Ask the Students: Sunflower Lanyards

The debate surrounding the Sunflower lanyards use to indicate a mask exemption has been going on since the beginning of the pandemic. However, since recently UCLan has made it official policy, the Disabled Student Society has added their voice to the anger and frustration that disabled people are again being ignored on an issue that directly affects them. Due to the large crossover between those who have invisible disabilities and those with mask exemptions, some believe that it’s a non-issue. There is no recognition that the lanyard acted as an aid for disabled people before the pandemic and now this help is going in large part to people now associating it with a completely different cause.

Many students have taken to social media to voice their dismay about both the use of the lanyard, and of the university requiring official registration for the lanyard to be recognised (despite there being a known issue with students with invisible disabilities being scared to come forward already).

Following on from the previous article, Sunflowers - So What: How the University Has Failed People with Hidden Disabilities, a survey was conducted with the UCLan Disabled Students’ Society to see how they felt about this issue. All results were collected anonymously via SurveyMonkey. 100% of respondants collected said they felt the university had not approached students with disabilities about using sunflower lanyards as ‘exemption lanyards’, and only half had registered with the university to declare an exemption. 75% felt the university has not done enough to advertise the registration process.

The images included were made by students to express how they felt about the scheme.

How has the Hidden Sunflower Lanyard Scheme benefited you?

“I use the lanyard to indicate I may need additional help in shops or public transport. It meant I could indicate I may need help without having to disclose my entire medical history

to a stranger. It also meant I got less angry looks when I used the disabled lift or bathroom when I don't "look disabled" ”

“It helped me when using trains and services to travel home and to see my girlfriend from uni. It let people know I might take a little longer to walk and get around as well as my communication difficulties. Rail staff could help me and understood from my lanyard that I made need extra help they spoke slower and calmer to me than others and helped me find platforms when they changed as I could not walk fast enough to the change of play form. Using the lanyard made me more recognisable and when I got off trains staff were easily able to identify me as the person who had booked for support.”

“It allowed me to get help from others in airports without any fuss.”

“It has allowed me to get support without being questioned.”

There has recently been an issue with students buying their own sunflower lanyards online and using them to claim a ‘mask exemption’, how do you feel about this?

“It is disgusting. Not only are they being flippant about other people's lives, they are

undermining years of work trying to get our disabilities recognised. It is doing a lot of damage”

“Like it has taken away the meaning of the lanyards all together. It has made them less valid and less people in other sectors are going to respect their original meaning and just see them as a no mask lanyard. But also may not even take them seriously as exhumation lanyards as people are lying.”

“ If UCLan had decided to make their own lanyards and given them out to students on the 'exemption register', this wouldn't have been an issue.”

“Not good as causing us all issues and making us stand out”

How would you feel about the university providing their own branded ‘exemption lanyards’?

“It would make a lot more sense, rather than using an already co-opted lanyard.”

“This would be a much better system and not take away from a initially positive scheme for

hidden disabilities”

“They should've done this in the first place. We were told the lanyards wouldn't be the sunflower lanyards through our representatives who themselves had been informed of this by the university in meetings.”

“Good as would not stand out as much”

How well do you feel UCLan has communicated with students with disabilities over the course of the pandemic?

“Pathetic. They don't care about us.”

“I don’t think I personally have been given the support I need to during this pandemic as a disabled student. Many of the things I use are no longer helpful to me with online learning making online learning even more difficult as I can not use my assistive tech as it is not comparable with online learning. Learning plans do not line up with online learning and this has not been addressed. I don’t think I have had any more comunication than the typical student to adress why the online situation may differ to me with a disability.”

“Poorly. I understand they have lots of students, but not a single check up email? Really?”

“No good not had anything”

Do you have any further comments?

“I worry about any university making a list of disabled students, especially when a student could be punished for not declaring”

“Exhumation (sic) isn’t straight forward and many student may be exempt but wear masks some of the time but not all should they apply for the exemption list or do they not qualify as they can wear masks on some days but not other depending on changing health.”

“I haven't signed up because I am fully online, however, I feel like the university could do a better job advertising it to people. I think the university has let people down by not keeping their initial promise.”

If you want your views shared, please fill out our open survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/V57NT6W