DSA for mental health issues

The reason can vary on a case by case basis. When I had my original assessment the book allowance was never discussed (when receiving the provisional needs assessment report I was quite surprised to see it included).

I assumed it's because someone with a disability or health condition, take depression for example, may have frequent periods of ill health and this can disrupt work. As a result they may need to have library books for longer than usual and this places a strain on library resources, or it's not always possible to extend loans.

So money is given to provide for these books. But keep in mind that the allowance is only for additional books. Not for books all students are expected to purchase (key texts, for example). And, although books can be found first hand fairly cheaply, academic books can be quite expensive. So a £300 allowance doesn't always stretch too far partcularly when buying books first hand.

But then these books are optional, so if one needed to use library books to catch up on work, surely the compulsory ones will be the ones required? Not optional ones.

I get DLA for dyslexia, not MH problems, and I sometimes find the core texts hard to understand. If I find a text book that is easier to read (i.e. put in more simple terms, has more pictures, comes with a CD- Rom for visual learning ect.) then I want to buy it to help me understand. This is not some thing a none dyslexic would have to do.
I do agree that maybe you should get the books from the library but there are only so many copies of each book and if you are writing an essay on a particular subject then your whole class could want the book too so your not garenteed the book you need.

As for metal health I am not sure I guess the reason would be the same; its easier to understand. Not in a dyslexic way but more so in a "poor concentration due to depression, ect" way.

I can understand for Dyslexia .

But i'm still struggling for the reasons of depression, bioloar, Aspergers etc. I have ADD, thus have poor concentration and down periods where i won't get out of bed or leave the house days on end, except to make food. It's natural though, i do get behind on work massively especially as i can never get a sleeping pattern and end up being awake all night and asleep all day, so i teach myself the course at night-time.

But my concentration is always crap, it comes with the condition. And even so i still can't see how a book allowance or printing allowance would help. So i struggle to see where it would help those with depression if concentration is the issue.

Again, not attacking or saying anyone shouldnt have the allowances, just curious =).

But then these books are optional, so if one needed to use library books to catch up on work, surely the compulsory ones will be the ones required? Not optional ones.

I do understand what you mean. And I personally think that rather than giving a person with a mental health problem a book and printing allowance they should use the money to give them coaching/counselling to teach them how to study effectively despite their problem. Because at the end of the day in a job employers are not so forgiving, so if you have already built up the strategies to cope then you will get an overall better experience.
All mental illnesses can be managed and you can function well in society and work if you have the right support and counselling.

So yea I think DLA is used wrongly in this situation but if this is the only way DLA are willing to help those with MH problems then you might as well take it and make your life a little easier and less stressful.

You mean DSA?

Learning coping mechanisms is very, very important, I agree. Though you see employers are unlikely to be "forgiving". I know you didn't mean it in this way but forgiving is perhaps the incorrect word to use. It suggests that the person with the mental health condition has done something wrong. Forgive does mean "to excuse a person who has commited an offence or who is at fault". Someone with a mental health condition has nothing to apologise for. Perhaps "employers won't be as sensitive" is better. Although it must be rememberd that all people with mental health problems are legally protected under the Disability Act 1995 and employers are obliged to give reasonable adjustments. So some allowances can be made when appropriate.

I can understand for Dyslexia .

But i'm still struggling for the reasons of depression, bioloar, Aspergers etc. I have ADD, thus have poor concentration and down periods where i won't get out of bed or leave the house days on end, except to make food. It's natural though, i do get behind on work massively especially as i can never get a sleeping pattern and end up being awake all night and asleep all day, so i teach myself the course at night-time.

But my concentration is always crap, it comes with the condition. And even so i still can't see how a book allowance or printing allowance would help. So i struggle to see where it would help those with depression if concentration is the issue.

Again, not attacking or saying anyone shouldnt have the allowances, just curious =).

What I mean is that these books are not set core texts. There are books which are "essential" in the sense that they are core books all students are expected purchase, or it is strongly recommended that they do, and then books which they do not need to purchase but are still important in the course.

Everyone needs to use a wide range of books and sources in an essay, as I'm sure you know, so if I were to write an essay using core texts only (plus a few journal articles) I will get a third or a 2:2 at best. So students do need to read these "optional" texts along with books they find themselves. They need to display wider reading.

To use an example from a recent module of mine, "Politics of the Middle East Oil Monarchies".

