Surely the "recommendations" you make as a Needs Assessor should carry considerable weight in an HEI in deciding what is "reasonable" -ie doesn't your assessment have some "power" or empowerment for the student???

Dr John S Conway
Principal lecturer in soil science / Disability Officer
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Glos GL7 6JS
01285 652531 ext 2234  fax 01285 650219
http://www.royagcol.ac.uk/~john_conway/  
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-----Original Message-----
From: Bernard Doherty [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: 26 January 2004 12:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dyslexia Provision[Scanned]

Superfically, I could make very detailed recommendations; however, the 
fact that they appear in my report will not produce them in 
practice.  ACCESS Centres have no power to tell HEIs or their officers 
what to do and I see no purpose in building hopes in students that are 
destined to be unfulfilled and lead them on a course of frustrating 
argument with those to whom they look for help.  For example, I 
routinely follow the decision of GCSE and A level boards when 
recommending extra time in examinations (the same examinations that 
have admitted the students to their current courses).  This is a 
standard 25% throughout the country, unless other considerations lead 
to the students having more time.  Some universities, for no very clear 
reason, arbitrarily decide that students should have 10 minutes in ever 
hour or even 6 minutes. That continues, regardless of what I write. 
Some HEIs or departments or lecturers regard external proof reading of 
assignments as outright cheating, others think it is an example of 
students demonstrating responsibility for the quality of the work they 
hand in.  They will have that view whatever I write in my report.

Decisions in these areas, one way or another, are not mine to make; at 
the same time, I have no intention of simply rubber stamping whatever 
arrangements a disability officer or dyslexia tutor selects, i.e., 
having people tell me how they do things and then endorse it by writing 
it into the report as directed, whether I think it appropriate or not. 
If professional people form a view of what is needed, why should they 
not put their name to it and argue the case with those with power, that 
is, their employers and LEA awards officers?  I understand the principle
of separation of assessment and provision; too often in the past I have 
been asked to formally approve the available provision whether I think 
it suitable or not. If I don't, of course, the student is simply unable 
to receive support.  I refuse this equivocal position, I refuse to find 
myself obliged to defend practices of which I disapprove and so I use 
the formula of my earlier post, however hand-washing it may appear.

Bernard


On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:11:06 -0000 Christine Chubb 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I surprised, Bernard, that you've stopped making specific 
> recommendations for dyslexia-related study skill support.  In other 
> places this forms part of the assessment.  If its 'up to the adviser to 
> write to the awards officer explaining what is intended and how much it 
> will cost' isn't this flying in the face of what seems to be the 
> prevailing view that assessment and provision should be separated?
> 
> Chris Chubb
> University of Bristol
> 
> 
> --On 23 January 2004 18:22 +0000 Bernard Doherty 
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> > I cannot speak for other ACCESS Centres or assessors, but the
> > practice  in this Centre is to recommend that the student discuss the
> > matter with  the dyslexia support tutor to determine if such support
> > is appropriate.  In practice, our reports establish permission for
> > DSA payment if the  college or university seek to arrange it.
> > Typically, the phrasing will  mention that students are generally
> > granted up to 40 hours a year at a  cost of up to £45 an hour,
> > although individual needs vary and charges  differ from region to
> > region.  It is then up to the adviser to write to  the awards officer
> > explaining what is intended and how much it will  cost.  This seems a
> > fair division of labour to me: what is viewed as  appropriate and how
> > much it costs vary enormously from one institution  to another.
> >
> > At the same time, I am constantly struck by how much virtually all
> > the  students I see would benefit from individual attention to their
> > work and their ways of working, far more (I suspect) than from the
> > technology (or the technology without human support) that tends to be
> > our focus.  In  this regard, I am not surprised that the number of
> > recommendations is  increasing.  Some students need a great deal of
> > help and advice with  virtually every area of their work: with it,
> > they succeed; without it,  they fail.  Who is to provide it in a
> > modern university where the  function of the individual tutor has
> > changed so dramatically in the past decade or so?
> >
> > However, this simply reflects my thinking and the general practice of
> > this Centre.
> >
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Christine Chubb, Disability Adviser, University of Bristol
> Access Unit for Deaf and Disabled Students
> Union Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1LN
> Tel: 0117 954 5850    Text: 0117 954 5728
> Fax: 0117 923 8546
> [log in to unmask]
> www home page: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/AccessUnit/

----------------------
Bernard Doherty
Student Adviser
ACCESS Centre
Anglia Polytechnic University

Tel: 01223 363271 x2534
Fax: 01223 417730
Minicom: 01223 576155
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