DSA/learning support at university

[TawnyPippit]

We are newbies in the university world and I would greatly appreciate input from those already in the know. . (BTW, yes, I have told my DS to pull his finger out and sort it out himself, what with him being a grown up, but experience has proved that things go better when I am clear what I am actually nagging him to do).

DS has dyspraxia and some processing issues (mostly around visual processing issues and writing speed). He has an Ed Psych report and got extra time for his exams plus use of laptop. He’s worked v hard on the personal organisation stuff and is pretty much on top of that these days. His report had to be redone in 6th form and we were told that the advantage was that it would also cover university, so we are good there. Is he supposed to go and “file” it somewhere? He has to do a mixture of exams and written work and will definitely need extra time for exams; at GCSE and A level he v easily qualified for 25% and was close to needing 50%. I have been clear with him that he is unlikely just to be able to pull out his report the day before doing an exam and say, oh I qualify for extra time.

I suspect DS is focussing on being a fresher (his university is thankfully v low COVID and he is having a great time!) and as he doesn’t actually know what he needs to do, likely isn’t doing it. He did say he would ask his academic tutor when they had a meeting but I’m not sure whether that happened. I suspect he probably doesn’t like drawing attention to having learning difficulties and thinks that he is now “over it”.

As I had to pay 400quid+ for the latest Ed psych report, I would at least like to get my money’s worth! I’ve also heard that universities are really good with SENs and I would love someone to show him some good ways they can offer support, as support at his schools was a bit mixed .

Hopefully someone will come on with direct knowledge but most departments have an office that deal with registration and administration. I'd suggest he go there, explain the situation and ask what he needs to send and to who.

If he has a look online, it should give contact details for his university's disability support services. If he contacts them they will usually set up a meeting/interview where they can go through a list of all the extra allowances he may need.
In my experience they have always been very helpful.

I’m not an expert but worked in this area years ago (things may have changed). I think you need to apply through Student Finance, assuming he has SFE loans, is in England? The university should have disability support service who can advise on DSA applications. They can take a while and even with a report, he’ll have to have a needs assessment which SFE should pay for. Eventually they’ll confirm what will be provided in terms of equipment/mentoring.

Extra time in exams is usually a separate process. Google personalised assessment arrangements in his university. The exam office may need a form to be completed, there’s likely to be an imminent deadline, though exams may be from home again which may remove this need?
His disability advisor will be able to advise on his University’s policies.

Usually all the relevant info should be on the university’s website

It doesn't sound as if he's applied for Disabled Student Allowance prior to going to Uni as he doesn't appear to need any extra funded help - just extra time. My DS got funded support, so had an assessment prior to going to Uni and a report was then sent straight to the Uni detailing what he needed so the support could be put in place before he got there (he had funded 1:1 mentor for 2 hours a week to make sure he was keeping up with everything as his organisational skills were poor).

If your DS only requires extra time then I would suggest that he approaches the Uni's disability department with a copy of his Ed Psych report in hand and ensure that they sign him up for whatever extra support he needs.

Thanks a lot for this. I’ve googled the disability support arrangements and will make sure he has looked there. Interestingly its not immediately obvious as it seems to focus on disability and accessibility etc rather than learning needs, but it does have some wording about extra time for exams lower down the page.

As far as allowance goes, I’m not sure that’s the issue (although always nice!) because he has a good laptop which he is used to working with. But if that is the way to access assistance (and you get a bit of money ) all good.

Thanks @bigbluebus, I think that is right. He hasn’t applied for DSA as yet - we were dimly aware of it, and I suspect his school would have highlighted it had times been normal. But tbh I don’t think it is a money issue so much as a support and information issue - and i don’t think the support he needs costs money IYSWIM, (unless there are some whizzy programmes which further help him; and I think they will know that better than we do).

Your mentoring arrangement sounds good. I can see that that would really have helped DS with where he was a couple of years ago, and I think that’s pretty much what I was doing for him. Hope it works for your DS.

Thanks to all for responses - I will -nag- remind him to find the disabled student access person, and hope his academic tutor has told him the same.

I’m really hoping that university will play to his strengths, in the way that GCSEs played to all of his weaknesses.

