Disbaled student allowance

sogs

I have just applied for disabled student allowance through college and have been told I would need an assessment can anyone tell me what is involved with the assessment such questions and information required and who carries out the assessment.

many thanks

Oldernotwiser

When you say "college" what sort of institution do you mean?

GlasweJen

The assessment will vary depending on the level of education and what your disability actually is. It wont test your disability but what your educational establishment can do to meet your needs and any specialist equipment you'll need in order to study without being disadvantaged against non-disabled students.

natmour

If your having an assessment for dyslexia, and it is at uni, the test would consist of a full IQ test to see where you fall on the average charts. This way they can see where you are falling behind and when you have a needs assesement (the test where they see what software etc would be useful to you). The overall period of when you apply for it and when you receive some of your allowence can take up to around 6 months.

GlasweJen

I never had an IQ test for dyslexia?

ninja-lewis

I had an assessment for my DSA claim (deaf). Basically the lady just asked a few questions to gauge the real world impact of my disability (how well I could hear her - obviously I have had lots of proper tests done but a simple comment that I struggled to hear her in a quiet room conveys the difficulty just as well), how I coped at school etc. She then mentioned some of the ways they could offer assistance and discussed whether I felt they would be effective, and answered any questions about the DSA process.

What is actually done obviously depends on your disability, the procedures of your disability office, whoever's carrying out the assessment (the lady I mentioned came from another institution who did all the assessments in the region) and the LEA you're applying to for support.

Best to try and get it done ASAP, as like natmour says, it can take several months (I started in September, assessed in October, report in January, asked for the computer to be changed in Feb, Royal Mail lost the cheque and I didn't get the funding until July!) However, if the University are pretty sure that you clearly require this support, they'll usually lend you equipment/pay notetakers until your DSA comes through, so you shouldn't worry about it too much.