I hope disability officers are actively chasing up all students applying to
start this September and monitoring the progress of their DSA applications.
We're now nearly in July and I haven't seen one student with a serious
physical or sensory disability for DSA assessment yet.
Regarding the online form, I think it was a mistake to remove the word
'ideally' from that section i.e. "and, ideally, how your study will be
affected ... " - because the whole point of the form is to enable the
student to have an assessment to work out how studies might be affected by a
disability.
I also think there is a serious problem with the question in section b in
"DSA information and evidence" - "On what date was your disability, mental
health condition or specific learning difficulty last assessed". Many
students won't be able to answer that question while being perfectly legally
entitled to apply to DSA due to having a permanent disability. They often
won't have had their 'disability ... assessed' in years. End result being
they're unable to remember the date, so can't complete the application form,
resulting in them not applying for support they're entitled to.
Expecting a GP or specialist to assess how a disability will affect studies
(in a ten minute consultation?) or a student with a permanent disability to
remember when it was last 'assessed; could be seen as placing an
unreasonable barrier on accessing DSA and seems to me to go against the
spirit and the letter of the DDA. It's all gone very medical model ...
again.
Ian Francis
----- Original Message -----
From: "swift" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 11:41 AM
Subject: Re: Evidence for the new DSA forms
That wording came from page 25 of the full DSA application form for 09-10:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/EducationAndTraining/HigherEducation/DG_10034900?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=194120&Rendition=Web
It is on page 25 of the acrobat document.
If people have any comments on this it would be great if they could send
general ones to the list, as I know other students who are concerned by
this, and may lurk.
2009/6/17 Maiden, Arnold <[log in to unmask]>
> I would be interested to know where that wording came from as the
> guidance chapters issued by SLC are a little different and state:
>
>
>
> 69
>
> Students who are physically disabled, or have a mental-health condition,
> will need to provide medical evidence of their condition, such as a letter
> from their doctor or an appropriate specialist. Medical evidence should
> state the nature of the student’s disability and *ideally should also
> briefly explain how the student is affected by the disability*. Students
> with a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia will need to provide
> evidence of this in the form of a diagnostic assessment from a
> psychologist
> or suitably qualified specialist teacher (see paragraphs 99-106). However,
> any costs a student incurs obtaining the necessary expert evidence or
> opinion cannot be met from the DSAs. This is because such costs are not
> incurred by the student to attend or undertake their course; they are
> incurred to substantiate their claim for DSAs. However, students might be
> able to receive assistance with such costs from their institutions Access
> to
> Learning Fund
>
>
>
> *Arnold Maiden*
>
> *Assessor & Assistive Technology Advisor***
>
> *Disability Services*
>
> *Leeds Metropolitan University - D109CQ*
>
>
>
>
>
> *Arnold Maiden*
>
> *Assessor & Assistive Technology Advisor***
>
> *Disability Services*
>
> *Leeds Metropolitan University - D109CQ*
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
>
>
> *From:* Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *swift
> *Sent:* 17 June 2009 08:50
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Evidence for the new DSA forms
>
>
>
> I see the procedure has changed to SFE, but exactly what medical evidence
> you need seems to have changed too.
>
>
>
> It says you need to provide:
>
> "A written medical statement from a doctor or appropriate qualified
> specialist confirming the nature of your disability or mental health
> condition *and how your*
>
> *study will be affected by it*. It is your responsibility to pay any cost
> in relation to obtaining this."
>
>
>
> The bolded bit has me concerned as in the past the LEA I worked with were
> happy with statements from sixth form specialist teachers/advisors, and
> even
> the NHS bursary people only asked for proof from my GP that I did have the
> condition that they said I did (so I have used literature from 2003 for
> all
> previous applications).
>
>
>
> Does anyone know of any easy literature to explain this to GPs? (so that
> they write enough, but don't feel they are being asked to do the
> assessment,
> as I am fairly sure they would argue that they are not qualified).
>
>
>
> Also, this change seems to affect those with conditions other than SLDs
> more, as the SLD requirement of assesment after the age of 16 has not
> changed, but apparently medical evidence that is post-16 but 6 years old
> is
> not appropriate.
> To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to
> http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm
>
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