The assessment referred to in these guidelines is about the full DSA
study aids and strategies assessment that Assessment Centres undertake
and charge for.  But within an institution it is the Disability Officers
job to evaluate / assess the situation taking account of available
medical evidence along with a face to face discussion with the student
and an understanding of what is expected of the student on their course
and the institutions regulations.  A doctor is not best placed to
determine how much if at all the a medical condition will impact on a
student's studies, because they are too remote from what is expected of
the student, what the institutions is able to provide under their regs,
or (with the DDA in mind) what would be "reasonable" in the given
circumstances.  Also. we should be working to the Social Model not
Medical Model, i.e don't get too hung up on medical issues, we have to
address the practical issues.  That said, adequate medical evidence is
required and a Disability Officer could ask for better, more detailed,
evidence if what was available was too vague, as many conditions can be
on a spectrum ranging from very mild to severe and debilitating and can
also affect people in different ways, so a bit more detail than just a
medical term is preferable, required even.  
Also a doctors note saying "John reports that he has back pain" or "Jane
tells me that she had flu last week" are not adequate for most
institutions.

Bryan Jones,
Manager, Disability Support Services
& North London Regional Access Centre,
Middlesex University 
Tel: 020 8411 5366
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian Webb
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 10:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Medical Evidence


I am not sure that a policy document is what is required at this stage.
The LEA 
has been given clear guidance as to what is a disability for the purpose
of the 
DSA. I suggest that you look at the guidance which is available on the
DfES web 
site. Chapter 69 states:

69.	For most applicants, there should be little difficulty
establishing their 
eligibility for DSAs. Their disability will have been identified and
documented at an 
earlier stage, in many cases while they were at school.  However, it is
not 
essential for an applicant's disability to have been identified at
school in order to 
be eligible for DSAs. Nor is eligibility dependant on an applicant being
registered 
as disabled. Care will be needed for applicants whose disabilities have
not 
previously been identified. In such cases, LAs should request an
assessment of 
the disability by a suitably qualified person or body for the purposes
of 
establishing eligibility for DSAs.  

I hope this helps

Ian


Quoting Rebecca Lewis <[log in to unmask]>:

> Does anyone have a medical evidence policy for students with 
> disabilities
> (but not dyslexia). We do not currently have one and I am interested
in 
> whether other universities have rules about what type of evidence they

> will or won't accept. This came up most recently for us when a studnet

> with an eye condition was asked for medical evidence - she provided a
GPs 
> letter which said just that she had this condition - no other
information 
> was given - of course the GP probably knows very little about it
because 
> he would not be involved in any treatment for the condition. We
normally 
> accept a GP letter but this has made me wonder whether we should
consider 
> having a formal policy.
> 
> Thanks
> Rebecca
> 


-- 
Ian Webb
Disability Adviser/assessor
MNADO