University accommodation for disabled students ?

[gabisdl221]

Hi all,

My son is due to start university shortly and I’m feeling rather stuck about accommodation. He has ASD, ADHD and anxiety, so having his own space and a predictable environment is very important for him.

We did initially think a studio would be the best option, as it would give him privacy and avoid the stress of shared kitchens and noise.

However, we simply cannot afford it — the prices are completely out of reach, unfortunately.

So I’m now wondering what other people have done in similar circumstances?

I believe that you may be able to go disability services and, if needed for a disability, get the more expensive room for the price of a more standard room.

Which University is it, @gabisdl221 ?
Our DD needed some adjustments and we got a form from the accommodation office that had to be signed by a GP outlining her specific needs. Once that was accepted they were able to offer her a room that helped her manage any issues.
But this will vary from institution to institution.
I strongly recommend asking the advice of the accommodation people asap.

Has he connected with his university's student services? With learning and cognitive disabilities such as you outline, there will be reasonable adjustments to be made - and this will apply to his living arrangements as well as learning. They may also be able to advise on the disabled students' allowance - a state benefit he may be eligible for.

If you know/ think you know where he is going then as PP have said discussing options with the uni accommodation team would be most helpful. Many students in the same situation will have gone before. Also just to mention have you looked into disabled students allowance- not helpful for accomodation but lots of other things! https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa

Sorry for the delay in replying, I’ve had some personal circumstances going on which meant I wasn’t able to come back to the thread.

Yes, he was already in touch with student/disability services and they’re aware of his needs. We’ve been working with them and accommodation since then.

The main issue we’re having is accommodation. The university has said a self-contained unit would be the best option for him, but there’s no financial help towards the extra cost and unfortunately we can’t afford it.

If anyone’s been in a similar situation, I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences, especially if you’ve managed to get around this or found other solutions as at the moment the studio is out of reach and we are getting quite worried now .

He could consider asking for a disabled room with ensuite in halls which has more space - my children's uni had so many of these left they started putting kids without disabilities in them but with your son's conditions he could still qualify. My daughter's uni agreed to put a fridge in her room (with dr's letter). If your son had this set up it means he would have more space to eat in his room, do some food prep in his room and he would just need to go into the kitchen to cook etc.

He could also ask for quiet accomodation which means he would be in halls with other kids who wanted quiet accomodation. Or ask if he can be put with post grad or masters students as tend to be neater / quieter.

My children's uni also seemed to have a situation where if a child needed a certain room (with dr's letter of support) to help with their special needs, the uni then decreased their accommodation by about £1,800. We asked for an ensuite (with dr's letter of support) for ADHD son as he has terrible timing and trying to share a bathroom would have been a disaster - and he ended up being eligle for this discount which was a nice surprise for us.

I also think if your son rents private accommodation off campus you might find he can get a grant from the disability student allowance towards the rent.

If I was you I would do three things:

• ring sen team and explain his needs and ask what sort of accomodation requests he could ask for. When I did this its when I found out the uni could offer my daughter a fridge in her room.
• ring accomodation team and say if your son needs a disabled room in a quiet accomodation block does that exist (you would need a letter of support from dr to apply for it but a pychiatrist would do). And if they say its exists ring the sen / accessibility team and ask process of applying.
• I would also ring student disabilty (gov department) and ask if he is off campus in a studio could he potentially be eligible for accomodation grant.

What I found is the sen / accessibility team decides what accomodation a child with needs needs - and they then instruct accomodation team to find the closet option they can to that. At the end of the day, uni's want bums on seats and there is a deep understanding / consideration for disabilities making uni accessible to all so uni's tend to help.

I would also make sure you ask NOT to be on the ground floor or facing a stairwell. My daugher's uni was great with her accomodation but we never thought to ask this and she had a room overlooking the main stairwell and each day 1,200 students walked up the stairs past her room on the way to their's... so not so quiet or private!

My foster son is at Worcester University. He was allocated a disabled room. It is more expensive than a standard room because it's bigger and has it's own fridge, freezer and microwave so he doesn't have to go into main kitchen unless he feels he can. We took his PIP form in to discuss with Disability services at University and they discounted his room down to cost of a standard room with ensuite.

