Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) have taped signs on the door of the School of History, decrying the department’s lack of awareness regarding students’ Learning Educational Needs Summary (LENS) reports throughout the school. The posters and tape have since been removed and were left up for just over an hour and a half.
TCDSU says that the College has consistently failed to support LENS students, who require extra support across the curriculum, including but not limited to lectures, assignments and exams.
“If the college remains inaccessible – we will make it inaccessible for the college,” said TCDSU President Jenny Maguire in a statement to the University Times.
Maguire said that TCDSU’s LENS report survey conducted last year indicated that 100% of students in the School of History have not had their LENS accommodations met.
Last term, TCDSU placed posters on lecture doors which questioned College’s work with LENS students. The posters were all taken down.
In addition to the taping, TCDSU launched a new website – lensreportsnow.com – which asks students who have not had their LENS reports accommodated to submit information about their experience. The website also answers frequently asked questions about the LENS program and cites “an outdated system of supports which relies on individual lecturers as well as an apathy towards the struggles of disabled students” as the key issues inhibiting LENS accommodations.
Maguire said that TCDSU “will target schools and different areas of college life [in] every area this week.”
