Disability Assessment Centre

Kirsty Waiting is the Disability Assessment Centre Administrator. Kirsty joined the team in February 2015 from the Faculty of Business and Law where she worked as a course administrator. Since joining the team, Kirsty has transformed the booking and administrative processes to ensure students contacting the centre receive timely and appropriate information throughout the Study Needs Assessment journey. Kirsty’s interest in enabling disabled students to access their course independently began when she worked for the Open University. Kirsty also adds an international element to the team as she is originally from Durban in South Africa!

Sharon Almond is an access adviser and study needs assessor and has worked at our university since March 2015. Sharon previously worked as an access consultant at the RNIB where she regularly undertook access audits, design appraisals and training in relation to the built environment. Sharon’s recent work has involved her in learning more about the assistive technology that is available for students to use to enhance their learning. This includes software that is available through our university systems, software that can be accessed via Disabled Students Allowance and apps which are increasingly being used to support teaching and learning.

Sarah Hinman is an access adviser and study needs assessor who joined our university in May 2016, having previously worked as an English and learning support teacher at Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College in Leeds. She taught students with a range of disabilities and study needs, and was the specialist teacher for students on the autistic spectrum. She was also a personal tutor, Oxbridge and Russell Group Universities mentor and internal verifier. Her work had increasingly involved the use of assistive technology and she led an initiative to promote its use in teaching and learning. Sarah is an advocate of inclusivity and of fostering a positive and supportive environment which uses good practice and technology to benefit everyone.

Nick Hatton is the Senior Study Needs Assessor and Centre Manager, who joined our team in March 2018. He has worked within the field of disability-related support, education and accessible information for over 20 years, and has extensive experience in the field of sensory loss, having worked for Action on Hearing Loss (RNID), RNIB and Guide Dogs for the Blind, and various voluntary sector organisations within his home town. Nick is qualified up to Level 6 in British Sign Language, and is classed as a native signer, due to growing up in a Deaf family. His previous role was for a non-medical helper (NMH) educational provider as a non-executive director, where he was responsible for operational functions of the business and has come to us with wide-ranging knowledge of DSA quality assurance framework auditing and NMH provision.