Anyone have a DC who has applied for Disabled Student Allowance or work as a Student Support person at Uni?

[bigbluebus]

Posted this in Further Ed by accident so have re-posted here.

DS has HF ASD/Aspergers. He has had 25 hrs 1:1 support all through school, although since he has been in 6th form, this support has been used at a distance (at DSs choice) with some 1:1 mentoring sessions thrown in outside of lessons.
DS has always tried to shake off his support as he wants to be like everyone else.
He has applied for and been given conditional offers for Uni which will involve moving away from home (no local Unis here). He has also applied for DSA and received confirmation that he is eligible, but the next step is he needs to go for an interview/assessment. DS is not very good at saying what he needs/what his issues are (he doesn't really think he has any) and I am worried that he will go along to this interview and say he doesn't need anything. He has already said he doesn't need any special equipment - I am assuming he will need a lap top but this is no different to any other student and although his hand writing is appalling, he has managed at school without a laptop or a scribe. Where he really struggles is with organisation. His notes are very disorganised (he has never used them to revise - he uses text books/revision guides and past papers) but when told by college that he needs to get his files in order her just says "I like them that way". I don't think he will get away with such shoddy notes/files at Uni and the course he wants to do is quite intensive.

Also, he has never lived away from home before and although he can perform basic housekeeping tasks, I worry that the stress of having to care for himself alongside the heavy workload of the course will leave him struggling to manage his time.

What I want to do, is help DS put together a list of things he might need help with at Uni so that when he goes for the I/V he will be clear about what he needs, but as he has not been to Uni (nor have I) I'm unsure of exactly what the sructure will be and what sort of help he will need. Or will the interviewer/assessor be trained to identify areas where he will need help and proactively offer that up rather than DLA/PIP interviews where they are actively trying to stop you getting anything.

Any help/advice from anyone whose DC has been through this process (or who works in this area) will be greatly appreciated .

I have worries about accomadation too.

Accommodation can be a tricky one to argue for extra funding from the dsa for, commonly it may be something like an en suite if someone has personal care needs and the dsa would pay the difference in cost between non en suite. However, for something like a quiet room or near to where lectures will be etc its probably best to speak to the accommodation dept and disability unit at the uni as they could discuss with you the most suitable arrangement and how it can be monitored, it may be that there is no extra cost just points to consider when allocating rooms. As long as you have medical evidence and can explain the potential issues they should be keen to help.

Several universities (Bath, Cardiff, Glasgow, Sussex, maybe others) run summer schools for prospective students with ASD to give a taste of what university life is like. In some cases you don't have to be applying for a place at that specific university to get a place on the summer school so if the uni your ds is going to doesn't do this have a look for the nearest one that does.

TBH we don't intend to worry about the extra cost, as DS's granny has very kindly offered to fund any difference for him. He's just very reluctant to ask for special consideration even though it's truly something he struggles with.

We worried about accommodation too. In the end my DS (ASD) didn't have an ensuite, because we knew he would be living out in the second year. We/he felt that it would be easier to share in a Hall situation when at least the bathrooms were cleaned often than go from an ensuite into a student house. Of course it all depends on the individual and if the change comes in the second year they are a year old etc, but it worked for my DS.

I've just done a shit load of photocopying of evidence for the DSA form but I've also had to do a separate application (with the same evidence) to the Disability Support Office at his firm choice university. Why is that?

Uni's also need med evidence to put institutional support in place, e.g. exam arrangements, accommodation, notes in advance. It can be quite hard trying to persuade 17/18 year olds to think about their support and independent living so some uni's can be quite vigorous in their info gathering! Also some will apply for the DSA for you.

That's interesting about the computers tweak32 and students having to pay the 1st £200, although most students would need to buy a laptop anyway, so I guess this might be the reasoning behind it. DS finally spoke to his mentor at college who told him to ask for a laptop as his handwriting is appalling (which it is) and also because he would struggle to focus in rooms where there were large numbers of students working ie library or IT suite.

HIs 1st choice Uni has already asked him to fill in a Disability form and he ticked en suite bathroom on there - although he says he thought all the accomodation was en-suite anyway. His 2nd choice Uni puts all lectures in electronic format as standard apparently, so where he goes will depend on what he needs.

I got confused over the computer thing when I applied. I'd bought a laptop last summer and only after speaking to other students I realised the advisor wanted me to say it was a family one. I got offered furniture (which made some sense given my disability) but would have been £1000s of equipment I turned down.
I only wanted a taxi allowance and dragon

DS has the use of a laptop but DH bought it and technically owns it, it wasn't a gift to DS so I'm not sure what to put on the form.

Sorry I haven't read the thread - just the first post.

I wrote a letter for DS2 to take with him to the assessment. I read it with him first and he was happy to take it along. He finds it difficult to put some of his issues into words so it helped.

