'The OU gave me my confidence back': Beck's experience of studying with MS

Beck is from Mid Glamorgan. In 2022, she graduated with a Master’s in Creative Writing from The Open University in Wales, after also studying for her undergraduate degree with the OU. She lives with multiple sclerosis (MS), a condition which affects around 5,600 people in Wales.

Beck left school at 16 after finishing her GCSEs. Her homelife wasn’t always stable, and she didn’t feel that she had the time to properly prepare for her education.

‘My mum’s second marriage was rocky, and after exams were done, we moved into a refuge for a few months,’ explains Beck. ‘Things didn’t work out there, and we ended up back home. My head was in a terrible space. I had been suffering silently for years with depression at this point, and being at home all day, without even the respite of school to go to made things far worse.’

After some job searching, Beck found some secure work in a local supermarket, and moved into her own home at 18. At 32, she switched to start a new career in horticulture.

‘Though my husband had raised the idea of me returning to studying many times over the years, it was something I’d always dismissed,’ says Beck. ‘That part of my life was done, how could I – with basic GCSEs – even think of going into a degree?

‘No, that wasn’t my destiny. I had a foothold in a new industry, and I was intent on climbing to the top. After six months, I was made a departmental manager, and everything was going great. And then it wasn’t.’

‘I started to have little things go wrong’

It was soon after leaving her old job that Beck noticed changes in her health.

‘I started to have things go wrong only months after leaving my old job,’ she recalls. ‘They were all easily dismissed by themselves, but they began to build up a crooked little jigsaw of disaster looming. Examinations, blood tests, MRI scans, lumbar punctures, all with the reassuring caveat of ‘this is just procedure … just to rule things out … nothing to worry about, I’m sure.’

Beck eventually received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in early 2007. After a few months coming to terms with the news, her husband John encouraged her to think about studying. It was when, as if by magic, a leaflet advertising the OU popped out of a magazine.

‘Looking back at that time, I don’t know that I could have got through without that having happened,’ says Beck. ‘I felt so useless, so without purpose, and all of a sudden to have this helping hand appear at the exact right moment was miraculous.’

‘I wasn’t well enough to commit to attending a traditional brick and mortar university. The freedom for me to choose my study times didn’t exist anywhere other than with the OU.’

Escaping into books

Every day I learnt something new or found myself thinking differently about things I’d always believed. In the main, these were subjects connected to things I’d read in the course materials, but I found myself changing as a person as I went along.

Like many students of creative writing, Beck has a love of reading, and during her teens would escape into books and music – though she admits to having not much musical ability. She can remember enjoying English literature in school, and she felt like studying a similar subject at degree level would be the best choice for her.

Starting an undergraduate degree following her diagnosis took some adjustment for Beck, especially after so many years since her GCSEs.

‘It wasn’t simply ‘study time’, that could be compartmentalised, not like going to school, doing a bit of homework, then switching off,’ she says. ‘Every day I learnt something new or found myself thinking differently about things I’d always believed. In the main, these were subjects connected to things I’d read in the course materials, but I found myself changing as a person as I went along.

‘There were definitely times where I felt like quitting (particularly early in the undergraduate degree) and lost confidence in my abilities and dreams. But there was always somebody there to encourage me, to urge me ever onwards. I know that without the support from tutors and my fellow students, I would not have finished either degree I took.’

Support from The Open University

Like many disabled students, Beck was able to access various levels of support over the phone and email from the OU’s Student Support Team. She was given help to access Disabled Students Allowance (DSA), which helped her receive a computer, printer, screen dimming software, and speech recognition software for when she was unable to type.

All that mattered to the OU was getting us in a position where we could do what we needed to do. No judgment, no shame, just enabling us. It was so positive.

OU students often receive a lot of support from their tutors. This includes things like extensions to assessment deadlines if they need more time to complete the work. Beck’s condition means that she will often experience fatigue, so she found the extensions like this to be a real help.

‘I don’t think I had a single module at BA or MA that I didn’t request at least one extension on,’ said Beck. ‘My tutors were wonderful, offering encouragement via email or telephone.’

Beck would also experience headaches when looking at the bright computer screen which would trigger her vertigo. Thankfully, the screen software provided through DSA, which changed the colour on the monitor, helped her avoid the headaches and allowed her to focus on her work. 

‘I think that was probably the single best adaption I got throughout my studies, as it cut down on two frustrating issues,' she adds.

‘I had an exam in one of the early modules, and the OU arranged for me to sit it at home as I couldn’t travel. I always found it easier to understand what was going on in written form, as I can never hear properly on the phone. I was never once made to feel like a nuisance.

‘The DSA forms were thorough, but easy to follow, and the evidence required was easy to get. From start to finish, the whole process was very quick, and I didn’t feel forgotten. In terms of practical and financial help, the OU went so much further than I could ever have expected, and I don’t think I can ever repay them for that belief in me.’

Beck also found support in the online forums available to OU students on each module. In opening up about her challenges, she realised that many of her peers were studying with both hidden and visible disabilities.

‘All that mattered to the OU was getting us in a position where we could do what we needed to do. No judgment, no shame, just enabling us. It was so positive,’ she explains.

Advice to other students

After completing her Master’s degree in 2022, Beck graduated at the OU’s Wales graduation ceremony at the ICC in Newport, with her husband John, daughter Eve, and her mum and sister there to cheer her on. She continues to write creatively, and often contributes to publications for the MS Society Cymru.

Beck’s message to other disabled people looking to learn new things is to consider the OU:  

‘You won’t have ever been so supported, so encouraged, so enabled as you will being part of the OU family. Your tutors have heard of and dealt with everything before. You cannot shock them or disappoint them by opening upon problems you have or can foresee coming up in the future.

‘Be open and honest about the help you need: it is there, even if you don’t think it is. There will have been someone who got through before you, and made the path a little clearer for you. You will amaze yourself. Believe me, you truly will.'