Techincally, I don't think students are expected to buy any books. But there are a few general books on the Arab Gulf Monarchies that the module convener recommends. We need to use at least two case studies. So assume I'm expected to purchase maybe one or two books on each case study. So I will purchase two books on Bahrain, two on Kuwait, and two on Saudi Arabia. I will also purchase one book on the Arab Gulf Monarchies in general. I cannot use my DSA grant for those books as all students are expected to purchase at least a couple.

Then there is a reading list for every lecture and seminar. These are books a student is expected to use for seminar reading and in essays but is not expected to purchase (as, in theory, there are enough copies in the university library - doesn't always work out that way)

Take Beblawi and Luciani, The Rentier State. This is a very important and enormously influential work in the Rentier State literature. However, the library only have two copies of it (both three day loans). A student with dyslexia, ADHD, depression or a chronic health condition, who either has his or her ability to concentrate affected, or has frequent periods of illness, may be more "resource heavy". So the student therefore has the option of purchasing a couple of these additional books in each module.

It places less pressure on library resources and this helps other students. What's more, a student can do whatever he or she wants to do with the books after completing the course. Some keep them, some sell them, and others will donate them to the university library. I do just starting a bookselling business, so perhaps I will sell some, but books I found in particularly short supply I will probably donate to my college library (not the university library for reasons that aren't relevant to this thread ) This means future students benefit.

This isn't to say that the book allowance doesn't have its problems. From 2007 - 2009 I needed to withdraw from university. Pre-2007 I was never told by my funding body that the money can be spent on books the typical student isn't expected to buy. They only mentioned this when I returned in 2009. So whether this was part of a national change, or it was always the rule and my LEA were quite slack before, I can't say.

Another problem is quite obvious. Funding bodies don't have access to reading lists. So at the end of the academic year, when the student gives the receipts to the funding body in order to prove the money was spent on books, the funding body don't know if the money was spent on non-essential books or not. Although they may ask for them, in order to check that the books purchased are "non-core" books, Ive never known this happen. So they don't know which books all students need to purchase. Though common sense will tell them that for most subjects if a student spends £500 a year on books (I've usually spent more) then at least £300 of this will be on "non-core" books).



You mean DSA?

Learning coping mechanisms is very, very important, I agree. Though you see employers are unlikely to be "forgiving". I know you didn't mean it in this way but forgiving is perhaps the incorrect word to use. It suggests that the person with the mental health condition has done something wrong. Forgive does mean "to excuse a person who has commited an offence or who is at fault". Someone with a mental health condition has nothing to apologise for. Perhaps "employers won't be as sensitive" is better. Although it must be rememberd that all people with mental health problems are legally protected under the Disability Act 1995 and employers are obliged to give reasonable adjustments. So some allowances can be made when appropriate.

Back to learning coping mechanims. The treatment of a mental health disorder is ultimately an NHS cost and responsibility and has nothing to do with Disabled Students Allowance which is for additional costs a student experiences as a result of disability. So Disabled Students Allowance is for academic costs. Even so, when a student's mental health has a negative effect on their study, perhaps through poor self-esteem or confidence, the DSA can still provide for a learning mentor who is able to meet with the student regularly. Sometimes these mentors will be assistant psychologists who can help teach the student coping mechanisms and improve confidence.

If you actually mean Disability Living Allowance, the benefit, then this is a different matter as it has nothing to do with university. and academic costs It is, in my opinion, quite a vague benefit. You can only get it if you have certain care or mobility needs. That is fair enough. But you can still get it even if you're not receiving the support you need. The idea being that the benefit is there to help provide this need. But the support a person needs, which varies by the individual, can still be quite inaccessible. A £40 a week paymen doesn't exactly help in such a case. It does seem to be just compensation from the government in some sense. "Yes, poor you, you have a disability. We recognise that your disability discrimination legislation has had mixed success and people with disabilities are, generally speaking, not on an equal footing. Here have some free money". I'm not saying that's what it is, just it seems like it at times.

Where DLA can be put to good use is quite obvious. In the case of someone who has severe mobility needs, or who has some difficulty in getting to (and navigating around) a supermarket, DLA can help pay for the additional cost of an Internet delivery. Or is someone has difficulty using public transport and requires assistance then DLA can provide money to cover the cost of an escort. This can be particularly important if a person needs to travel to hospital appointments, or if the person is taking part in some voluntary work (which helps boost confidence and self-esteem).

