Students from Donegal Centre for Independent Living (CIL) and Dublin Centre for Independent Living (CIL) visited the campus on Saturday 30 January to receive their level 7 Cert. in Disability Studies awards. It was a fantastic day and Dr. Derek Barter academic co-ordinator for Continuing Education courses Dept. of Adult and Community Education and Paul Fagan the course tutor were amazed and inspired by the reflections of the students who presented on the day and who spoke of their experiences on the programme. One student, Bernie Walsh from Donegal CIL, who has worked for the HSE for over thirty years and with disabled people for at least 15 years remarked that before she began the course she thought she knew everything there was to know about working with people with disabilities. By the end of the first day she realised how little she really understood about the everyday struggles of disabled people and that this certificate course had given her a whole new way of looking at the world and has changed her way of working. She went on to say that she believed that all health care professionals would benefit hugely from taking at least some of the modules contained in the programme. As a result the department of Adult and Community Education is considering offering modules as CPD for GPs, Public Health Nurses, and general care workers.
