a joystick just like my wheelchair. I actually came out of the meeting excited to be starting the first year at The Open University.

Dragon software has been a game changer, I barely need to touch my computer, using commands that I was taught during the training session that I had with the tech company that installed software. I should point out that the coolest thing that I ever had in my diary was the day when they came to train me on the software, it’s not everyday you can add Dragon training to your calendar! Dragon is the best software on the market for dictation and is used widely in a number of settings, however it is most useful for those who cannot type. Let me be clear, we are not always the best of friends, occasionally she likes to include a lag between my dictation and printing on the screen. Other times the wording is not quite right, which I hold against her entirely nothing to do with my enunciation. She has helped me exponentially but there are times that I lose my rag with her but she knows I did not say fox! (My expletive of choice was much stronger than this). For the most part, we get along just fine and I literally could not complete the course without her help.

Claroread was initially designed for people who are dyslexic to help them read. The advantage of this, is that Claroread will read any page or document on your computer to you and all you need to do is listen. There is even a voice with a Scottish accent like mine, she is called Heather, and having a similar accent makes it easier to follow. I tend to use Claroread when I am feeling fatigued. Fatigue and Multiple Sclerosis often go hand-in-hand and it can be a dreadful combination especially when you’re trying to do some uni work. With The Open University, if your course comes with textbooks they are usually on the module website so this means that I can use Claroread if I am feeling particularly fatigued and still stay on track.

Not only does The Open University help you gain access to much-needed tech, they understand that every student learns in their own way and at different paces so are able to give you some extra time if you need to complete assignments. As you can understand, the textbooks in a psychology course can be rather large and I struggled to use them with my wonky hands. I mentioned this to the support team and within about a week I had spiral-bound textbooks delivered to my home. I have never experienced service like this! The tutors that I have had over the years have been incredibly helpful and if they have been unable to find a solution, they will personally seek the answer on your behalf. With each module there is also a forum that can be used to connect with other students in your class and help each other.

Starting my second degree was perhaps ambitious after having to give up work, but I would do it all over again. I have two years left of my course and whilst has been really hard work, I am so proud of the results that I have gained, the knowledge that have learned and the skills that have been taught. I am very grateful to The Open University for inclusivity, accessibility and the understanding that they provide to enable students like myself to achieve their dreams.