For Disability History Month, Toni speaks to us about their migration experience, and the lack of support they received as a trans disabled migrant student in Scotland.
“I’m a disabled migrant with four chronic physical and mental conditions. I’ve migrated due to my precarious situation as a trans person in my home country, but also because of lack or proper medical support. I came to Scotland on a student visa. If you’re trans and disabled, your bar is usually set in hell, but I felt disappointed still. This country seems like all talk, no action. Inclusion exists only on paper or in superficial, performative acts like empty slogans or posters that never address systemic problems. Anyway, my uni asked me about my disability status and my needs which is something I’ve never seen in my country and made me feel optimistic. This was, however, contrasted with bitter reality. There’s a disability “support” worker at the uni who got in touch with me, but…they don’t know anything about somatic disabilities.
I mean, they know that mobility issues exist but that’s kinda all. The only accessibility services existed for people with dyslexia and ADHD which is grand, but all of that was only applicable for undergrads, not PhD students. I got NO help regarding access to medical services in the UK, and had to look for everything myself with zero information. There’s no support for those who have to wait ages in the NHS queues for specialist appointments. I got nothing but “sorry, I don’t know”. The doctors treated me with contempt explaining that ‘We do things differently here’ when I wanted to continue my treatment from abroad.
I ended up crying after a few visits. All doctors, with literally a couple of exceptions, are white English with no grasp of the reality of people with disabilities, let alone disabled migrants. I had to memorise Scottish law and patients’ rights to fight for proper treatment. At one point, I started attending appointments with my friends who are British citizens just to be treated like a human and not a ‘hysterical foreigner’.
I’m happy that I can finally function socially according to my gender, but there was a huge price to pay. Turns out that if you have arthritis, have hearing loss and have chronic depression, you have to just ‘suck it in’. Mind you, I’m studying in one of the largest unis in Edinburgh that’s boasting around about how inclusive they are. NHS Scotland boasts how they’re based on patient-centred care. Well, all of that is obviously not true at all”.
-Toni (they/them), a trans disabled migrant
To find out more about our work on migration, disability and queerness, visit our Who Is Welcome campaign.