DSA Dylexia for Uni

[Greentent]

Hi
DS (dyslexic) has had an email from Uni re a dyslexia assessment (£300) and application for DSA. He hasn't had a post 16 assessment which is required. School did one for exams purposes but I guess this won't count? I just looked on line and saw that we would also need to pay first the £200 for any equipment. So I am left wondering if it's worth paying £500 as we are not particularly well off and also have flat deposit and lots of other uni "stuff" to pay for. DS already has a laptop. Does anyone have any advice or experience on this?

In similar situation here so watching with interest....

Student finance England are tightening up on what is offered to dyslexic students, so an assessor might recommend free software and won't now always recommend a new laptop because most students have them and the support is meant to create a level playing field. The thing your son might want is regular 1:1 support with a dyslexia tutor. This depends on how dyslexic a student is, what course they are doing and what strategies they already use.

Have you contacted the university

Example intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/studentservices/disability/dsa/dsapayfor.aspx

Does Ds need extra time in exams? If so this ( to my mind) is the most important thing & for that he will need a post 16 assessment. DSA is the route to extra time even though it doesn't give you extra money.

Obviously a laptop important for those with dyslexia and writing - my Ds never bothered with special sw etc. Just laptop and the extra time in exams. He could not claim anything for laptop though as pp said , pretty much most students have them now.

Phone the university. Once DS had qualified ( i.e. accepted on UCAS) I think I am right in remembering we got the post 16 dyslexia assessment reimbursed but please check with the particular university & don't rely on that. Our experience is when DS phoned the admissions people at the university re DSA they were very very helpful.

Good luck.

My daughter's dyslexia wasn't diagnosed until she was 16 which made things easier. She already has a laptop but her DSA will pay for some software, a scanner/printer and a certain amount of printer ink and paper every year. She will also have study skills support when she gets to university (Exeter).

We haven't had to pay the first £200.

My daughter is has dyslexia and dyspraxia, I asked her and this is what she said

In the long run paying for the assessment is worthwhile. Don't rush to do it if you can't afford it.
As your DS had an assesment does he think he will be able to cope with out the adjustments it gave him?

In terms of DSA equipment it varies according to who is assessing you and what they recommend.

I had 2 done because I started in medicine and did an intercalated degree. Both courses were almost identical in terms of requirements but what I got was so different!

Laptops
1st one- No laptop you are not entitled to one its not an additional requirement as a result of disability, all students need one
2nd assessment- yes laptop+ printer and scanner+headphones
I chose to upgrade my laptop so I paid £460, in total for the surface pro laptop, a canon mg3650 and some headset thingy,

Printing allowance
1st assessment-£200ish for consumables
2nd assessment-no consumable allowance

1-1 tutor
1st assessment-42 hours per year
2nd assessment- 15hours a year

Travel
1st assessment- paid for some travel to uni to use the libraries/printers(if i remembered to return the receipts)
2nd assesment-no travel

We paid under £250 for a new assessment as found a Psychologist is has a deal if you're a student at certain local colleges. Not a full assessment, but one that is suitable for DSA purposes. It was worth it as his original one was done when he was 12 & that was ten years ago. Also DS received his feedback rather than us parents hearing back that he was an extremely clever young man. He never quite believed us & thought we were just saying that to make him feel better about the dyslexia diagnosis.

Thanks for all your interesting replies. I have tried to phone the uni department that sent him the email but nobody is answering. I will keep trying. He qualified for extra time, WP and spellcheck for his exams and more than anything, I think he would really benefit from study support as he is very very disorganised. I wonder if he could get this without the assessment though? I will keep trying to phone them and see what they advise.

Contact the Disability Resource Centre at the university he's due to go to for advice. The evidence provided to schools to get extra time in exams may not be enough to get extra time in exams at university. If he's very disorganised you might want to ensure he engages fully with the help that's offered. If he misses appointments, he won't necessarily be chased up.