Disabled students allowance for dyslexia - what can I claim for?

mhoc

I am going for my needs assessment next week.

What can I claim for -i have been assessed as being dyslexic - just very worried that because I can use various computers and laptops at uni and at home they will say I don't qualify for any technical equipment.

So will they ask me outright if I have my own laptop and printer at home? The laptops at home are for everyone's use, not personal ones, shared with my mum and dad.

I get one hours support a week at the moment with a support worker who is excellent. Is it possible that I could get more hours?

Thanks in advance for any help and ideas.

dizzyrascal

I work at a university and it used to be that everyone who was assessed as being dyslexic got a shiny new Sony laptop.
I'm not sure if you might get an ipad or something similar now instead but I'm sure the rules will be similar.
I would wait for the assessment to see what they can offer you. They tend to offer you what you need not what you might want but it can be very generous and the service at my university does tons for the dyslexic students so I wouldn't worry.

bestpud

mhoc wrote: »

I am going for my needs assessment next week.

What can I claim for -i have been assessed as being dyslexic - just very worried that because I can use various computers and laptops at uni and at home they will say I don't qualify for any technical equipment.

So will they ask me outright if I have my own laptop and printer at home? The laptops at home are for everyone's use, not personal ones, shared with my mum and dad.

I get one hours support a week at the moment with a support worker who is excellent. Is it possible that I could get more hours?

Thanks in advance for any help and ideas.

I had to say what access to PCs I had and what spec they were.

The needs assessment was carried out at my house and the assessor actually looked at our PC to see what spec it was too.

They ask as they will give you a new one if yours isn't capable of running the software.

As far as I am aware, laptops pretty much only go to people who have a physical need for one, have work placements where they may use the laptop or some other reason why they need one.

Taiko

At the same time, SFE will usually agree for an upgrade to a laptop, but the cost difference goes with the student.

mhoc

Thanks for the info.

I think I should be Ok proving physical need as my hand writing is almost unreadable and this is mentioned in the report I got after the 1st assessment and I am taking some examples as well to the needs assement.

The needs assessment is done at a uni centre and they have this report and other evidence.

All the kit at home is more than 5 years old so very slow and decrepit. The uni library is brand new and ultra modern so I do a lot of work there but of course there are a lot of distractions.

bestpud

mhoc wrote: »

Thanks for the info.

I think I should be Ok proving physical need as my hand writing is almost unreadable and this is mentioned in the report I got after the 1st assessment and I am taking some examples as well to the needs assement.

The needs assessment is done at a uni centre and they have this report and other evidence.

All the kit at home is more than 5 years old so very slow and decrepit. The uni library is brand new and ultra modern so I do a lot of work there but of course there are a lot of distractions.

Physical need for a laptop would usually mean you are unable to sit at a desktop computer or have to spend a lot of time in bed/hospital or on dialysis and the like.

That said, in your case you will probably qualify if you need to type rather then write lecture notes and potentially for exams too.

Supermum53

My daughter applied for DSA earlier this year and her experience was entirely positive.:) I didn't go with her but she already had a PC, printer and notepad but they awarded her a top of the range laptop, b&w printer, various colour screens, digital recorder, software to transfer recordings to text and back, private tuition to get the best out of the equipment and one to one tuition as and when at £60/hr. We had the opportunity to pay for an upgrade if the offered item wasn't all that she wanted. Plus they will pay for any needs-related software or books which would not normally be needed by non-dyslexics. Well done DSA :T and good luck for next week mhoc!

laurylaury

My husband is a student and has dyspraxia and was given DSA support via SAAS for equipment.
I believe the total awarded was around the £1300 mark.
He was assessed by someone in the Student Support team who recommended the equipment he would need for the course - he did have some say in it ie he had the choice of a voice recognition/dictation software for the laptop or a pen which records his lectures etc.
The assessment was not done at home and my husband already had a laptop but it was 5 years old and not capable of running the required software.
In the end he got a laptop, keyboard, mouse, Microsoft Office software package, a Livescribe pen, specialist notebooks that work with the pen, mind-mapping software, guarantees on all these for the length of the degree and a few other bits and bobs. His uni provides more notebooks and he was also given £50 for miscellaneous printing/photocopying costs.

Basically, as long as the assessor is of the opinion that equipment is required then it's pretty much a certainty that you'll be given the money to cover the costs of it - I don't see why they wouldn't follow the advice of a professional used to dealing with that sort of thing