DSA needs assessment on Monday

I tried to post right after my assessment but it didn't come through. It was suprisingly... ok!


I quoted you in because I promised to PM you but I thought it might be better if I posted it here so others can see if they also have the same issues/worries.

I arrived about 10 minutes before my appointment and I was really nervous during the wait (especially as I'd been on a crowded train to get there) but the receptionist made me feel really calm and offered me magazines and a drink of water.

The first thing my assessor told me was that he wasn't there to judge, he was there to see what he could do to make things easier. He had to go and check that the assessment was ok for conditional offer holders, which it was and then he started the assessment which was basically him just asking me questions written down on sheets of paper. There were different sections so there were course specific questions about how your course is assessed and what method(s) it is delivered in and there were also sections for studying, library research, writing, reading, mobility and exams and whether you have a computer or not and more sections that I can't remember.

It was pretty boring actually. So I answered the questions and he showed me some computer software (something that reads text aloud) and asked me what I thought about it. At the end of the session he summarised what he was recommending me and asked if I wanted a draft report.

My recommendations were:
-A mentor for motivation and study skills help.

-A dictaphone in case my concentration got really bad and my notes weren't sufficient.

-The thing I'm really pleased about: the software that reads text aloud (he actually wasn't going to recommend it because he didn't want me to become reliant on it but I'm not going to use it if I can actually read and take it in, that's just lazy! I'm sick of crying over books because I can't take them in properly! Hopefully I'll get to a point where I don't need it.)

-A scanner so I can scan books in.

-He recommended free kindle software that apparently lets you download ebooks and reads it aloud to you.
-
A desktop computer because I steal my sister's laptop and tend to panic when I try to work in libraries. I'm going to upgrade to a laptop and pay the difference. I was planning on buying a Macbook Pro this summer (with my own money) but the software won't work on it so as long as the laptop I get from DSA is really light, I'm happy!

He also recommended things like rest breaks during exams if I need to eat/clear my head and he said he'd talk to UEA's accommodation about putting me in with mostly postgrads because they'll *hopefully* be cleaner and I won't need to worry unnecessarily about the communal kitchen and germs but I'm not sure about that one because it might stop me making friends my age?

And I got a photocopy allowance (so I can photocopy pages from books and scan them in) and a book allowance for disability related books (so I don't suppose I'll be using the book allowance really.)

I actually never thought I'd get so much. Or anything, really! I never thought of things like talking to accommodation and photocopy allowance and I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. I'm really grateful for the help because I was worrying so much about uni and now I feel better knowing I have things and people in place to help me. Now I just need to get the grades... *goes to revise*

Hope that helped SmallTownGirl- just out of interest, is your username Glee related or are you just a Journey fan?

ExTraP, I've just realised you and The Lonely Goatherd (lay lay lay oh lee hee hee! Sorry. ) are both going to be at Goldsmiths! That's pretty cool. /random

Edit: Damn this is an epically long post. Sorry...

I tried to post right after my assessment but it didn't come through. It was suprisingly... ok!


I quoted you in because I promised to PM you but I thought it might be better if I posted it here so others can see if they also have the same issues/worries.

I arrived about 10 minutes before my appointment and I was really nervous during the wait (especially as I'd been on a crowded train to get there) but the receptionist made me feel really calm and offered me magazines and a drink of water.

The first thing my assessor told me was that he wasn't there to judge, he was there to see what he could do to make things easier. He had to go and check that the assessment was ok for conditional offer holders, which it was and then he started the assessment which was basically him just asking me questions written down on sheets of paper. There were different sections so there were course specific questions about how your course is assessed and what method(s) it is delivered in and there were also sections for studying, library research, writing, reading, mobility and exams and whether you have a computer or not and more sections that I can't remember.

It was pretty boring actually. So I answered the questions and he showed me some computer software (something that reads text aloud) and asked me what I thought about it. At the end of the session he summarised what he was recommending me and asked if I wanted a draft report.

My recommendations were:
-A mentor for motivation and study skills help.

-A dictaphone in case my concentration got really bad and my notes weren't sufficient.

-The thing I'm really pleased about: the software that reads text aloud (he actually wasn't going to recommend it because he didn't want me to become reliant on it but I'm not going to use it if I can actually read and take it in, that's just lazy! I'm sick of crying over books because I can't take them in properly! Hopefully I'll get to a point where I don't need it.)

-A scanner so I can scan books in.

