University of Sheffield
Sheffield
ADHD, autism and dyslexia support
Hi I have an offer to study BSc Geography at Sheffield in 2023.
I want to know about the ADHD, autism and dyslexia support available? And the opinions of it from a student perspective.
Is support easily accessible? Are they accommodating? Are there peer groups available? Are there mentors/counsellors available to talk to regularly and support you? What can you use your DSA for? What support can you access on a student support plan?
This is kind of my deciding factor between unis so I'm curious to know as much as I can. Thanks
I want to know about the ADHD, autism and dyslexia support available? And the opinions of it from a student perspective.
Is support easily accessible? Are they accommodating? Are there peer groups available? Are there mentors/counsellors available to talk to regularly and support you? What can you use your DSA for? What support can you access on a student support plan?
This is kind of my deciding factor between unis so I'm curious to know as much as I can. Thanks
Good question! I'll bump this. Is the university Sheffield Hallam (you can tag the official rep if of that uni)
University of Sheffield
Sheffield
Original post by iL1L
Good question! I'll bump this. Is the university Sheffield Hallam (you can tag the official rep if of that uni)
No its uni of.
Thank you though!
Original post by xtmrl
No its uni of.
Thank you though!
Thank you though!
@University of Sheffield
Original post by xtmrl
Hi I have an offer to study BSc Geography at Sheffield in 2023.
I want to know about the ADHD, autism and dyslexia support available? And the opinions of it from a student perspective.
Is support easily accessible? Are they accommodating? Are there peer groups available? Are there mentors/counsellors available to talk to regularly and support you? What can you use your DSA for? What support can you access on a student support plan?
This is kind of my deciding factor between unis so I'm curious to know as much as I can. Thanks
I want to know about the ADHD, autism and dyslexia support available? And the opinions of it from a student perspective.
Is support easily accessible? Are they accommodating? Are there peer groups available? Are there mentors/counsellors available to talk to regularly and support you? What can you use your DSA for? What support can you access on a student support plan?
This is kind of my deciding factor between unis so I'm curious to know as much as I can. Thanks
Hey! Congratulations on your offer!
I am a student disability rep for the University of Sheffield and I have dyslexia and ME.
The support from the University is specific to each individual so I cannot promise you will be able to access this but here are some of the support services that are available. There are study skills one-to-one support sessions, exam help (extra time, rest breaks, individual rooms, scribes, readers, computers), orientation support (someone can take you to places particularly during the first few weeks), library support, note takers.
The DDSS (disability and dyslexia support service) are very helpful. If you declare that you have a disability/learning difficulty etc on your UCAS form then they should contact you before you start. If not, then you can contact them before you start university or at any time while you are there. You will be assigned someone who will support you and they will create a learning support plan for you which can be sent to any of your lecturers that you want it to. They can also help with applications for funding and DSA.
DSA tends to help more with practical things, for example paying for specialist software to be added to your laptop to help aid you. Or pay for taxis if you have mobility issues etc.
I hope this helps somewhat!
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Evie
Hello Evie
I hope to start mechanical engineering at Sheffield university in 2023. I have ADHD and have been told I am eligible for DSA. I need to book a study needs assessment. I know I will need help with note taking and organisation. But my question is, if the SNA recommends I use a particular software for note taking - will that be ok to use at my lectures or would I need permission?
Also is it better to book my study needs assessment with Sheffield university? or to go to an independent assessor?
Thanks
EGMDD
I hope to start mechanical engineering at Sheffield university in 2023. I have ADHD and have been told I am eligible for DSA. I need to book a study needs assessment. I know I will need help with note taking and organisation. But my question is, if the SNA recommends I use a particular software for note taking - will that be ok to use at my lectures or would I need permission?
Also is it better to book my study needs assessment with Sheffield university? or to go to an independent assessor?
Thanks
EGMDD
(edited 8 months ago)
Hello,
I've been diagnosed with ASD, depression and severe anxiety. These are the adjustments that I can get at the uni of Sheffield and I know other people with them just for mental health or in the middle of the diagnosis process, and they have very similar you just need to be able to give reasons why this will benefit you specifically also if I have any challenges that haven't been thought about I can make adjustments at any time
- Not an adjustment but I have to write a thing about how my disabilities impact me specifically and what the signs are etc. so they get a better understanding
- Use clear unambiguous language
- Confirm activities and instructions in writing
- Provide reading lists in advance and what is required and what is optional
- Provide all the lecture material at least 24 hours in advance
- Lets me record the lectures
- Working alone in group work or picking someone I want to be in a group with
- Give extra support in group work
- Only ask questions if she volunteers the answer
- Only deliver presentations to one person or another way to assess the content
- Lab support worker and seminar support worker
- Ensure deadlines are as spread out as possible
- Allow coursework extensions when asked
- 25% extra time in exams
- 20 minutes of rest breaks per hour in exam
- No more than 10 people in a room during exams
- Noise-cancelling headphones in exams
- Disability Liason on course which works with about 5 students to meet with
- Extra meetings with the tutor
- Double library loans
- Orientation support
- Accommodation support
- Autistic social group
Then from DSA I was also allowed
2 hours of a therapist
2 hours ASD mentoring per week which is like study skills and coping with chage etc
A printer for free and £186 for ink and paper but they pack this back rather than giving this to you. (I was eligable for a laptop but didn't need one)
Glean which allows you to record the lectures and make notes whilst recording, adding slides, edit them and many more
I was also sent a free microphone with this because of how large the lecture theatres are
Scholarly which you put in an article and then it summarises it for you and seperates the categories
global tasks which is an organised to do list online programme but you can hade tasks and edit it in cool other ways so really useful
pro study which collects all the different articles for different projects and organises them and then does the referencing for you writing helper which structures the essay and explains what question words mean as well as telling you if you have any plagarism in it and making sure all the targets are done
grammarly premium which helps with the tone of the writing which was really helpful (I think this is the only one that isn't on the list for mental health)
