UON student joins first ever Royal College forum

A student who is committed to making her subject as inclusive as possible has been appointed to a new, national ‘listening and learning’ group.

Rox Talbot – originally from Northern Ireland but now residing in Grantham, Lincolnshire – is in the second year of her degree in Occupational Therapy and is no stranger to keeping herself busy when she’s not in class.

Aside from working part-time for NHS Test and Trace, Rox is also full-time parent to two young children, one of whom is neurodiverse. Impressive for most university students, but more so for Rox who is also disabled.

She picks up her story about how this defining event in her life set her on the path toward occupational therapy as a career and ensuring it is as inclusive as possible: “It happened in 2010 with the most commonplace of things. I bent down to pick my son up and I felt something ‘go’ in my back; I knew it wasn’t good, but I didn’t realise how serious it was.

“The next thing I knew I was in hospital, paralysed from the waist down. To say it was a traumatic experience doesn’t cover it – I was in hospital for a few weeks recovering.

“I woke up one day about a month later and realised I had sensation in my legs and could move them again. Although I have been left with long-standing nerve damage and need to use either crutches or a rollator (a walking aid with wheels) to get around, I was left with a new outlook on life…and a mission to help others.”

Although Rox was unable to continue with her previous career as a dental hygienist, she still wanted to work within the healthcare sector and found out about occupational therapy as she searched for new avenues on the NHS’ website.

Places on the University of Northampton’s popular OT degree were full when she applied but, as luck would have it, one prospective student dropped out leaving the path clear for Rox.

Now settled in and happy with the commute to classes – the full-time, extended programme she has taken means less weekly attendance and more flexibility – she is using a new platform to ensure the views of fellow disabled students are represented at a national level.

Rox is one of only a dozen students from across the UK to join the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) new RCOT Carnduff Learner Forum*.

The forum sees apprentice and student representatives meeting and share the views and experiences of OT learners. They will have direct contact with the College to give a ‘view from the floor’ about what is happening in higher education and the OT learner journey.

Of her appointment, Rox said: “I’m already a course advocate for other students for my year who are also taking the full-time extended route, so I feel I’m ideally set to contribute to the Learning Forum.

“It was a bit of a shock to be selected from all of the possible students across the UK to take part and, of course, it’s still very early days. But this is such a great opportunity and I’m immensely proud to be part of it. At the end of the day it’s all about facilitating change that will be positive for future students and the profession which will only benefit service users. I’m very excited to be able to represent the views of disabled students at the Forum and am looking forward to some interesting discussions about disability and other marginalised groups in society.”

*The forum is named after the late Ann Carnduff, former Head of Occupational Therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University. Ann – who was also disabled after childhood Polio – is remembered for her many contributions to the development of the profession.

Find out more about Occupational Therapy (BSc) at the University of Northampton.