A Professor of Social Work from The University of Manchester has been recognised as one of the UK’s most influential disabled people.

Professor Alys Young says she’s delighted to have made the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 2022.

She follows in the footsteps of Jess Boland, Senior Lecturer in Functional Materials and co-chair of The University’s disabled staff network, who was on the list last year.

Professor Young is a co-leader of the Social Research with Deaf People research group which works in British Sign Language focussing on inequalities in health and social care affecting d/Deaf people.

She said: “Having lived with a serious debilitating condition most of my adult life, a great deal of my research work and academic teaching and student support is driven by a commitment to social justice, in all its forms.

“Anything I am able to do to unlock the latent potential and talents of others is a key motivator in redressing the consequences of structural and interpersonal inequalities.”

A former Academic Lead for Disability Equality at the university of Manchester, she is also a distinguished visiting professor at the Centre for Deaf Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

She was conferred a fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2016 in recognition of her contribution to the field of social research with d/Deaf people, and to social work.

In 2016, she won the Times Higher Award for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year and is also a Senior Fellow of NIHR SSCR.

She currently leads the national longitudinal study of deaf youth in transition to adulthood and the first study of the impact of interpreter mediated Mental Health Act assessments.

The Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 aims to showcase the capabilities and strengths of Disabled People and the prejudice they often encounter.

Nationally and internationally recognized, it celebrates the most influential disabled people in the UK, nominated by the public and judged by an independent panel.

More than 20% of people have an impairment and too often society sees disability before capability, unintentionally excluding Disabled People, muting their impact and limiting inclusion.

Disabled people navigate an inaccessible world, equipping them with unique perspectives, expertise and experience that is often overlooked.