claro read which adds tints to the screen etc and reads out all the text as well as being able to speak to it and it will type for you and it also has other PDF features
brain in hand which is a app designed for autistic people for routine and having a set bank of solutions when things go wrong but is given for other mental health conditions
Hope this helps feel free to ask me any more questions
I've been diagnosed with ASD, depression and severe anxiety. These are the adjustments that I can get at the uni of Sheffield and I know other people with them just for mental health or in the middle of the diagnosis process, and they have very similar you just need to be able to give reasons why this will benefit you specifically also if I have any challenges that haven't been thought about I can make adjustments at any time
- Not an adjustment but I have to write a thing about how my disabilities impact me specifically and what the signs are etc. so they get a better understanding
- Use clear unambiguous language
- Confirm activities and instructions in writing
- Provide reading lists in advance and what is required and what is optional
- Provide all the lecture material at least 24 hours in advance
- Lets me record the lectures
- Working alone in group work or picking someone I want to be in a group with
- Give extra support in group work
- Only ask questions if she volunteers the answer
- Only deliver presentations to one person or another way to assess the content
- Lab support worker and seminar support worker
- Ensure deadlines are as spread out as possible
- Allow coursework extensions when asked
- 25% extra time in exams
- 20 minutes of rest breaks per hour in exam
- No more than 10 people in a room during exams
- Noise-cancelling headphones in exams
- Disability Liason on course which works with about 5 students to meet with
- Extra meetings with the tutor
- Double library loans
- Orientation support
- Accommodation support
- Autistic social group
Then from DSA I was also allowed
2 hours of a therapist
2 hours ASD mentoring per week which is like study skills and coping with chage etc
A printer for free and £186 for ink and paper but they pack this back rather than giving this to you. (I was eligable for a laptop but didn't need one)
Glean which allows you to record the lectures and make notes whilst recording, adding slides, edit them and many more
I was also sent a free microphone with this because of how large the lecture theatres are
Scholarly which you put in an article and then it summarises it for you and seperates the categories
global tasks which is an organised to do list online programme but you can hade tasks and edit it in cool other ways so really useful
pro study which collects all the different articles for different projects and organises them and then does the referencing for you writing helper which structures the essay and explains what question words mean as well as telling you if you have any plagarism in it and making sure all the targets are done
grammarly premium which helps with the tone of the writing which was really helpful (I think this is the only one that isn't on the list for mental health)
claro read which adds tints to the screen etc and reads out all the text as well as being able to speak to it and it will type for you and it also has other PDF features
brain in hand which is a app designed for autistic people for routine and having a set bank of solutions when things go wrong but is given for other mental health conditions
Hope this helps feel free to ask me any more questions
Original post by EGMDD
I hope to start mechanical engineering at Sheffield university in 2023. I have ADHD and have been told I am eligible for DSA. I need to book a study needs assessment. I know I will need help with note taking and organisation. But my question is, if the SNA recommends I use a particular software for note taking - will that be ok to use at my lectures or would I need permission?
Also is it better to book my study needs assessment with Sheffield university? or to go to an independent assessor?
Also is it better to book my study needs assessment with Sheffield university? or to go to an independent assessor?
Hi,
From my experience as it might help getting different view points as everyone's situation is different
Once I got my A level results I was asked to book 'needs assessment' with the university which (depending on how long you've been diagnosed) is like what you have with the SENDco and they ask about things that I would struggle with and made adjustments (found in previous post)
The DSA needs assessment provides software and things that typically require more funding mainly software rather than adjustments
Even though they are both called needs assessments its recommended to do both as they offer different support so the DSA one is done via an independent assessor and the uni one is with the DDSS team
For me I was given software for taking notes and recording the lectures and during the DDSS meeting they mentioned this as some without DSA will have a scribe and if you get software provided to record lectures then in the support plan that they make it will say that you are allowed to record lectures, if you dont have the support plan giving permission you can get in a lot of trouble so I would suggest making sure to do the meeting with the DDSS
This is just my experience so might be different for different people
Hope it helps
Original post by EGMDD
Hello Evie
I hope to start mechanical engineering at Sheffield university in 2023. I have ADHD and have been told I am eligible for DSA. I need to book a study needs assessment. I know I will need help with note taking and organisation. But my question is, if the SNA recommends I use a particular software for note taking - will that be ok to use at my lectures or would I need permission?
Also is it better to book my study needs assessment with Sheffield university? or to go to an independent assessor?
Thanks
EGMDD
I hope to start mechanical engineering at Sheffield university in 2023. I have ADHD and have been told I am eligible for DSA. I need to book a study needs assessment. I know I will need help with note taking and organisation. But my question is, if the SNA recommends I use a particular software for note taking - will that be ok to use at my lectures or would I need permission?
Also is it better to book my study needs assessment with Sheffield university? or to go to an independent assessor?
Thanks
EGMDD
Hey!
Congratulations on your offer! Have you disclosed your diagnosis on your application? - no worries if not, it just means that the Uni disability support officers (DDSS) will contact you to guide you through applying for DSA and the study needs assessment. You can contact the DDSS and they can advise you on the best approach to take. By talking to the DDSS it will have no impact on your application - the information is not shared with your department until you say you want it to be.
If you do the assessment through the university then it will all be paid for which would be better. The assessments are done via an independent company anyway, it is just paid directly by the university so you do not have to worry about getting invoices etc.
The software recommended would be fine to be used for the lectures. There may be some issues with recording devices being used in lectures with confidential information - but this shouldn't be a problem in your course.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Evie (4th year medic at UoS)
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