The Higher Diploma in Community Access for Disabled People is offered at both the University of Malta and the University of Malta – Gozo Campus.
The course is based on three years of part-time study with exit awards at the end of each year. By successfully completing the study-units offered during the first year of the course (30 ECTS credits), you would be eligible for the award of a Level 5 Certificate, or you may proceed onto the next year of the course. At the end of the 2nd Year of the course, by successfully complete the study-units of the second year, you may
- stop your studies at this point and exit with a Diploma of 60 ECTS credits, or
- proceed onto the third and final year of the course to qualify for the award of a Higher Diploma on successful completion of the full 90 ECTS credits for the programme.
The course caters to update or enhance your study skills, especially in the initial stages. For this reason, during the first semester there will be emphasis on content as well as method in order to ensure that you become well-learned and gain confidence in carrying out assignments and being assessed.
The general aims of the programme of study are to enable you to:
- increase your knowledge of disability issues;
- be aware of and analyse the complexity of these issues; and
- be able to compare them to similar and related issues.
The programme of study is firmly embedded in the discipline of disability studies and therefore based on the social model of disability, that is the acknowledgement that the obstacles faced by disabled people in society arise not so much from their biological impairments as from the socially-created barriers that they face on a daily basis. Both disability studies and the social model are a product of the disabled people’s movement whose rallying call is ‘nothing about us without us’. This means that disabled people should be involved in all work related to disability at all levels, since they are the ones who have the lived experience of disability. To this end, disabled people with the necessary qualifications will be involved in lecturing in the study units, while the concepts behind the social model and the ‘nothing about us without us’ slogan will be the basis of the course content. It is also envisaged that some of the students will be disabled people themselves. This would greatly enhance your experience within the course in terms of learning how to give disabled people the opportunity to secure your rightful place in society.
| Semester 1 | |||||
| Compulsory Units (Certificate Part - covered during 2022-23) (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||
| DBS1002 | Study Skills for Disability Issues | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS1003 | Building a Maltese Disabled People’s History | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS1004 | Disability Issues in Practice | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| Semester 2 | |||||
| Compulsory Units(Certificate Part - covered during 2022-23) (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||
| DBS1005 | Exploring Disabled People’s Expressions through the Arts | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS1006 | Services for an Independent Life | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS1010 | Disability Issues in Society | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| Semester 1 | |||||
| Compulsory Units (Diploma Part - covered during 2023-24) (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||
| DBS2201 | Campaigning for Rights on an Equal Basis with Others | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2202 | From Dependence to Autonomy: Empowerment in Everyday Life | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2203 | Developing Disability Arts | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| Semester 2 | |||||
| Compulsory Units (Diploma Part - covered during 2023-24) (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||
| DBS2206 | Building Inclusive Communities | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2208 | Disabled People's Impairment-Related Issues | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2216 | Disability Policy | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2217 | Education, Employment and Health Access to Related Services | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| Semester 1 | |||||
| Compulsory Units (covered during 2024-25) (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||
| DBS2004 | Sexuality and Disability | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2213 | Advanced Study Skills for Disability Studies | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2215 | Hidden Disabilities | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS3010 | Representation of Disabled People | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| Semester 2 | |||||
| Compulsory Units (covered during 2024-25) (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||
| DBS2211 | Providing Equal Access to Disabled People | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||
| DBS2212 | Guided Long Essay | 8 ECTS | (NC) | ||
This programme of study is governed by the General Regulations for University Undergraduate Awards, 2019 and by the Bye-Laws for the award of the Higher Diploma in Community Access for Disabled People - H.Dip. C.A.D.P. - under the auspices of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing.
