GSEEN: A Support Platform & New Role for Navigating the Social Challenges of Invisible Disability ©

GSEEN A Support Platform & New Role for Navigating the Social Challenges of Invisible Disability at GSA

2

By PENNY BREMNER MDES DESIGN INNOVATION AND CITIZENSHIP 2025

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.........................................................................................................................................3 Context: Why This Matters..............................................................................................................4 Challenge 1: Upfront Effort: The Pressure To Make Invisible Disability Visible.......................................................................5 Challenge 2: Ongoing Effort: The Social Challenges Of Navigating University With Invisible Disability the Pressure To Make Invisible Disability Visible...................................6 What Support Could Look Like: A Case Study Learning From A Tutor Who Understood Invisible Disability........................7 A New Kind Of Support: The Opportunity..................................................................................................................................8 GSEEN Platform Overview..............................................................................................................10 GSEEN Officer Overview...................................................................................................................12 Student Journey With GSEEN..........................................................................................................16 Impact: How GSEEN Makes Difference........................................................................................18 Looking Wider: GSEEN As A Cultural Shift...................................................................................19

3

INTRODUCTION Invisible disabilities can bring subtle but meaningful challenges into university life especially around everyday social interactions. While GSA already offers a strong foundation of support, including academic adjustments and flexible, encouraging tutors, some students still find themselves navigating pressures that are harder to address through formal systems alone.

These include things like stigma, uncertainty around disclosure, and the emotional effort of self-advocating in spaces where their needs aren’t always visible. This can lead to feelings of anxiety, isolation, or simply the wish that someone understood, without needing everything explained.

This project was shaped through conversations with students who shared how valuable it would be to have a more personal form of support: someone who recognises the day to day pressures of living with an invisible disability, offers reassurance, and supports

communication when needed.

GSEEN was developed to meet this need. It adds a new layer of support at GSA – one that’s relational, visible, and embedded in students’ daily academic experience.

GSEEN Officers are based across each of the four schools, offering friendly, approachable support that helps ease the social and emotional weight of navigating invisible disability.

As the researcher and designer behind this project, I live with invisible disabilities myself, an experience that shaped and motivated this work. The insights shared here are drawn from design research with a small group of students at GSA. While the project doesn’t speak for every experience, it highlights some shared challenges and the opportunity for an added layer of care.

4

CONTEXT: WHY THIS MATTERS Invisible disabilities are impairments or conditions that aren’t immediately apparent to others, which can make navigating daily life more complex.

While very helpful formal support exists for academic adjustments, the social and cultural challenges such as stigma, uncertainty around disclosure, or the emotional effort of self-advocacy, are often less visible and are challenges not widely known by people without lived experience.

For lots of students, the most difficult part is worrying about how they are perceived.

Asking for help can feel daunting when the challenges you’re facing aren’t visible, especially when they relate more to daily

interactions than academic tasks. Some students worry that their disability and adjustments will be forgotten or overlooked, which can make them anxious about having to bring it up again and uncertain about how they’ll be received.

These ongoing pressures can feel isolating, particularly when there’s no everyday point of contact to check in, understand, or help ease the social side of navigating university with an invisible disability. GSEEN explores the opportunity for an added layer of understanding support at GSA – one that complements existing provision and responds to the social challenges students have shared through this research.

5

CHALLENGE 1: UPFRONT EFFORT THE PRESSURE TO MAKE INVISIBLE DISABILITY VISIBLE Because invisible disabilities aren’t immediately apparent to others, many students feel they must take extra steps to make their situation known in order to be understood. This can mean disclosing personal details, repeatedly explaining their circumstances, or using visual signals like the Sunflower Lanyard.

While these tools can help some, they still place the responsibility on the student to act first – to reveal something that isn’t always easy to share, especially when it relates to their identity or lived experience.

Students involved in this project spoke about the emotional effort this can take: worrying about how they’ll be received, and feeling pressure to manage how they’re perceived – particularly in moments where their behaviour or actions might be misunderstood. Some described past experiences of being judged or dismissed when their disability wasn’t known, making these interactions feel more loaded.

