Dyslexia Report

littlelady

My son is at university starting his second year in september ,he has had an assessment for dyslexia ,had the assessment of study needs which recommendations eg computing equipment some one to one support and extra time in exams.
He has received the equipment which he is so pleased about to help him with his course but after sending the recommendations for one to one support to his uni they have declined this saying that has far has they are concerned he has not got dyslexia.
I phoned the head of the disabliity department and he told me that we could not appeal because there is no appeal proceedure.
I phoned my local council and the access centre were my son had his needs accessment and they both say they have never heard about this before and think there is an underlying cause.
The assessment for dyslexia which my son had said few indications in his score,since then the psychologist said to the university that he does not have dyslexia but it does not state this in the report.
How come the assessor who would have read the psychologist report has recommended help for my son and also our local council also but not the university.?
Any advice were else i could take this matter to please.

frostyglow

My sister is also dyslexic and my parents had to do a lot of work and running around to get her the assessments/reports etc she needed to get help at school, college and university. (She's now just finished the 1st year of her Masters and doing well )

It sounds to me like the psychologist is at fault for writing one thing then stating another. Are you able to ask for the grounds on which the university has refused the one to one support? If you know for sure then you may have a stronger case for arguing against their decision.

It sounds like their "no appeals" stance may just be a way to fob you off. Are you able to apply again for one to one help? Once you know exactly why it was refused the first time.

An additional note, at university my sister did have one to one help which was very useful but occassionally she struggled to get an appointment, as I'm sure happens a lot. As a sort of back-up she would get her friends, boyfriend or family to help her whenever it was possible, that way she didn't feel she was relying solely on the university help. Might be good for your son to use a similar tactic. Nothing worse than having a project due in and feeling there is no one around to go through the spelling, punctuation or grammer with you!

Good luck!

melancholly

it may be that they only give one to one help with people who have 'severe' problems. unis usually all have to do basic things to help people with any sort of difficulty (like putting lecture notes online so that you can print them out at whatever size you like and have time to read them in advance). i was told that up to 40% of students were registered as dyslexic and this makes it hard to know who to give the help to.

is there any way your son could try making an appointment with student support or the person in charge of this within his department? it may be helpful to talk face to face (and it may also help further if he does it himself rather than you making the calls). is it possible for a university employee (educational psychologist?) to give him an assessment?

how did he do in his first year? if he is coping ok, then does he 'need' the extra help or would it just be something that would help a lot (as i'm sure it would every student, dyslexic or not)? i guess only he can know that kind of thing, but it's worth assessing whether it's worth what will be an uphill fight (but if it's worth the fight, then definitely go for it - and communicate in writing if possible and get them to do so as it gives a paper trail of what was said!).

MrsManda

Did the report state what kind of 'one to one support' he required? On its own the phrase 'one to one support' does not mean anything.
You seem to be talking about two different reports - one from the psychologist and a Disabled Student Allowance needs assessment.
The psychologist report should be what confirms your son's eligibility for DSA. Then the needs assessment has an interview with your son and recommends to the LEA what equipment and support your son needs. This presumably has happened as he has received the equipment. The purpose of the DSA assessment is to identify equipment and support, say where to get it from and how much it will cost. The LEA then ratifies the report and pays for the equipment etc...
The one to one support is slightly different as although the DSA needs assessment can be used as supporting evidence when asking for support from your university, the university is under no obligation to take it's advice.

One thing which does occur to me however is whether the DSA assessment suggests a note taker? I thought this was standard practise for Dyslexia

Mschievous

I know this information is a little late for the original post but may help others.

An assessment report by a Psychologist or Dyslexia Specialist can diagnose Dyslexia or a Specific Learning Difference/Difficulty. For the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) the report must have been undertaken after the age of 16 and may need up dating depending on it's age. If is it over 2-3 years old it may need to be brought up to date for it to be accepted for Disabled Students Allowance.

Once DSA has been applied for then a Needs Assessment is done and a "Study Aid & Study Support Strategies Report" is produced by the needs assessor which recommends the level of need and a costing for this. In the case of Dyslexia this may include assistive technology and and non-medical helper support such as one to one specialist non subject specific tuition. All this sounds confusing but it will be listed as "Human Support - Non subject specific study skills tuition (One to One support) under section C-3 and the number of hours recommended (this can be reviewed later and is not set in stone). There are then a minimum of two quotes for this in D-2 "Non medical helpers allowance" and who can provide this service locally. This is just pulled from a list, usually the University is quoted for and an employment agency.

Now this is the important bit. :think:

You are the client, it is your support and you can choose who carries this out as long as it falls withing the outlined costings.

I am a dyslexia tutor and I have many university students come to me because the University is unable to provide tuition at hours that suit them or they do not have the staff available. Many people who provide the tuition in support/student services provide an excellent generic support on a more ad hoc basis but one to one support should provide strategies for working towards independent learning and be carried out by someone who is specialised in Dyslexia. For example, your DSA could be paid to a university for you to receive support from a learning assistant who has some experience of dyslexia or you can choose a dyslexia specialist tutor with the benchmark AMBDA qualification and an MA Ed in SEN.

It annoys me that students are unaware they have a choice of provider and that this information is not easily available. Many are unaware that the estimates listed are just that, names of local suppliers who can provide services and how much this will cost.You do not have to chose from these suppliers!!!

There is no paperwork to arrange this change, just an email to Student Finance England (SFE) informing them who you are using, their suitability/qualifications and the cost. The invoice for providing support is then sent directly to SFE so the student just arranges the support they need directly with the tutor. So simple really.

So... I have no idea why the university would say someone is not dyslexic, are they qualified to diagnose? If the Needs assessment states one to one support then that is what you can have as long as it's set out in the recommendations of the Study Aid and Study Support Strategies Report. Edited to add ....once agreed by SFE (with acknowledgment to Taiko for pointing this out).

Contact the British Dyslexia Association for a list of tutors near you or PATOSS as they both have details of specialist tutors. Be warned though the list can be out of date. I have tried unsuccessfully to get my local university to pass students on to local tutors as they themselves do not have staff available for on going Dyslexia support but they still insist students find their own suppliers.

Good luck and remember it's your funding and your choice :money:

Taiko

What you also need to remember is that any recommendations in the support can be turned down by SFE or the funding body. You therefore cannot say yourself that the report is all you need.

I declined a fair few recommendations in my time, always for a valid reason. I also saw many horrid EdPsych reports, which didn't give a firm conclusion. I'd hope in thsoe cases SFE would say no to any support, but can't guarantee these days.

Mschievous

Taiko wrote: »

What you also need to remember is that any recommendations in the support can be turned down by SFE or the funding body. You therefore cannot say yourself that the report is all you need.

I declined a fair few recommendations in my time, always for a valid reason. I also saw many horrid EdPsych reports, which didn't give a firm conclusion. I'd hope in thsoe cases SFE would say no to any support, but can't guarantee these days.

That's because EdPsych's are not Dyslexia Specialists as a rule and therefore a diagnosis of Specific Literacy Difficulties is the standard term used as opposed to a definitive Diagnosis. Most assessments by EdPsychs also have co-morbidity factors (two or more areas of need) so they may list the most 'severe' as their assessments encompass a broader range of possible diagnoses.

I have seen some pretty awful needs assessment recommendations :rotfl:which suggest outdated equipment that's of little practical use but that's a whole new debate.

Taiko

I've seen needs assessments that are !!!!takes, such as home recording studios for music students.

Never seen an assessment that was not suitable for the disability related needs of the student. And that's what DSA is for, the disability and not the course.