book or website to explain limits of "special accommodation"

[TwentyFiveAndCounting]

Hi,

I wondered if anybody might know of any good websites or book that explain where the limits of "special accommodations" are?

ASD/PTSD DS is getting to the point where he is doing activities that will appear on his cv. He is really confused about which things he has to do for an award or qualification, and which things can be waived under special accommodation rules.

We have been told, for example, that people can be given a keyboard in exams and be in a small room and have extra time, and that makes sense in certain situations.

However the boundaries between needing special acommodations and just not being good enough to earn the award are quite hard to understand. The massive shift with the covid years means DS's disadvantage has been massively magnified in recent years. However, some adults struggle to recognise that, or the fact that he might have spent years doing 95% of an award, and that he will get nothing for it, if they don't waive the last 5% before a given date. I think DS's clunky social skills don't help, because he struggles to advocate for himself gracefully, or sends me to do the talking. It's not clear whether being able to self-advocate is a neccessary skill in the unwritten rules of an award.

It's getting even more complicated with gender identity changes coming into the picture (not in our family but in wider society). For example the Scout movement are having to rethink the demand for nights away in Explorers, but don't seem to have reached any conclusion. This leaves kids not knowing whether they can be a success in the scout movement or not, if they can't do nights away.

It's like there are no hard and fast rules any more. It feels like kids are asked to spend so much time getting the certificate to say that they are disabled or different, that there is not time to actually learn the skills they need to overcome the disability. Without a concrete answer on this, there isn't even time to psychologically accept that they just can't do the thing, and look around for a more suitable route in life, if that is what has to happen.

I think my DS is finding it hugely confusing.

I wondered if anybody might know what we could read to find it out?

Thanks!

I think people are going to need more specific information in order to advise.

What qualifications is DS looking to get? What are his barriers to access?

Sorry, it's a bit complicated, don't worry about it.

The JCQ guidance states the rules for exam access arrangements. They are available online.

By special accommodations, I presume you mean reasonable adjustments?

There’s no concrete list of what is classed as reasonable adjustments because that isn’t how it works. That isn’t a new thing. What is a reasonable adjustment for one disabled person in one situation may not be for another disabled person in another situation. It depends on the person, needs, circumstances, organisation…

You might find this, this and other pages on the EHRC helpful. The first page I linked to is about employers/employees, but the explanation of reasonable etc. applies to DC and other situations too. On the first page I link to, there is also a link to the EASS which you may find useful to look at.

Why do you think you need a “certificate to say that they are disabled or different”? What certificate are you talking about?

Reasonable adjustments don’t have to happen separately to supporting someone to develop/progress/learn. Although many disabled people can not ‘overcome’ their disability even with all the support in the world. For example, you can’t overcome autism. Needs may change, ebb and flow over a lifetime, but someone doesn’t overcome it. Both can and should happen alongside each other.

Conflating gender identity with reasonable adjustments for disabled people doesn’t help disabled people, IMO.

Thanks for all those links.