Part time study, OU, Disabled

LilacPixie

I need some help. I am currently studying PT with the OU. Doing 60 points this year. I do get financial help meeting my course fees (paid in full?) but I was wondering if their was any other help availible out there. Getting course fees paid is obviously a great help but the costs of other things like postage.. travel to tutorials and just simple things like paper and ink are mounting up as my tutorials are 25 miles away and I have had to give up driving.

Oldernotwiser

In addition to your fee grant you should also get a course grant of around £250 which is given to cover things like this. Don't you receive this?

(Don't you submit assignments on line?)

Indie_Kid

Do you not get disabled students allowance?

Oldernotwiser

sh1305 wrote: »

Do you not get disabled students allowance?

You're quite right to suggest this but the DSA is intended for additional costs relating to the disability, for example

"a non-medical helper such as a sign language interpreter
items of specialist equipment
other additional study-related costs you might incur because of your disability"

which doesn't really seem to be the sort of help the OP needs.

olly300

I don't know what courses you are doing but the OU tend to give you the choice to do tutorials remotely online.

That way you don't have to travel to do them and pay for travel expenses. This suits people who can't attend tutorials because they are too far for example in Scotland the geographic areas for the regions are really big, have work or other commitments which makes traveling to a tutorial unfeasible.

As ONW stated you can submit all your assignments online apart from the last one. Therefore you don't need money for postage or printing.

GotToChange

I think the OU has an Access to Learning fund which you may be able to apply for help from - although I'm not sure if this is affected by your Disabled status and additional help/support (financial?) that you receive because of that.

LilacPixie

ONW I have not received any sort of course grant. Other than fee's being paid. Should I have applied for this seperatly do you know? I don't submit online. I am doing maths so a large part of our work is the actual working of a problem. I need to type them on a specific piece of software then print and post to my tutor.

I can get typed note of the assignments but to be honest I really need to be if possible.

DSA in scotland is handled by the SAAS so I will be lucky to receive that before end of term as I apparently have to go to an assesment centre.

Thanks for all your help I will go investigate this 250 grant

Zziggi

GotToChange wrote: »

I think the OU has an Access to Learning fund which you may be able to apply for help from - although I'm not sure if this is affected by your Disabled status and additional help/support (financial?) that you receive because of that.

If you need equipment/help due to a disability then you need to apply for a DSA (& it can be time consuming when you first apply for a DSA as you have to go through an assessment of your needs). If your needs are greater than what can be provided by a DSA then you can apply to the ALF to cover those additional needs. If you apply to the ALF for help for things due to your disability but you have not applied for a DSA, then ou'll be told to apply to the DSA first.

Some printer paper, ink cartridges and postage costs will be seen as part & parcel of study. You would be expected to pay for some things yourself.

Depending on your disability, through the DSA you may get most of your petrol costs back from attending tutorials. You may also get a general allowance for a small amount of consumerables (printer paper, ink catridges etc) through the DSA.

When you first apply for a DSA it is a lengthy proceedure as you have to be assessed before they can identify what your needs are and then supply you with that help/specialist equipment. It took me 13 months to go from DSA application to actually getting the equipment despite me pushing for it to be hurried up. This meant my first year I had to work without the equipment. However, once a DSA assessment & award has been carried out, the yearly renewals are very, very straight forward providing your needs are unchanged. A friend of mine took 15 months from DSA application to getting a DSA award. This is why the OU recommend that if you are a disabled student, that you register for a course & apply for a DSA as early as possible before your course starts. Obviously this doesn't help if you are already part way through your studies & then find you need to apply fo a DSA.

Zziggi

I'm not clear what is it that the OP actually wants? Maybe she could tell us?

Are you after financial help only e.g. refund of expenses for postage/printer cartridges/petrol to tutorials

or are you after "help" with studies e.g. more accessible tutorials, enabled computer software etc?

If you are after "help" then you could contact your regional centre, explain the nature of your disability & ask if you can receive 'phone tutorials as getting to tutorials are too difficult (they can arrange these if there is a genuine need), depending on the nature of your disability a DSA would cover "help" in the form of enabled software, comb-bound books etc & you would need to apply for a DSA.

Again, depending on your disability and if an awards officer decided their was a genuine disability-related need for it - you may get help via a DSA for printer paper, ink cartridges etc etc. Postage is something a student would pay regardless of disability status so a DSA wouldn't cover that. If the OU offer the option to e-mail or eTMA the work then they'll tell you to do that if you can't afford printer paper/cartridges/postage.

Let's be honest postage is not THAT expensive anyway - 6 or 7 TMAs per year, no more than a £1 a letter I would imagine....

Oldernotwiser

LilacPixie wrote: »

ONW I have not received any sort of course grant. Other than fee's being paid. Should I have applied for this seperatly do you know?

Sorry, I don't know if you have to apply for this separately, eligibility depends on your household income; ring the OU and ask them about this.

SailorSam

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/explained/financial-support.shtml