We were in the same position. If you get a GP note explaining why he needs a studio, Disabled Student Allowance will pay the difference between the cost of that and standard uni accommodation. We send a receipt each term and they give us back the difference.

Have you looked at cheaper universities, well cheaper towns I suppose. That’s what we did.

Fridge to store certain medications?

We’re facing this issue too but in 2028, DD has another year at college then plans to defer for a year. She’s very keen on Brighton but they do t really have suitable accommodation 😞

uni sen department who suggested it and children can have fridge for a number of reasons - my daughter has a mould allergy so her own (mini) fridge meant she could avoid mould. Some kids get them because they have OCD, an autistic kid needing order would likely have a valid case too. Its a thing the unis have them in their stores.

Has your DC applied for DSA?
They really should, but leaving it a bit late now to get things sorted if they are starting this September.
DSA can provide equipment, mentoring etc to help students with disabilities/chronic conditions etc study on an equal footing. If the uni won't cover the difference in cost of suitable accommodation, DSA will sometimes do that.

Is he eligible for PIP?

Your son can claim DSA and PIP which could help with the cost?

You haven’t said of they’ve applied for DSA, which is through student finance. You need official diagnosis from a consultant and supporting documentation. If approved, then your child meets with an assessor for a couple hours to go over what help they may need. This is not a monetary amount but things like software, one to one help, an Uber allowance if need help getting to and from classes (my Dd has this as she has MS, but hasn’t used it). And, relevant to your YP, can sometimes make up the difference in cost between a standard room and an en suite, or studio, at least partially. The assessor is really on your side and will advocate to get as much help as they are able - they look for more ways to help, rather than the least amount, IYSWIM.
It is late to apply now as the process takes weeks/months to get in place. But follow the link PP posted above.

Yes you can have your own fridge for medication e.g. insulin, you wouldn't want it going missing from a communal one in the kitchen.

My DD only needed a quiet room so room allowance wasn't part of her DSA (software etc was) but ended up with a room on the third floor and it was catered accommodation with a tiny kitchenette downstairs, she said it was a total pain in the arse trying to prepare food down there and carry it plus all her crockery etc (not enough room to store it in the kitchen) partly because of the stairs partly because of the heavy fire doors. So if your DC is considering keeping their kitchen stuff in their room, eating there and only using the kitchen for actual cooking a ground floor room might be preferable. But OTOH my other DC was similar and had a ground floor room so avoided those issues to a large extent but he could never leave the window open for security reasons which annoyed him. Both suffered some noise despite requesting quiet rooms but it wasn't too bad.

Unfortunately the government are quietly chipping away at what you can get from DSA on the basis that the institutions should be providing it as "reasonable adjustments" and that free softwares have improved so much that there's no need to provide paid for ones any more.

The financial side would go through DSA. Has he submitted a Student Finance application? That should generate a Needs Assessment and hopefully some funding for support which could include the difference between standard and required accommodation.

There is help towards accommodation costs where more expensive accommodation is required because of the student’s disability. That includes where a studio is required for disability reasons.

How it is funded depends on the type of accommodation. For private rentals, the additional cost above the price of comparable standard accommodation can be funded via DSA. If the accommodation is university accommodation or private accommodation managed on behalf of the university, the higher education provider is expected to meet the additional disability related cost. This information is for the 25/26 academic year but you can see more information here.

The mould allergy I can maybe understand (not that anyone would particularly enjoy having mouldy food) but OCD, ASD surely they can buy a small fridge from their DLA/PIP money to put in their room. After all, the payments are to cover extra costs of these conditions.

They would usually need permission for a fridge in room, most halls ban them or require PAT certification. DSA is not usually paid in cash but direct to suppliers/providers/support workers.

Fair enough, but I always thought DLA/PIP/ADP went straight to the person, or their parents/guardian.

But not everyone awarded DSA also qualifies for the disability benefits.

And even where they are in receipt of PIP, for many, it does not cover all disability related expenditure as it is.

I would look into whether DSA or PIP could be used to supplement the difference between a standard and self contained room. Also are catered halls a possibility as it minimises the need to use the kitchen?