Anyone know about student Disability Services?

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Feeling a bit hacked off but not sure if i'm being unreasonable.

My DS2 has dyspraxia, he needs to use ICT for his studies and exams because his handwriting is illegible. He really struggles with organising and emails and phone calls make him anxious. This is all detailed in the report sent to the Student Disability Service.

Anyway, I contacted them originally in June to find out what he would need in the way of laptop etc and they told me not to buy one as it would almost certainly be funded. they'd need to do an assessment of his needs. fair enough.

They emailed DS to ask him to call to make an appointment. he didn't do it and didn't tell me. He then went away to Uni in the September. I did another email in September asking again about laptop recommendations etc. They said he hadn't made an appointment, agreed to send another email and I backed off thinking they would handle it and also because he had now turned 18 and needs to do things for himself. I made them aware again about the support that he would need and in particular that emailing him would be unlikely to get him to engage. If they'd just sent him an appointment, he would have turned up. He's actually a very amenable and compliant lad.

As the first semester exams approached, he finally listened to my prodding, got an appointment was cleared to use ICT for his exams and given forms to complete for the funding. We did the forms over Christmas holidays and he handed them in. At some point in February they asked him to clarify a number. We checked it and it was the number he had previously given. I asked him to chase up after a few weeks, which he did and was told the person was on holiday and not due back until 16th March.

That's now come and gone and still nothing. I appreciate that things are a bit haywire.

So, the deadline for funding for this year is 31st March so looks like he will lose out.

He's not had the support he's needed but has done well despite this but I'm still a bit annoyed given that the reason he hasn't had the support is part of the disability that he actually needs support with. I appreciate that DS is not blameless here either.

Is this normal?

The onus is on the student to engage. But if he has not had support, and given the ongoing situation is unlikely to get it, and made progress, it will not matter if he does not get it this academic year but makes sure he can for next. Support services are often busy and receive new referrals in first terms so repeated chasing is not priority. What support is he hoping to get?

The onus is on the student to engage. But if he has not had support, and given the ongoing situation is unlikely to get it, and made progress, it will not matter if he does not get it this academic year but makes sure he can for next. Support services are often busy and receive new referrals in first terms so repeated chasing is not priority. What support is he hoping to get?

They will still be working so he needs to email and phone them ASAP to sort it out.

Thanks LIZS. He should be using ICT of some sort in lectures as he can't really take legible notes. His laptop is broken so he needs a new one. I wanted to buy one and they said not to as he should get funding. He should also have access to increased printing, be able to use ICT for exams, and in my view should have a little extra support in terms of making sure he is working to deadlines.

We have done a lot of coping strategies with him and he is getting better and to be fair has managed without that extra support so far. Though he was struggling a little more in S2 as he's found it tougher in general.

I do know it's not all on them but just so frustrated.

Random, he told me the Uni is shut and I've just told him it's not. he says he can't meet them because there is no face to face meeting, Then he says he thinks they might not have come back because of travel restrictions and then finished the message with or maybe they've been told not to come back for safety reasons...

I said I didn't think that the service was great since it's taken all this time and not sorted, he agreed and finished with " yeah it's not great, hopefully i'll be able to sort something out in future"

I work at a uni, everyone is still working! He may have to email and phone but some of the team will be actively working.

We even have some teams offering face to face services to look after the student that are stuck here, mainly international ones 😢

Thanks Random really appreciate it. I've told him to email both the person and the main disability team email asking what is happening. we've not been able to collect him and his stuff yet as i've had CV and now DH has it and we didn't want him to end up coming home to be quarantined. Since that's effectively what we are in anyway, we will get him as soon as we can and before any lockdown hopefully. He is much easier to deal with in person than remotely.

Well, he is always easy to deal with to be honest, but I can check up on him better when he is here without feeling like a nag

Any success with him getting in touch with them today?

Thanks for asking Random. I have no idea actually , I did a last minute dash up to collect him today and he slept all the way home and then went to bed and slept up until dinner and has spent the evening trawling through the 10 tons of shite he brought home and it's clean gone out my head. I'm working at home now though so will chase him up tomorrow and see if I can get any sense out of him.