Maintenance loan for disabilities (specifically ASD/dyslexia)

[Wimbledonwomble]

We will soon be applying for DD's maintenance loan and am just trying to ensure I'm understanding correctly. Our joint household income is over the 65k threshold (but only just!) so understand we will be entitled to the minimum loan of £4915. From looking at the government website, I think we may be able to claim extra as DD has diagnosis of both ASD and dyslexia. This would certainly be useful as DD's choice of halls is at the pricier end due to her needing to have her own bathroom and a flat with a smaller number of students in a quiet area. I also understand we may be able to claim DSA but that is for specific things such as special software or equipment.

Does anyone have any experience of navigating all this?

Would be very grateful for any advice!

Thank you.

As a parent of a disabled student, I don't think this is correct (though watching in case someone else knows differently!).

There is the "disabled student allowance" which is a bit of a misnomer as the student doesn't get any money from it. They do get a funded package of support depending on their needs - mine gets a printer, a voice recorder, a weekly session with a study support assistant and some software, for example.

He's also eligible for PIP so that supports his extra costs (accommodation and food and not being able to do part-time paid work).

The university themselves may assist with accommodation allocation for students with SEN / disabilities. In our case this helped him get priority for suitable accommodation but doesn't assist with the cost of it. You may find otherwise. Ask them.

Best of luck! It's a new area to navigate with a new and sometimes surprising set of challenges.

Sorry - I see you mentioned DSA and are aware what it does.

Assuming you live in England, @DataQuestion is correct ( the home nations all have slightly different systems, so may be different elsewhere, but I don't think so).
There is no extra cash on top of the maintenance loan. That is the same depending on household income.
DSA rarely involves money. They will sometimes reimburse eg taxi fares, or claims for printer ink/paper, but no actual cash.

Ah thanks it's just when you go on the government website and put your income into the calculator, it asks if the student has any disabilities (specific LDs such as dyslexia is given as an example) and it came out as potentially 10k max (as opposed to the 4k we're entitled to based on our income).

As @DataQuestion mentioned above, the uni have recommended we state her needs when applying for accommodation which will be taken into consideration when allocating rooms.

If your daughter needs a specific accommodation because of her disability, a lot of universities will pay the difference so she isn’t disadvantaged.

example: https://www.shu.ac.uk/~/media/home/study-here/accommodation/accommodation/files/disability-related-accommodation-policy.pdf?la=en

I’m not quite sure if your daughter’s situation would apply - one example where I’ve seen it done is a student with OCD who needed a studio flat. But most universities will offer a range of flat sizes and quiet flats anyway, not usually at increased cost? Has she spoken to the Disability team at her uni to discuss this yet?

Although it sounds as though there is extra cash, the DSA funding tends to be used in kind. For example, speech to text software or mentoring sessions.

It doesn't fund costs which you would incur regardless of whether or not you were at university. This means that you would have to pay accommodation costs regardless, but if the disability meant that you were unable to use a shared bathroom, you might get funding towards the extra cost of an ensuite. However, you may find there is then little choice in which ensuite you can have, as it may not be deemed necessary to have top graded accommodation, simply something with an ensuite. Hope that makes sense.

If your daughter is in receipt ofPIP she can be assessed for a higher level of Maintenance Loan called the Special Support Element. However, I'm pretty sure it's means-tested so that, in reality, you only get the SSE if the student is from a low income background.

My niece gets it. She's dyslexic and something else like colour blindness. She got money towards a laptop £300 she got a better one and paid the extra. A free printer, some software for referencing, making mind maps and sees a 1-1 person once a month to help keep her organised.