I work in UAL’s Disability Service as a Senior Disability Adviser. I work directly with students, providing advice and coordinating adjustments so that they can access their studies. I also provide consultancy and guidance to UAL colleagues about best inclusive practice for disabled students, and am responsible for coordinating the Disability Service staff development offer.

Alongside my role at UAL, I work as a Specialist Mentor and Study Skills Support tutor for autistic students. My background is in education. I have a PCGE and PGDipEd in secondary and further education, and have taught English in London secondary schools and sixth forms. I have also taught English to Speakers of Other Languages. My first MA is in Sociolinguistics, where I focused on how people perform gender and sexual identities in spoken language.

I’m a volunteer mechanic at The Bike Project, which provides bikes to refugees so they can access free, independent travel. I’m also a volunteer penpal for Bent Bars, a letter-writing project for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, gender-variant, intersex, and queer prisoners in Britain.

I am a queer, white, disabled person from a working-class background, with no religious faith.

I use Twitter to post and read about disability issues in education (@CarysKennedy). Feel free to say hello!