I fully support and agree with what you've said, David.
>>> [log in to unmask] 04/04/03 11:15am >>>
At DMU we have a Disability Unit. They organise psychological and needs
assessments, exam arrangements and helping students claim the DSA.
We also have the Student Learning Advisory Service, where I am based in a
room called the Dyslexia Support Centre. I believe that in an HE context,
dyslexia should primarily be treated as an academic matter (acknowledging
that the combination of language/memory/organisation issues and the
'non-dyslexic world' aspects of HE means that counselling skills may also be
required).
Our 'split' way of organising this means that it is sometimes hard to make
clear to students and academics the 'who does what?' issues regarding
dyslexia provision. However, my answer to Simon's question is that there
should be dyslexia support staff who are on academic contracts. I do
research and staff development work, external examining of dyslexia courses
etc as well as student support. Coventry University adopts a similar model,
I believe.
While funding remains as it is (i.e. the DSA), we are forced to treat
dyslexia as a disability (at least in part of our procedures), which is not
a model I favour. But it always strikes me as a pity that so many
Universities advertise for support tutors on non-academic contracts,
reporting to the Disability Officer.
Dr David Pollak
De Montfort University
Leicester
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