These experiences raise an important question: does recognition always need to begin with the student?

Disclosure

Explanations

Signals

6

CHALLENGE 2: ONGOING EFFORT THE SOCIAL CHALLENGES OF NAVIGATING UNIVERSITY WITH INVISIBLE DISABILITY Invisible disability can bring ongoing social and emotional challenges that aren’t widely known without lived experience. Students described carrying a constant mental load, wondering when to speak about their disability, managing how others would respond, and trying to keep track of everything on their own.

These challenges shape how safe, seen, or included someone feels from day to day. It’s not just about what support exists, but how students experience interactions and environments, especially when navigating things like flexibility, understanding, or feeling able to speak up.

STUDENT’S INSIGHTS INTO THEIR EXPERIENCE

I found it difficult sharing my invisible disability with each new tutor “I often worried about how I’d be perceived, or whether it would change how people saw me.

Sometimes I reminded people in class, other times I stayed quiet and that meant I couldn’t always participate in the way I wanted to.”

Navigating daily interactions

The map below helps to surface those invisible pressures, the kind that build up in everyday moments and can affect how comfortable and supported a student feels over time.

Looking at both challenges, students with invisible disabilities often carry a lot of emotional and social responsibility to help others understand them whether through disclosure, explanation, or constant communication. This project questions: what if support could step in first and remove the burden from students of having to make others understand them

Starting at GSA was exciting but I felt a lot of uncertainty “I was navigating new routines and expectations, while also managing things others couldn’t see. I didn’t know if what I was experiencing would be understood or if I’d be judged for asking for help or by my actions.”

It felt like I was constantly managing how visible my invisible disability was to other people “Making sure people remembered, understood what I needed, and trying to avoid being misunderstood in classes, meetings, or conversations. It left me carrying a heavy mental load just to stay on top of things.”

At first I kept things to myself “I didn’t want to draw attention or ask for the wrong thing. I wasn’t always sure what was OK to say, or how I’d be received.”

Worry about perceptions

It sometimes felt like I was navigating everything on my own “I wish there had been someone who understood what I was facing and could check in regularly. When things got overwhelming, I often didn’t know who to turn to. It felt like I had to manage everything myself, figuring out how to ask for help, when to say something, and worrying how people might respond.”

What helped most were the small, friendly gestures

I wanted to feel understood and looked out for

“When someone remembered my adjustments, when a staff member asked how I was doing, without me having to bring it up, and asking what else might help me with my studies. Feeling seen in this way through such small gestures mean so much because they take the worry, stress and anxiety away that comes with navigating day to day life and interactions.”

“I think it would’ve made a big difference to have a friendly face to reassure me and help with social challenges along the way. Just knowing someone recognised what I was going through without me always having to explain it. That kind of support could’ve really helped ease some of the pressure I carried.”

SelfAdvocacy

7

WHAT SUPPORT COULD LOOK LIKE: A CASE STUDY LEARNING FROM A TUTOR WHO UNDERSTOOD INVISIBLE DISABILITY The researcher/designer’s experience as someone with invisible disabilities: One of the most impactful forms of support I experienced during my time at GSA came from my tutor, Professor Elio Caccavale. He offered consistent, thoughtful support that was attuned to how I was actually experiencing university life –both academically and emotionally. This included regular check-ins, taking time to understand what I was struggling with, identifying helpful adjustments, advocating on my behalf when needed, and responding in a non-judgemental way informed by his own lived experience and understanding of the struggles that can come with having invisible disabilities.