But as mentioned, accessing counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, and a psychologist can all done through the NHS (in theory).

You have poor concentration, can't get out of bed sometimes, get massively behind on work but can't see how being able to buy books and print stuff out could help you?!

I'm getting a book, printing and photocopying allowance as part of my DSA (well, if it's approved by SFE. Still waiting to hear on that). As far as I'm aware, that's because my learning style is based on either extensive underlining/highlighting/colour-coding, or taking extensive notes from books if I can't highlight them and they acknowledge that I'm not often in a position to do the latter when I'm ill. My concentration combined with often having psychotic in academic libraries means that trying to take notes without being able to scribble on the books and using library facilities can be quite difficult

I can't see the benefit - but maybe because i've not had it (only got formally diagnosed 3 weeks ago) and thus are not able to see the benefit from it. But in terms of things i struggle with - i kinda just accepted it ages ago and got on with it (not that other people do not) but by this i mean I always though the reason for my poor concentration and sleeping problems were because of a difficult family background(suicides, mental institution refuges, blahblah). So because i thought that was the reason and I was determined not to let them destroy by chances of University, I just kept picking myself up from falls and moved on without thinking about it. If i actually had stopped myself to think about why i was struggling, I probably would have realised, but at the end of the day thats how i needed to deal with it at the time. Going to University and being 400 miles away from all that, i realised the issue was deeper (I had ADD).

So i'm kinda primitive on understanding myself and how these systems help ...Going to the disability office next week to find out what things can be implemented to help, but i'm quite stubborn with accepting help on things (like i don't want extra exam time or anything like that).

I understand what you mean with notes though, I don't read like a normal person and picking out important information can be difficult without highlighting texts etc first.

I can't stand the library - which is why i'm quite lucky being a computer science student - 24/7 access to CS labs. I tend not to go there during the day though, it's too busy. But i love staying their at night-time.

Thankyou for the reply though - your's is the first post i've read that explains the reason for the free printing system =). I just wanted to understand is all.

I too, see this as something particularly not fair. With having a close family member who suffered from depression and a suspected case of bi-polar we never even though about getting extra money/items for it. I can see why you may need things to make things easier and so forth however, i don't understand how you can claim laptops/pc's, book allowances, printers, software for the course you applied for. When the healthy people on your course have to buy all this themselves because it is compulsory to university life. I personally suffer from hypothyroidism and maybe it isn't the same but even with medication i can't concentrate, get fatigue missed alot of lectures BUT i get by. I work at it when i can because after all if you really want to do what your doing then you find the motivation even if your not feeling too great.

I don't mean for this to sound like it is saying that some people don't deserve extra help. I'm saying that not everyone needs that much, people my have dyslexia but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are poor or short of money. I believe and always have believed that with mental health problems the first step is trying to get back to normailty and having people pay for all your things (to me) doesn't seem to justify that.

I think the point both of you two are missing is that just because you're able to get by doesn't mean that everyone else is. It just means you're a different person and that either your coping mechanisms actually work, or that your problems are maybe less severe and thus more manageable

I too, see this as something particularly not fair. With having a close family member who suffered from depression and a suspected case of bi-polar we never even though about getting extra money/items for it. I can see why you may need things to make things easier and so forth however, i don't understand how you can claim laptops/pc's, book allowances, printers, software for the course you applied for. When the healthy people on your course have to buy all this themselves because it is compulsory to university life. I personally suffer from hypothyroidism and maybe it isn't the same but even with medication i can't concentrate, get fatigue missed alot of lectures BUT i get by. I work at it when i can because after all if you really want to do what your doing then you find the motivation even if your not feeling too great.

I don't mean for this to sound like it is saying that some people don't deserve extra help. I'm saying that not everyone needs that much, people my have dyslexia but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are poor or short of money. I believe and always have believed that with mental health problems the first step is trying to get back to normailty and having people pay for all your things (to me) doesn't seem to justify that.

I'm really struggling with what to put in the box on the application form.
I'm no good at talking about my problems so writing about it and maybe going to an assessment is just beyond me...

I've been diagnosed as having 'severe depression and anxiety problems'.
Do you write down examples of when situations have gone bad or do you just put how you feel?

I just simply put "I suffer from (conditions), please see the letter from my (health care provider) for further explaination."