-He recommended free kindle software that apparently lets you download ebooks and reads it aloud to you.
-
A desktop computer because I steal my sister's laptop and tend to panic when I try to work in libraries. I'm going to upgrade to a laptop and pay the difference. I was planning on buying a Macbook Pro this summer (with my own money) but the software won't work on it so as long as the laptop I get from DSA is really light, I'm happy!

He also recommended things like rest breaks during exams if I need to eat/clear my head and he said he'd talk to UEA's accommodation about putting me in with mostly postgrads because they'll *hopefully* be cleaner and I won't need to worry unnecessarily about the communal kitchen and germs but I'm not sure about that one because it might stop me making friends my age?

And I got a photocopy allowance (so I can photocopy pages from books and scan them in) and a book allowance for disability related books (so I don't suppose I'll be using the book allowance really.)

I actually never thought I'd get so much. Or anything, really! I never thought of things like talking to accommodation and photocopy allowance and I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. I'm really grateful for the help because I was worrying so much about uni and now I feel better knowing I have things and people in place to help me. Now I just need to get the grades... *goes to revise*

Hope that helped SmallTownGirl- just out of interest, is your username Glee related or are you just a Journey fan?

ExTraP, I've just realised you and The Lonely Goatherd (lay lay lay oh lee hee hee! Sorry. ) are both going to be at Goldsmiths! That's pretty cool. /random

Edit: Damn this is an epically long post. Sorry...

Glad to know it went well, I think most of us got pretty much the same sort of stuff. Did they do a demo on the text to speech software? And if so, did you laugh? Coz I did, the voice was so funny, I don't think I can ever take it seriously.

With the photocopy and book allowance, they both fall under the general allowance and yes, I don't think I will be using it at all, don't see any reason why I would need them.

Just out of interest, what software you need that won't work on a Mac? (I work in technical support and am always nosy with things like this) Because with teh Intel chip on the Macs now, they is very rare that something cant run on a Mac. Esp bootcamp is now native on all Macs which means you can run Windows on it easily.

They finally booked my delivery and installation day Everything is coming on Tuesday. My laptop is coming at 8am, installation will be at 6pmish.

Already I think the housemate annoyance has kicked in over me getting 'free stuff' and extensions left, right and centre I'm feeling so epically guilty over it now.



I'm glad it went so well - just an fyi: you honestly won't know the difference between postgrads and undergrads except that postgrads have usually had their crazy years and are much calmer and cleaner. I wish I had had the chance to live with postgrads... I spent two years with crazy partying first years and almost lost my sanity entirely over communal spaces. My housemates are all 19/20 and I'm 25 this year - the difference between us in unnoticeable.

Yay. Is it bad that I'm now really regretting not putting that I wanted a studio flat on my accommodation application? My mother thinks I won't make friends that way but I just want control of my food.

Glad it went alright diamonddust I don't think living with postgrads will be too much of a problem: my first year accommodation had 10 other undergrads and then the rest were postgrads

Goldsmiths is clearly the place to be Not that I'm ever there

My MA dissertation is going to hopefully be on Glee fans

It blows my mind that people can spontaneously go out for meals or spontaneously eat something that isn't planned and don't mind other people seeing them eating and don't care what they eat or what it's been into contact with or what's in it. I can't do that at the moment, I don't know what I'll be like by September but it's just really scary. Just got to keep going, I guess.

Sorry for the ramble...

Glad it went alright diamonddust I don't think living with postgrads will be too much of a problem: my first year accommodation had 10 other undergrads and then the rest were postgrads

Goldsmiths is clearly the place to be Not that I'm ever there

My MA dissertation is going to hopefully be on Glee fans

My girlfriend just did/is about to do a paper on Glee fandom. How very random!

Interview me! Interview me! I'm deputy of the Glee soc! I should have done Music! First you do the Sound of Music and now Glee??? Hmmph! *crappy attempt at hiding jealousy*

And thank you! I'm more worried about getting to UEA now! Just out of interest, what's Musicology? I'm going to hazard a guess and say the study of music (Yay etymology!) but what exactly do you do? It seems so good!

And how are you doing by the way, if you don't mind my asking? I worry about everyone on here!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo She's not a muso is she?

She's an American Studies PhD and an epic music nerd. She's essentially babbling about how awesome Glee fandom is about everything while listening to Glee songs on repeat forever. And sometimes she does covers songs.

