I have my assessment in August...

What can I expect?

I'm a little bit nervous. I don't know why, I guess I just feel like I'm going to be under scrutiny. I have trouble asking for help/assistance because I always like to think I can manage alone.

What is it like? In terms of equipment do they suggest everything, is it bold to suggest things yourself? Like one of the things I think would be really helpful is one of those electronic book readers. I have problems with my eyes and with my wrists. I sometimes find it really sore to hold books for a long time (and I'm doing a lit course!) and this is obviously much lighter than a heavy book. And you can zoom in so if my eyes are really bad that day then I can make it bigger. But I don't know how to broach it because I don't want to seem cheeky or like I'm presuming what I'll get.

Help?

Reply 1

River85

Before getting into a more detailed information, I'd just like to say that you really have nothing to worry about. Your assessor is NOT out to get you or trip you up. They will NOT go out of their way to find reasons why you aren't entitled to certain support.

If they feel it's reasonable, and allowed under the DSA guidelines, then they'll recommend it. The assessor is there to make sure you DO get the right amount of support in order to reach your potential and they should be very understanding and sympathetic.

The assessment is quite informal. It's more of a chat than anything. So don't go into it thinking it's some sort of a test. I am a very shy person, and can find these sorts of things overwhelming and get nervous. But once underway, I felt fairly comfortable. If I can feel comfortable then I'm sure most others will!

If you have suggestions then make them. You might not get what you ask for, but you might be offered an alternative if the assessor feels what you're asking for isn't covered by the DSA. As I'll go into now....

sweetnesspink

In terms of equipment do they suggest everything, is it bold to suggest things yourself?

Your assessor, who should know enough about various conditions and disabilities and be experienced enough to know what difficulties student's usually face, will suggest things. However, they should be open to suggestions from you and will often ask what you feel you can benefit from. After all you are the one who has the disability/medical condition. You should be an expert on it, and how you're affected, so your opinions and suggestions should be taken seriously. It doesn't mean you'll get everything you suggest but it will usually be considered.

For my first assessment (a few months before starting university) I felt a bit overwhelmed. I just sat there and let my assessor, the head of the disability service, suggest things. I didn't ask for anything at all and this was picked up by the assessor who said something along the lines of, "it doesn't seem you need much....perhaps once you've started university you'll be able to know what you need help with" :p:

And, despite me sitting there in silence, she was able to suggest a number of things. If I'd asked for certain things (eg. mentoring to help with anxiety and confidence, study support) I would have probably received them.

This came down to not knowing what kind of support I'll need. It's hard to judge what you need when you haven't started university yet. Also, I wasn't really aware of what kind of things could be reasonable. Looking back there were a few things that would have been useful, even necessary, but I didn't ask for and weren't suggested by my assessor. If I did suggest them then would probably have been recommended.

Also, when I started university I was only diagnosed with epilepsy and that was well controlled. I also had depression although this wasn't taken into account as much and some improvement in my mood had been made in the months before starting. So that's another reason why I received a modest amount of support - it didn't look like I had significant problems and I didn't make suggestions.

But that said, I still received a voice recorder for recording lectures, an alphasmart keyboard for lecture notes (I didn't receive a laptop as I'd just bought myself a brand new desktop earlier that summer :p:

) and a book and photocoping allowance of £400. So not bad.

Three years later I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and dyspraxia. Obviously at the time of my first assessment I had these conditions but, as I didn't have a diagnosis, it would have been harder to get the support had I asked for it....maybe.

In my second assessment I was able to put forward my case a bit better and this was helped by having experience of university. I also had a good assessor who knew what sort of difficulties people with dyspraxia and bipolar often face and, after hearing me give an overview of my condition and difficulties, was able to make some useful suggestions. But I also made my own suggestions like first class travel. I have dyspraxia (possibly Asperger's - never been able to get a proper assessment) and have problems with anxiety and being oversensitive to noise and touch. I commuted to university by bus and train and found it difficult using the train at peak periods. This was because it was incredibly full and I was crammed into the vestibule ends with about fifteen other people. Like sardines. So I asked if the difference between standard and first class travel when travelling during peak times would be considered. The assessor did put this in my report.

By this assessment I thought I had only one year of university left, and this year was going to be spent living in college, so I was no longer commuting. Still, it does show that the assessor was open to my suggestions and put it in my report even if she did state it would need the agreement of my LEA. Claiming for travel costs under the DSA is quite difficult. Travel problems need to be relatd to the disability, of course.

So if you can think of anything you feel will be helpful then bring it up in the assessment. The worst they can say is no. Even if you assessor doesn't think it's reasonable/justifiable she or he will probably suggest an alternative or some form of compromise can be reached.

For example, you mention that you'd like an ebook reader. This might be possible. Only the assessor will be able to judge. It depends on what other support you're getting, what the regulations are, and what your difficulties are.

However, if your assessor does think an ebook reader is unreasonable then they might suggest an alternative. You can still read ebooks off computers, so he/she might suggest you use a desktop or laptop instead. This will still mean you're able to zoom in and pages and you also have the added benefit of text to speech software. So if your eyes do become tired you can listen to the text instead of reading it. Although this might mean copying and pasting the text. I'm not sure how much of the software works or how advanced it can be. I'm only familiar with the basic text to speach feature that comes with Windows.

I appreciate a desktop or laptop might not be practical. A desktop isn't portable and you'll need to carry a laptop around and they can get a bit heavy. But this is just a suggestion off the top of my head. It might be that you will be given an ebook reader.

You can techincally use a PDA to read ebooks and they are more portable. But the screens aren't large so, again, perhaps not practical.

Although it's important to keep in mind that not all texts are available in eelectronic format. I suppose if you're doing a lit course then many works of fiction will be, and you'll have access to many journals electronically as well (to read on a computer). But textbooks and secondary texts might not be available.

Edit: - Actually, after having a look at Barry Bennett (a supplier of equipment and software for students claiming DSA) they do have a range of text to speech software including this

http://shop.barrybennett.co.uk/Dolphin-Cicero-Text-Reader-Scan-&-Read-Aloud-Software/product/7799/044XS3/

So you can scan in a document (or, I'm assuming, a book) and it'll read it aloud. Still might be awkward scanning pages not to mention tedious. Although "non-medical helper" is included as part of your DSA But, as I said, if you feel you will benefit from an ebook reader then all you can do is ask.

Reply 2

sweetnesspink

Thanks for your detailed reply I really appreciate it!

I have the advantage of having been to uni before which is definitely helpful. I didn't have any dsa help before as I didn't consider myself eligible. Silly girl! Although I'd rather have the help now. I need it more!

I have my assessment in August...

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