Dear Penny,
Interesting idea about the DIY marketing. It could be started almost instantly
using a free wiki, or Facebook, combined with a viral email campaign. However,
I can see that marketing services in the way you describe would not fulfil the
existing or proposed SLC-DSA needs assessment completing instruction which
says:
“In Section E-1 support provider contact details should be provided. Both the
student and funding authority should expect to see full contact details for any
suggested supplier documented clearly. In this instance there is an
expectation that such organisations would ensure that CRB checks are
undertaken, health and safety is observed and that a clearly defined
complaints procedure is available.”
The list per se would not be an ‘organisation’ so individual practitioners would
have to gather the CRB, the evidence of health and safety and the complaints
procedure. Perhaps a template or set of instructions could be created to
provide individuals with an indication of the baseline requirements – then if
they are asked for a quotation the quote would include the information about
complaints procedure and so on, and a service decsription (the qualification
can be in there too, I am just thinking here of elements missing from your
proposed NMH noticeboard).
Amanda
Dear Colleagues,
A request for tutorial support has just been put to me for a student presenting
with SpLD (dyslexia) , as an assessor.
The proposed provider is a large company - a big mover now moving into
specialist learning support. The costs quoted are £300 set up fee, plus £66 for
a risk assessment ostensibly in order to work in a student's home.
The student, when asked, didn't know anything about working at home. What
she had agreed with the tutor was to meet at the British Library because
there are no rooms at the University.
There are no grounds to agree to this, and such a request trivialises the
situations where there is a real need that warrants exceptional and expensive
arrangements.
The student says that she has not had any support so far, as there is no one
available at her university. She is now just a few months from the end of her
course, and she came to see me originally almost 2 years ago.
Clearly, we have to do some joined up thinking as a sector here, and quickly.
This is not rocket science. Isn't it time we had a website for the sector for
non-medical helpers, where practitioners could list their qualifications,
experience and contact details, so that students could go there and find
support in their area when the University disability service is not able to place
a student directly. There is a need for a fall back position, otherwise, the
system becomes prey to either cynicism or gross misjudgement and loss of
perspective.
What can universities do to make suitable accommodation available for these
encounters?
What can ADSHE do as a key professional organisation in this field of work?
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