We currently having a 'no Glee in my house' kinda rule though. I threatened to boof/divorce/sell her.

Sorry you feel bad atm! *squeezy!hugs* I'm off meds atm so I know how awful awfulness feels.

I didn't laugh but I hid a grin! That robotic voice is quite hilarious! He said the text to speech software wouldn't work on a Mac (think it was called 'Read and Write' or Claro Read or something like that!), yeah, I was thinking about Bootcamp but I didn't say anything! And Macs have software that reads things out already installed so I maybe wouldn't even need the software! And Macs are superlight and superfast and I can't deal with another Windows computer that has crappy media software and won't let me store and edit my photos and the few videos I make and it won't even *play* anything and it's just awful and slow and overheats if I try to do anything other than type on word or use the internet. And it's so big and heavy I hurt my back if I try and take it anywhere. This is my second Toshiba in about 2 years and I thought they were meant to be good. I don't want DSA to pay for my mac anyway, I just want one. I don't need one because it has nothing to do with my course or disability which is why I didn't say anything but damn, I hope the suppliers will have a Macbook and they'll be ok with me upgrading and they'll upload the software to it. Do you think it will work? I'm sick and tired of Windows. As much as I hate Steve Jobs and everything Apple stand for, I prefer their system.

Ah that's OK if she's a different subject area then

I'm planning to come off my meds next time I see my psychiatrist. I told him medication wouldn't work and my care team are baffled as to why it hasn't. I'm fed up of spending money on stuff that just zonks me out

Are you paying for your meds? Have you looked at the HC1 or HC2 cert? I think most students are entitled it. When I was doing my BA and was on meds, I never had to pay for it because I was studying full time.

And Goldsmiths is good, it'd be better if I hadn't chosen one of their four super expensive courses. £7k a year for the fine art course.

I've been told to ask Goldsmiths about it. That requires me being in a position to be able to go to Goldsmiths and sort all my **** out (chasing me about fees and DSA, urgh).

I'm part-time: can I still get the certificate?

My girlfriend just did/is about to do a paper on Glee fandom. How very random!





That's my biggest issue with kitchen sharing. There were many nights when I wouldn't eat because people were treating the kitchen as a hangout area even though it was tiny. If I'm super upset I can't even stand for people to know what I'm eating or how much... even if it's a simple salad. Gah! It'll suck for a while but you'll learn to cope a little better. I promise. I eat in the living room now and everything

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo She's not a muso is she?




I intend to gatecrash the Glee soc and interview as many people there as possible, dw I never studied TSOM - quoted it in my PS though - but spent my undergrad talking about ABBA, the Spice Girls... all kinds of stuff. I managed to get pop music into 7 of my 8 Finals papers I might have even slipped some Peter Andre into my harmony paper...

Musicology is like historiography but in music: it's the study of music history. As in how it's put together, biases, where are the women?, etc We had a seminar on Classic FM and whether it's a good or awful thing for classical music, as well as a seminar titled "Was Georg Friederich Handel gay and does it matter?" I'm studying ethnomusicology which is the study of world musics, or the social anthropology of music. It's much more interdisciplinary, less backward than musicology and much more fun

I'm still in a psychotic episode. It's been 13 weeks now I'm a bit better now that Lent is over and I've stopped reliving stuff from last year

She's an American Studies PhD and an epic music nerd. She's essentially babbling about how awesome Glee fandom is about everything while listening to Glee songs on repeat forever. And sometimes she does covers songs.

We currently having a 'no Glee in my house' kinda rule though. I threatened to boof/divorce/sell her.

Sorry you feel bad atm! *squeezy!hugs* I'm off meds atm so I know how awful awfulness feels.

Claro read works on both PC and Mac, what was he on about? Anyway, you could upgrade it to a Mac I guess but I am not sure if it'd be worth it. Only because I have found all the suppliers quoted on my report clearly overpriced the Mac, and as a student, you get 15% off the Mac and you only pay very little for the Apple Care (£60 instead of £285 for a Macbook Pro). I was going to upgrade the Mac I am given to a better one, but they want £300 then I was going to keep that part of the funding to buy the Mac from Apple directly, if I were to do it, it'd be £84, but then SFE got in the way saying I need to purchase insurance or they won't reimburse, then I thought oh whatever a Mac is a Mac, whateve the spec, can't be bothered. Plus getting insurance for a laptop is expensive.