Elio created an environment that went hand in hand with formal provision, offering ongoing support that helped carry me through daily student life. He recognised challenges I was facing without me having to repeatedly explain them, and acted on this awareness through subtle adjustments and relational support such as checking in regularly, offering flexibility when things were difficult, and showing an ongoing understanding of the social and stigmarelated challenges that can come with invisible

disability. This support was consistent and extended into everyday moments that shaped how I engaged in class and with peers. It eased the pressure of needing to advocate for myself and showed me that inclusive support can mean anticipating needs before they have to be voiced which is explored through GSEEN. Students with invisible disabilities who contributed to this project echoed this experience, saying they too would benefit from someone to check in with, advocate for them when needed, and help carry the emotional weight of navigating the social challenges that come with invisible disability. They shared they wished they had someone looking out for them, and someone who could help them feel understood without having to constantly explain. For them, feeling “seen” meant their experiences were recognised and responded to as part of a supportive and sustained connection.

This kind of support currently happens informally, and while Elio’s approach came from personal commitment and lived understanding, it revealed a broader opportunity — showing that this kind of presence could be made a part of formal support available for students with invisible disabilities.

PROFESSOR ELIO CACCAVALE

THE SUPPORTIVE PRESENCE

8

A NEW KIND OF SUPPORT: THE OPPORTUNITY GSEEN is a proposed platform of support at GSA designed specifically to recognise and respond to the social and emotional challenges of studying with an invisible disability. It builds on insights gathered through this project – from personal experience, from others with lived experience, and from what was shown to be possible through compassionate, informal support that evidenced what can make students with invisible disabilities feel seen.

One of the most persistent challenges for students is the ongoing pressure to make their disability visible in order to make sure they are understood and considered in academic spaces. Students can find themselves needing to re-explain their circumstances, reintroduce their needs with new tutors, or worry about how they’ll be perceived when speaking up. This constant effort and the fear of not being believed or of being seen differently can be quite tiring and isolating.

Alongside this, students with invisible disabilities often face more subtle, everyday challenges that centre around social interactions — such as communicating a need, asking for support, or responding to misunderstandings. These interactions can carry a lot of weight and shape how comfortable and supported students feel over time. To navigate them, students may feel the need to over-explain their condition, wear something that signals their disability, or pre-empt how others might react. This can be emotionally tiring and contribute to a feeling of having to constantly manage how they’re perceived. GSEEN responds to this by finding ways to make invisible disability more widely understood at GSA, helping to create a culture where students don’t have to disclose or explain in order to be supported.

GSEEN aims to ease that pressure by shifting both visibility and responsibility away from students.

Rather than placing the focus on students to initiate conversations, identify their disability, or explain their support needs, GSEEN introduces a visible and proactive support presence embedded across the institution. This includes one GSEEN Coordinator and four GSEEN Officers, one located in each school, who act as recognisable figures students can rely on throughout their time at GSA. By being visible and consistent from the start of the academic year, GSEEN Officers send a clear message: support for invisible disability is here, and you don’t have to identify your disability to receive it. Officers check in regularly, build a connection with the student, and maintain an ongoing awareness of each student’s

support needs – even as tutors, projects, or contexts change. This helps to reduce the pressure students often feel to reintroduce themselves or justify their needs in each new space.

Importantly, GSEEN flips the usual dynamic: instead of students having to come forward and explain what they need first, support becomes something that is more visible and present. This reframes how invisible disability is approached at GSA, from something students feel they need to disclose and explain, to something already recognised and supported through everyday presence and understanding – helping to create a more open, inclusive culture where students can be themselves without fear of stigma, judgement, or being misunderstood.

In addition to easing the pressure of visibility, GSEEN also helps lighten the emotional burden that students carry. Students often have to track and manage their own needs, and manage their studies while also trying to gain understanding from others. GSEEN Officers offer steady support built on connection that keeps track of what students are experiencing and ensures those insights don’t get lost over time. This kind of continuity makes it easier for students to focus on their studies without having to continually advocate for themselves. From the beginning of the academic year, GSEEN Officers are introduced intentionally as part of the student experience. They are friendly, consistent figures who check in, listen, and get to know each student’s situation. This allows students to feel acknowledged without having to repeatedly bring up their disability or advocate for themselves in every new situation. Officers help ensure that key information is remembered, support remains steady across staff and project changes, and students aren’t left to manage everything on their own.