@TawnyPippit. DS didn't get any money directly. His Uni arranged his mentor and paid her directly - the DSA funding was paid yo them by SFE. TBH he only engaged with her for the 1st year. In spite of the funding being available for further years, DS did not feel he needed it any more so stopped the support.
His DSA did partially fund a laptop at the start of the course (we paid first £200) but also lots of additional software (Dragon is one I remember) and some sort of magic pad and pen to help with note taking. TBH most of the lectures were posted on line even then (and definitely will be now) so he found he didn't need to use it.

There should be a Students Support office at the uni who can process a DSA application, arrange a Needs Assessment as part of it, and notify the academic department of any adjustments such as extra time. DSA support is usually practical rather than financial - ds had a one to one session per week to help with organisation and learning support, funded recording software and equipment.

If he's got a good laptop that meets the DSA specifications he can get it and just get any software they've assessed that might be beneficial to him - I did that (I have dyslexia, and probably dyspraxia as well but that one's not got a formal diagnosis) and had my own decent laptop so I just got things like lecture notetaking/recording software, dictation, screen reading and mindmap software provided for me onto my current laptop.

I also get extra time in exams and in a smaller room which is really helpful at the moment when I'm crippled with panic attacks.

My DS got a lot of help at York. Apart from the obvious DSA/laptops/time etc ... at the start of each module, each tutor would ask him if anything could be done to make life easier. Far more use than the Disability Department who, while helpful, didn't really know what he needed apart form the generic stuff.

It’s bureaucratic but useful to do the DSA. They can offer specialised programs such as mind mapping tools, really fancy recording stuff etc but also basic stuff like a bit of extra money for printing stuff out.
And do get DS to open up at uni and to personal tutor and don’t minimise. Far too many students come a cropper at exam time or struggle with assessment deadlines when a small amount of adjustment is all that’s needed. Unlike school sencos etc, unis really do want their students to succeed and the purse strings are tied less tight than at school level

I'm a lecturer, the process depends which uni he's at. So where I work everyone has to be reassessed, but the university pay for this. He ought to contact student support and ask them how to do this, or email his tutor.

I haven't really used our disability support - to be honest most of my DSA assessment was spent with us putting the UK education system to rights (and I recommended some software I was using for DD2 that the needs assessor hadn't come across yet). It's having it there if I DO need to call on it - in my case it'll be getting reasonable adjustments in terms of travelling to placements and campus really.

As the mum of a child with SN I was amazed (and outraged) by how different it is fighting for every scrap of support from schools!

Trouble is that I found all my support was geared to note taking in physical lectures - and of course that's all gone to pot this year (I can't record directly from my laptop speakers so it's a bit pointless now!) - such is life I guess!

Thanks all - and agreed re not minimising it. His experiences with school SENCOs has been a bit mixed at best, so meeting someone who is actually interested in making things better for him would be great and it sounds like there is the right assistance out there. I will recommend he puts his beer down for long enough to get this sorted .

Echo the last poster. The process will depend which university he is at. What he will need to do is contact the disability support team. this will go under a different name in every university, e.g. student support and wellbeing, student services, student advice etc. There maybe a named person on the website he can contact.

Once contact has been made the university will walk him through the process. They will assess and put into place appropriate measures. The first contact is usually the most difficult bit.

Both my DC went through the DSA process prior to starting university last year.
You submit all your supporting paperwork, to prove the disability exists, then once approved, you go to a centre for assessment. The centres are usually privately run business, but in effect they all work to the same format.
If your DC is already at uni they may be able to access this through the student support department.
You will usually be offered computer equipment and if necessary mentor support.
A couple of things I learned.... Don't be put off if the say you need a recent DX or report, you don't. One of my DS is dyslexic and to begin with they rejected him because his report was from aged 8, but I just asked to speak to a supervisor and explained the situation, and they accepted my old information.
Secondly, in my experience one of the biggest flaws in the system is that if your DS is awarded mentoring support, they are given the name of a company to contact, of course many of these children struggle doing this type of thing, often having organisation and communication issues, so what happens is they don't access this part of the support which I feel is a great shame.
Also don't expect your childs university to be more engaged with your child just because they have DSA support, I haven't found this to be the case. Usually student support is very busy and work on a 'most needed' basis, if you DC doesn't request help they won't be offered it (at least that's our experience with our DC and their universities).