The thing he found most difficult was Freshers' Fortnight. He mostly hid in his room and by the time he was comfortable enough to try to get to know people, friendship groups had already been made. This made his first two terms difficult, especially as people had already booked second year houses together before the Christmas break and he has nowhere for next year.

Things are lots better friendship-wise now but even though the Uni he's at has excellent support for students with ASD, they didn't seem to step in at all during Freshers' Fortnight.

In hindsight, I would be much more hands on in the first few weeks. The woman in charge of the support would have been fine with parental contact but I made the mistake of stepping back in the hope that he would be ok and make an effort himself with me cheering from the sidelines.

Kitties DS ended up using the wax earplugs you can shape to fit your ears. It took him quite a while to accept that HWBVVU to expect other students to be quiet after 11pm. I'm not sure he accepts it even now

Thanks HeadofBetter, they sound very similar!

I've already sort-of made contact with his uni during attempts to sort out the chaos he'd made of booking an open day visit. They were very good, even down to spotting that he'd done a runner from a stressful dining hall and sending someone (a very tactful someone by the sound of it) to check he was OK and to help him find somewhere quiet to eat.

The DSA forms have been in and out of the envelope several times this weekend and really need to get sent off (stern glare at DS's closed door).

Ooh, I've just read Demelza's post above and realised that actually, photocopying the whole shebang one more time tomorrow might be useful, if we're going to have to submit it all twice!

You can't have too many back ups .

I thought of this thread yesterday when he messaged me on Facebook about some very complicated end of year/field trip lift arrangements. To be fair, he did put the dates down...but not the month(s).

Love him to bits but it still amazes me that someone so very clever can spend a fair bit of his time unable to find his arse with both hands.

All the best with getting that envelope sealed and posted. The uni sound swtitched on.

switched

DS has now been for his study needs assessment. He wouldn't let me go in with him and although I had written a list of things he should ask for, it didn't come out of the folder during the meeting - although he said he had memorised it .

They seem to have recommended a laptop and printer and voice recognition software, plus printing and ink cartridge allowance. Also some sort of voice recorder for recording lectures. Also 2 hours a week with a mentor - which is more or less what he gets at college now. He doesn't seem to have asked for any help with the daily living aspect of Uni - he seems to think the fairies will sort him out there just like they do at home

bigbluebus that is similar to what DD3 got. She also wasn't very good at living stuff. Social and fending for herself. However she surprised us made friends and looked after herself doing her on shopping and cooking. We gave her a practice run with shopping before she went. Gave her £30 and sent her off to the shops to see if she could buy enough food for a week. She did take quite a long time ( she insisted I didn't go with her ) but managed to get enough food for the week and only spent £25.
She is now coming to the end of her second year and has decided to stay in her university town for the summer.

I don't think dsa covers living , just studies.

mumeeee I had already suggested to DS that after his exams are over, he can have a weeks food budget and shop and cook for himself. He was not impressed - but it will happen anyway. Was also going to send him to the launderette with his washing .

bigblue I laughed at the fairies sorting out daily living.
Ds isn't going to uni until next September but we have being having some discussions about managing practicalities.

He said re washing 'You mean we don't have a magic laundry basket. You put the clothes in and a few days later they appear clean in your drawers.' Thing is he wasn't entirely joking.

Thanks for all the info on this thread. We are just about to start open days and it all seems very daunting.

This is incredibly useful and reassuring. Thanks everyone. Just gathering evidence in support of DSA application for DS now.

ds had his assessment today - on the way there he was grumbling about how he didn't need any help, there was nothing wrong with him, grr grr grr

and he came out bubbling :)

The assessor was really nice and put him at his ease - he was open about the fact that he had dyslexia and dyspraxia and needed to use software etc to help him cope

I could have gone in with ds but thought it was good for him to negotiate things himself

He's getting a new laptop with external keyboard and mouse and case etc - we have to contribute £200 but it'll be insured and he'll have IT support for the duration of his course. He's getting a printer/scanner, mind-mapping software, some other software that ds didn't explain v well ... a voice recorder to record lectures and weekly mentoring. The report is also going to recommend that ds has 25% extra time to complete coursework and 33% extra time in exams plus built-in breaks

ds felt really positive about the experience and is really glad he went

We did DS's in May. Cannot get over the amount of support available for uni students. He has had approval for all the equipment that Basildon's boy has (we decided not to order it until after results just in case it needs to go back!), and the weekly mentorship (big relief for helicopter mum) plus 450 hours of study assistance (he is inattentive ADD). This is something he has never had at school and not sure he wants the intrusion into his time, but the mentor suggested to go for it and not necessarily have to use all of it. Of course now all he has to do is get his place, he feels he is a grade down, and hoping they will take him anyways, or at least offer him the Bachelors course, he had applied for a Masters course.