GSEEN works in tandem with existing disability support systems at GSA, creating support for invisible disability that is embedded in students’ everyday experience through a visible presence of familiar faces, regular check-ins, and greater awareness of invisible disability in daily academic life.

By bringing in roles that take the first step and embedding their presence in everyday academic life, GSEEN helps ease the emotional and social effort that students carry, while also raising awareness of invisible disability across the institution. It offers students a stronger sense of being looked out for and seen – both in their challenges, and in their experience of invisible disability as a whole.

9

Current Situation

Explanations

These two diagrams show how the effort and pressures currently carried by students such as explaining their situation, managing how they’re perceived, or signalling their needs is eased through the introduction of GSEEN.

Signals

Disclosure

Challenge 1

The platform and Officer roles reduce this effort by taking on some of these interactions, raising awareness of invisible disability, and offering support before students feel they have to ask.

Student with Invisible Disability Challenge 2

Selfadvocating

Worry about perceptions

Navigating daily interactions

Proposed Situation

Doesn’t require disclosure from students to receive their help, teaching staff also wear lanyard to signal they don’t need disclosure to offer help

Ensures people in the student’s academic journey understand and are prepared to support invisible disability

GSEEN Officers wear lanyards to show they’re there to help – students don’t need to signal first

Challenge 1

Challenge 1

Officer offers regular check-ins to build trust and ease the pressure of managing things alone Student with Invisible Disability GSEEN Officer

Supports conversations with staff, so students don’t always have to explain

GSEEN’S presence acts as a signal to students that they are in a safe environment

GSEEN includes resources and information that raise awareness among staff so educating others doesn’t fall solely on those with lived experience

GSEEN

Challenge 2

Steps in when needed to represent students’ support needs

Platform introduced at the application stage, so students don’t feel like they have to reveal something to be seen, ID is recognised here

Creates resources for GSEEN to spread awareness of ID

Platform

10

GSEEN GSEEN PLATFORM OVERVIEW GSEEN is a new, institution-wide platform designed to make invisible disability recognised, understood, and supported at GSA – without students having to make the first move.

- A dedicated presence on the GSA website and course pages, so applicants can see the platform before they arrive and feel reassured that invisible disability is recognised here.

It shifts visibility and responsibility from the individual to the institution by publicly acknowledging invisible disability and showing students they are seen. From the moment students explore GSA as an option to study, GSEEN signals that support is available, showing students they are seen even before they disclose or explain their situation.

- A student-facing Canvas page where enrolled students can find GSEEN resources, book check-ins, and learn about their school’s GSEEN Officer.

The platform exists both online and in person.

It features:

At its heart, GSEEN addresses the pressure that comes with making invisible disability visible, offering early, open support so students feel recognised without needing to explain themselves first.

- Year round emails and events that maintain GSEEN’s visibility across the institution, making sure students have multiple opportunities to engage, opt in, and feel supported.

11

Visibility on GSA webpages that show GSA’s recognition of, and support available for students with invisible disabilities

Featured on individual course pages, with links to its own page platforming invisible disability information, and support available at GSA

12

GSEEN OFFICER OVERVIEW Each GSA school has a dedicated GSEEN Officer who is a friendly, consistent point of contact for students with invisible disabilities.

staff, and the EDI Committee, helping ensure invisible disability is recognised and supported across GSA.

Their role is to help reduce the social and emotional effort students often carry alone.

Officers check in, listen, and gently support communication between students, tutors, and services when needed. They get to know each student’s situation and make sure support doesn’t stop when staff, projects, or contexts change.

Students can book their GSEEN Officer through the GSEEN Canvas page. After that first meeting, the Officer takes the lead – checking in and maintaining the connection throughout the whole student journey. To show their presence, Officers wear the GSEEN lanyard, a symbol of open, approachable support.

GSEEN Officers are trained in: - Invisible disability awareness - Supportive communication - Inclusive practice and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles -Awareness of cultural differences in how disability and support are understood, with training in inclusive communication

Over time, GSEEN would also offer training and resources to staff across GSA. Once they complete the training, staff can choose to wear a GSEEN pin on their lanyard – a small but powerful signal that they’re approachable and informed on invisible disability. The aim is for GSEEN Officers to lead by example while encouraging a wider culture of support. As more staff adopt the values and practices modelled by GSEEN, support becomes something shared.

