What support can you expect with dyslexia, if you are looking to undertake an undergraduate degree in September 2021. Read on for my latest update on the Disabled Students Allowance here in the UK.
If you follow the Studying With Dyslexia Blog you will know that in 2020 I wrote an article about the Disabled Students Allowance and referred to how both my daughters gained support for their various experiences of being neurodiverse.
I am thrilled to say (watch out , ‘gushing dad moment’) that they both achieved first class honours in their degrees. Gaining support from the DSA enabled them to focus on learning and not the challenges that came from being neurodiverse.
Please read on for the updated version of the article that I wrote last year with the current details of what the DSA will provide in order to support learning for students with dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions.
Here in the UK it is recognised that at undergraduate level, students with ‘disabilities’ are at a disadvantage unless they get support to help them with their studies.
The UK Gov definition of disability is as follows:
“You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.”
The above definition comes from the UK Gov Disabilities Act 2010 includes dyslexia and other specific learning differences such as ADHD, DCD, ASD, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia.
If a student entering university life is neurodiverse then they are entitled to apply for the following support that is listed on the DSA website.
“What DSAs can pay for.
You can get help with the costs of:
Specialist equipment, for example a computer if you need one because of your disability,
Non-medical helpers,
Extra travel because of your disability,
Other disability-related costs of studying.
You may get a new computer if you do not already have one, or your current one does not meet your study needs. More information will be provided to you if you’re assessed as needing a new computer.
You’ll need to pay the first £200, which is the minimum cost that any student is likely to incur when buying a computer.
DSAs do not cover disability-related costs you’d have if you were not attending a course, or costs that any student might have.”
What can you expect to get if you apply to the DSA?
2021 to 2022 academic year
Undergraduate and postgraduate students can get up to £25,000 a year for support.
Taken from the UK Gov DSA website - https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa
An example of technology that could be used to support learning on the DSA.
One of the major challenges of being dyslexic is taking notes. Dyslexia can affect concentration, handwriting, working memory and fatigue. When having to take notes in class this can seem like a huge challenge.
The DSA, provide a wide range of technologies to help with study for students with dyslexia. More recently they authorised a new product called Glean which helps students take notes in lectures by actually recording the audio from lectures and allowing the student to annotate the recording. Being able to playback a lecture and compare it with the Powerpoint slides used as well as the students annotations is a powerful way of going back over the content for revision and recall purposes.
I recently reviewed Glean in a blog article that you can check out by clicking here.
Other technologies include text to speech (technology for reading out text), speech to text (dictation), mind mapping software, screen tinting software, citation software and so on as well as specific hardware products that aid the use e.g laptop, microphones, specialist keyboards etc
How does a student get to have all this support?
To get this support a student must have a diagnosis of dyslexia (or other condition) and be prepared to subject themselves to a ‘Needs Assessment’ which is performed across the UK in one of many DSA authorised assessment centres.
Once the assessment is complete, the assessor makes recommendations on which technology to use. The student will need to pay for the first £200 of the equipment in order to pay for the laptop (this cost is a likely cost of any student with or without a disability) but the rest of the provision is quite generous.
The DSA will also fund study skills coaching and some of the consumables that would need to be used with the provision.