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The general aims of the programme of study are to enable you to:

1. increase your knowledge of disability issues;
2. be aware of and analyse the complexity of these issues; and
3. be able to compare them to similar and related issues.

The programme of study is firmly embedded in the discipline of disability studies and therefore based on the social model of disability, that is the acknowledgement that the obstacles faced by disabled people in society arise not so much from their biological impairments as from the socially-created barriers that they face on a daily basis. Both disability studies and the social model are a product of the disabled people's movement whose rallying call is ‘nothing about us without us'. This means that disabled people should be involved in all work related to disability at all levels, since they are the ones who have the lived experience of disability. To this end, disabled people with the necessary qualifications will be involved in lecturing in the study units, while the concepts behind the social model and the ‘nothing about us without us' slogan will be the basis of the course content. It is also envisaged that some of the students will be disabled people themselves. This would greatly enhance your experience within the course in terms of learning how to give disabled people the opportunity to secure their rightful place in society.

Since the programme of study is based on three years of study with exit awards for each year, the study-units on offer are planned in a manner that the first year of studies provides the foundation with study-units covering all areas of study that need to be covered for the general aim to be reached. Thus, the first year, which leads to the award of a Level 5 Certificate, will be sufficient on its own if you decide to stop after the first year of study to reach the aims listed above and the learning outcomes listed below. At the same time, if you follow the programme of study at Diploma, and even more so at Higher Diploma level, you will be able to deepen your knowledge of relevant issues and increase your skills.