Autism and DSA (Non Medical Help)

time2save

Hi,

I have applied for Disabled Students' Allowance from Student Finance England. I have Autism [High Functioning], OCD and anxiety issues.

I went for a DSA needs assessment and one of my needs is for having a support worker who understands ASD + mental health issues who could support me when I'm anxious.

By this I mean like talking to me (not counselling) and helping me thinking of practical options to overcome the particular issues, if this is possible.

Unfortunatly my needs assessor has said that this WON'T come under "Non-Medical help" in the eyes of SFE, hence it is a medical/social care need.

I have been advised to contact my Uni to discuss options for the support staff there to support me the best they can.

This may mean some staff who might have the experiance of providing such a level of support, beeing allocated to me. They would I believe still be classed as note takers for SFE's eyes. I do need a notetaker but in college (and this is what I need) I've had a support worker doing both notes and this pastoral support (though not at the exact same time). This has enabled me to finish my level 3 course and get on to the now uni course.


I'm gonna meet up with the uni to discuss my options, I was wondering though, if anyone on here has any experiance of the SFE (DSA) process and prehaps if someone has had to go down the NHS/Social Services route to get the support they need at Uni etc.


I'm starting to recieve support from my city's Social Services (after a 3 years battle :mad::mad::mad::eek::eek::eek:) but the course I want to do is in another city. I will be living in my orginal city so I don't know if at all, which city would provide any support, if I have to go down this route.



Any support would be really appreciated.


Sorry for the long post/little rant or if this isn't the right place to post.


Thanks,

time2save :):A:A:A:A:A

time2save

small bump ^^^^^^

and will post on the Disabled and Dosh forum, in order if someone could help me.

DepressedInsomniac

I've been allocated 30 hours of mentor support for this academic year (basically an hour per week) paid for by DSA, but it's not a medical person or one trained in MH issues as such, although they might have some experience of such. There's usually a bank of mentors at the university and student support services will try to match you up to someone suitable for your needs. However, they're not a counselling service but someone to offer support and perhaps mediate or communicate on your behalf in times of difficulty.

Would you be looking for more specific and/or medical support to assist you?

time2save

DepressedInsomniac wrote: »

Would you be looking for more specific and/or medical support to assist you?

Yeah I think I would, only because of my anxiety levels can get higher when I'm upset about something and make it harder to focus on the task at hand.

Was hoping for support worker(s) to be able to take the notes and as and when required just have a chat, when I'm not well + help me come up with stratagies or practical soltions to overcome the issue or at the very least listen to the issue and help me get on task with the work.

Don't know how this is supposed to be medical?

DepressedInsomniac

time2save wrote: »

Yeah I think I would, only because of my anxiety levels can get higher when I'm upset about something and make it harder to focus on the task at hand.

In that case I think you'd be better contacting student support services at your university and ask to speak to the student disability officer. They will know how best to assist you and they can deal directly with DSA too if they think you'd benefit from extra support.

Ahh you edited as I posted. That sounds very much like the role of mentor as it was described to me. I won't have a note taker but I've got digital audio equipment to record lectures as my concentration span is zero and I often zone out so would miss a lot of detail. I also forget things easily so might not be able to relate a page of notes to a particular lecture so it would become nonsensical to me.

I still think the disability officer at uni is the best person to approach, or, you said you've already had a DSA assessment? Could you not go back to them for more advice? I had additional stuff added after my original assessment.

time2save

Thanks,

time2save

pickpocketlocket

You can get the support you need, but it will be from two distinct workers. The university can provide a note taker, who can also stay with you whilst you move rooms and so on, however they will not be a trained mental health support worker, they are usually a fellow student (albeit not on your course). You can get funding for a mental health support worker/ mentor, but this will be for an hour a week.