I guess it depends on what PC has been recommanded and how much it is from the supplier. But remember if you were to do it, MAKE SURE the supplier will switch over your software to Mac compatible (it shouldn't be more expensive). Or take the money and buy it from Apple directly, but then it might get a little complicated, this is why I gave up.

Ask me about living in hall (hell) people, I have spent 4.5 years in halls!!! You can't beat this record!!! My flat was alwasy nice and quiet... because I hand picked my flatmates!!! hahaha... I was always a what the called Senior Resident which means I had to respond to emergencies such as... drunk people forgot their keys and people wanting to go to hospital because they cut their finger while cutting bread... but my rent was like fiver a day, can't complain. And people generally bring all their noise and dirt to other flats because they knew I had the power to switch off their music. It was kind of cool!!

That's right, it's for low income too. Forget about asking Goldsmiths about it, here you go

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/HealthCosts/1128.aspx

order the form online, fill it out and send it. Job done. You could probably get it from your local chemist or from you GP's.

You're amazing! I'd be interested to know what you said about Peter Andre.
I'm sorry you're still unwell. I really hope it gets better soon. Is your psych not helping?

I don't know if it's bad because I sort of feel the same way... It's a shame studio flats are so expensive! I think at UEA they're strictly for postgrads. Otherwise I would be in one like a shot! Which accommodation did you choose in the end? My friend goes to Sussex and she lives in the renowned 'party' accommodation but I can't remember what it's called. I know how you feel about the control thing. I'm thinking about keeping my non perishable food and pots and pans in my room and seeing if UEA will let me have a mini fridge for my soya milk and yoghurt and stuff. I'm going to have to pick accommodation with a small number of people because there 'hopefully' won't be people in the kitchen all the time. I can't even cook when my MUM is in the kitchen. Going to have to work on that...
Maybe you could see if they'll let you have a mini fridge? I think a studio flat has the potential to be both good and bad. It can help you feel safe which is obviously really helpful but it can also have the opposite effect and make you worse because you'll be so isolated you might cling to ED stuff more? I don't know. It all depends on where you are in recovery I guess. The thing that freaks me out is food is such a communal thing to people without EDs, it seems. I got scared when I went to the UEA open day and people were saying the kitchen was a hangout because in my head I was like 'NO! The kitchen is for cooking and eating. Hang out in your rooms! Please!'
It blows my mind that people can spontaneously go out for meals or spontaneously eat something that isn't planned and don't mind other people seeing them eating and don't care what they eat or what it's been into contact with or what's in it. I can't do that at the moment, I don't know what I'll be like by September but it's just really scary. Just got to keep going, I guess.

Sorry for the ramble...

Thanks for that. I asked at Boots and they said I had to get it from Goldsmiths. Ordered it now though





It wasn't saying anything about him as such: I had to compose a Haydn-style string quartet. I'm **** at that kinda thing and following all the rules, so I decided to put a bit of 'Mysterious Girl' in there. I was really ill and working on an extended deadline, so I thought I might as well have some fun

My psych is trying to help but they have no idea why I'm still like this. Last time I saw the psych, he said he doesn't have all the answers and was asking a lot about my religious beliefs

bout the mouse. That's terrifying

Ahhh... East Slope - the cheapest and manky-iest accommodation. I NEED an ensuite so I put all the newest, more expensive accommodation down at the top of my preferences. But it's driving me mad now that the most expensive ensuite is £125 a week but the cheapest studio flat is £121 a week. Plus the £150 or so I'll spend on a fridge for my room in the ensuite (I've checked and I'm allowed one). I'm convinced I checked the price of studio flats before I applied and they were £165+ a week. They're not. I'm so pissed off with myself.

I can cope with eating around people who understand that I'm funny about food but I can't eat around people who don't know and I don't want to end up with no friends because I'm 'the weird girl with the ED.' I eat so much better when there's no-one around. It's like other people make me worse.

I really wish there was flexibility in applying for accommodation because I'm so nervous about it already and I can't cope until September to find out where I'll be living.

right, I have had a very quiet morning at work today so I thought I would do some maths and see just how evil these DSA suppliers are, and the answer is, they are very very evil. If I want to get everything myself from various shops like Apple, Amazon and whatnot, with upgrading the Macbook to the top specs and choosing a carry bag that I like, and upgrading the software a bit, the total would still be £141.24 cheaper. Seriously, this is mad and imagine how much can the gov save if they ditch all these so called cheap and good DSA suppliers?