They work closely with Student Support, teaching

Doesn’t require disclosure from students to receive their help, teaching staff also wear lanyard to signal they don’t need disclosure to offer help

Ensures people in the student’s academic journey understand and are prepared to support invisible disability

GSEEN Officers wear lanyards to show they’re there to help – students don’t need to signal first

Challenge 1

Officer offers regular check-ins to build trust and ease the pressure of managing things alone Student with Invisible Disability GSEEN Officer

Challenge 2

Steps in when needed to represent students’ support needs

Supports conversations with staff, so students don’t always have to explain

Creates resources for GSEEN to spread awareness of ID

GSEEN

13

The GSEEN lanyard signals a friendly, trained point of contact for invisible disability support

Secondarily Staff Facing

The GSEEN Canvas platform is where students can book their GSEEN Officer, access resources about invisible disability, and explore what support might be relevant – especially helpful for those who aren’t sure how their experience fits or whether to seek help

GSEEN Officer The School of Design

GSEEN Officer The School of Fine Art

Primarily Student Facing GSEEN Coordinator

GSEEN Officer

While GSEEN Officers are first and foremost student-facing, they also contribute to wider cultural change by helping staff build awareness and confidence around invisible disability.

GSEEN Officer The Mackintosh School of Architecture

GSEEN Officer School of Innovation and Technology

The GSEEN team is made up of four Officers and one GSEEN Coordinator who manages the platform and leads staff training on invisible disability. Together, they form a visible and student-facing support network across GSA. The Coordinator ensures the platform stays impactful, while Officers support staff awareness, share feedback from students, and collaborate to improve resources over time in addition to their key role.

14

15

A CLOSER LOOK

16

STUDENT JOURNEY WITH GSEEN

Student sees GSEEN while applying GSEEN is visible on course pages and the main GSA website, signalling from the start that invisible disability is recognised and supported here

GSEEN is introduced during Welcome Week The platform and Officers are introduced through talks. If a student misses this, they still receive follow-up info via email.

Student sees the GSEEN lanyard on staff GSEEN Officers wear lanyards that show students they don’t need to disclose in order to receive understanding and support

Student visits GSEEN Canvas page Students can read about invisible disability, explore whether they identify with it, and book an optional first check-in with their Officer.

17 This journey shows how students encounter GSEEN from the very beginning of their GSA experience, starting with visible signs of support during application and continuing with friendly, consistent presence throughout their studies.

Instead of having to initiate conversations or explain themselves again and again, students are invited into support gently, with opportunities to connect, ask questions, and feel reassured. Once that connection is

made, the GSEEN Officer becomes a familiar face who checks in regularly, understands the social challenges students may be carrying, and offers help before things become overwhelming.

Even if projects or tutors change, that connection stays steady, making support feel less like something students have to manage alone, and more like something that walks alongside them.

Student books an initial chat with GSEEN Officer This first conversation opens a connection.

After this, the Officer takes responsibility for maintaining contact and offering ongoing support.

GSEEN

Officer offers steady support throughout the year They check in, offer to help with communications if needed, and act as a familiar point of contact when anything feels difficult to navigate.

Support continues across changes Even when tutors or projects change, the GSEEN Officer stays consistent, helping the student feel recognised and looked out for.

IMPACT ON STUDENTS

18

IMPACT: HOW GSEEN MAKES A DIFFERENCE The challenges shared by students such as the pressure to constantly explain themselves, the uncertainty of how they’ll be perceived, or the emotional weight of navigating daily interactions aren’t just one off difficulties. They add up with time, shaping how safe, understood, and supported a student feels throughout their studies.

GSEEN helps ease this ongoing effort by introducing a visible, consistent presence that supports students relationally and socially. By checking in, advocating when needed, and helping staff and peers understand invisible disability more clearly, GSEEN lightens the pressure students find they carry alone.

