There's a couple of points here. First, whether or not a student is
eligible for DSA support, if a student has a disability or learning
difficulty the institution has a responsibility to offer reasonable support.
This could be interpreted as meaning that any kind of two-tier system
(determined by external funding) is discriminatory. Offering learning
support as soon as a disability or learning difficulty is established to the
satisfaction of the institution seems the sensible thing to do (while
keeping your fingers crossed that budgets won't be destroyed). The second
point is that there is usually no problem with meeting learning support
costs (through the non-medical helpers allowance) wherever the students is
on the timetable of the course. The restriction is specifically on the
purchase of capital equipment (usually a computer). If an assessment report
recommends support, it should be costed for the academic year and I have
never seen a problem with claiming (or recommending) it retrospectively.
At the same time, students should always contact their LEAs with a filled-in
form and evidence as soon as possible. If they have done so, there is
nothing to stop you contacting the awards officer and explaining what you
are intending to do (or have done) and gaining broad agreement that it is
acceptable. It is also a good idea if you give students details of costings
before they go for an assessment so the assessor can write it up properly.
In short, if students can claim DSA, you should be able to get it. If they
can't, you will still need to support them and should maybe establish a
source of funding within the budget for this.
Regards, Bernard
Bernard Doherty
Assessor
East Anglia Regional ACCESS Centre
Anglia Polytechnic University
East Road
Cambridge CB1 1PT
01223 363271 x2534
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Petrie, Joel" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 3:43 PM
Subject: Very late DSAs
Hello all,
Interested to know how colleagues elsewhere deal with very late DSAs (more
than half of the students I'm working with are yet to have permission from
LEAs to proceed to Needs Assessment, let alone getting hardware / software /
non-medical etc).
We now routinely put support in place in advance of Needs Assessment for
learners with SpLDS / current EPR. Is this common practice, and if so are
institutions able to claim for the support put in place prior to official
go-ahead from LEA?
Thanks, Joel
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