Hi Peter,

As I understand it, most HEIs make a distinction between manual and electronic notetaking...and most assessors do as well. That is, the student is recommended to have either manual notetaking or electronic notetaking.

In the case of manual notetaking there is of course no typing up of notes afterwards: the student receives what they have been recommended: handwritten notes. There is no expectation that these will be word processed by someone else.

Electronic notetaking is more expensive (greater skills required) and the student receives electronic notes.

The only time when we would arrange for handwritten notes to be word processed would be if the student had been recommended electronic notes but we were unable to provide these , e.g. because of a sudden timetable change, notetaker cancelling etc. In these cases we would arrange for a manual notetaker to be present or for the lecture to be recorded and arrange for the notes to be typed up or electronic notes made from the recording. (We might check to see if, on the odd occasion, the disabled student would be happy with handwritten notes but for some students electronic notes might be essential, e.g.. A visually impaired student.)

So you can quite happily continue to recommend either handwritten or electronic notes and cost the support at the correct price. 

If a student had been recommended manual notes but it then transpired that there was a need for electronic notes then approval for this change of support would have to be sought from the LA. 

Claire Wickham
Senior Disability Officer
Disability Resource Centre
University of the West of England
Frenchay Campus
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol BS16 1QY
 
Tel: 0117 328 3737
Textphone: 0117 32 83644
Fax: 0117 32 82935
 
Please note that this e-mail was written using speech input and may contain some small voice recognition errors.

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Hill
Sent: 18 February 2008 13:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Note-taking support costs

Hi

(apologies for cross posting)

As a Needs Assessor, I sometimes recommend provision of a note-taker for students with dyslexia.  Institutional charges vary but, for the most part, they are about £16 per hour.  I've recently been asked on a couple of occasions to increase the recommendation to allow extra time for word-processing the notes.  I've been informed, too, that some organisations recommend an hour for typing up for every hour of note-taking.

In the case of a student attending 15 hours of lectures per week, this could cost £480.00 per week (£16 x 30) or £14,400 per year (for a 30 week course).  I've always operated on the assumption that the hourly rate includes typing up and I'm uneasy about this development - not least because the potential costs are well in excess of the normal maximum for Non Medical Helpers Allowance.

Has anyone else encountered this.

Regards

Peter

-- 

Peter J Hill

Tel: 01905 391 547
Mobile: 07751 792711

Email: [log in to unmask]


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