In the short term, this helps students feel recognised and supported in ways that make day to day university life easier – reducing the need to repeat personal

DESIRED STUDENT EXPERIENCE

details, manage how they’re perceived, or carry their challenges silently. Over time, GSEEN could help create a more inclusive university experience. One where students with invisible disabilities feel confident that their experiences will be recognised and supported, even without having to explain or prove them.

In the long term, GSEEN aims to help more students with invisible disabilities feel that The Glasgow School of Art is a place where they’ll be welcomed and supported,not only academically, but culturally too. GSEEN works alongside formal support to make space for a wider range of experiences, especially those shaped by stigma, social discomfort, or the emotional effort of navigating daily life with an invisible disability – helping widen what support can look like for students at GSA.

Starting at GSA felt more reassuring

It was easier to say what I needed

“I saw GSEEN while applying and again in the first week. It felt like the uni already expected people like me, it made me feel seen from the start.”

“Once I met my GSEEN Officer, I didn’t have to keep repeating myself. They remembered what helped and, with my consent, shared this with staff. They were there if I needed to speak to staff but felt uncomfortable to do so.”

I didn’t feel like I had to explain everything

It helped to have someone who understood

“I didn’t need to go into loads of detail to be believed. It helped knowing someone already understood what invisible disability can be like.”

“My Officer checked in regularly, they got how tricky it can be just trying to speak up. It felt like someone had my back.”

Ease in Everyday Interactions

It was the small things that made me feel seen

Support didn’t rely on me doing all the work

“Like being asked how I was doing without having to bring it up. I didn’t realise how much that meant until I experienced it.”

“Once I booked my first chat, my Officer kept in touch. I didn’t have to go asking. It made a big difference not having to carry that weight.”

Confidence in How I’m Received

I could focus more on my work “Not having to chase people or clarify things all the time gave me more space to concentrate.

The weight of always being on is lifted.”

I felt less alone in how I was feeling and how I experienced university “Even though my disability isn’t visible, it felt like someone got it.

That meant I didn’t need to keep proving myself and didn’t feel alone in my journey”

Feeling Supported and Understood

19

LOOKING WIDER: GSEEN AS A CULTURAL SHIFT GSEEN offers direct support to students, however, it also acts as a wider cultural intervention within GSA. By creating a dedicated team that’s visible, approachable, and embedded across the academic experience, GSEEN helps shape a more open and informed culture around invisible disability.

The GSEEN team sits within the broader student support ecosystem at GSA, working closely with teaching staff, Student Support, and EDI to ensure that invisible disability is not just recognised, but also, meaningfully understood and responded to in daily university life.

In the short term, GSEEN helps reduce the pressure that students can feel to disclose, explain, or signal their disability to feel understood. It introduces visible people and pathways that ease the emotional and social effort currently experienced by helping students feel less alone and more confident navigating their studies.

In the longer term, GSEEN could shift the culture of support at GSA by embedding inclusive behaviours into everyday spaces, and increasing awareness of invisible disability across the institution. This could

make GSA a place where students with invisible disabilities feel supported not just through helpful adjustments, but through everyday connection and understanding too.

In addition to supporting students, GSEEN could also benefit staff with invisible disabilities by contributing to a more open and informed institutional culture.

Through its visible presence, awareness resources, and staff training led by the GSEEN team, the platform helps normalise conversations around invisible disability.

This could reduce the stigma possibly felt by staff, and help create an environment where they, too, feel more understood, supported, and safe to be themselves.

GSEEN also has wider potential. As an institutional signal and support model, it offers a new way of thinking about how invisible disability is approached in public life. Rather than placing the burden on individuals to identify or justify their disability and their challenges, GSEEN shows how institutions can step up – by making invisible disability more visible, understood, and supported through everyday presence and care that comes from the institution, rather than being initiated by the individual.

WHERE THE GSEEN TEAM SIT IN THE GSA ECOSYSTEM

GSEEN Team

Student Support

Student Body

Teaching Staff

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee

21

END