Dear Heather

It is not our policy to provide notes in absence for students with mental health difficulties. We have learnt from experience that students who struggle with attending lectures anyway will very happily stop attending altogether if given the notes.

We have a "3 week rule" so that if a student does not contact us to explain their absence and doesn't attend a particular lecture for 3 sessions in a row, we tell them we assume they no longer require support at this time, unless we hear from them. This will usually prompt some action. Sometimes we find out this way that a student has left the course and we are the only ones that know!

Students who have a disability which sometimes prevents them from attending are allowed to have notes in absence taken for them ....if they let us know about their difficulty at the time.

We have had one exception to this and that was a student on the Autistic Spectrum

Hope this helps

Trish Fitzpatrick
Team leader DSWS

Notetaking and PA Services

Text 0777 575 4443
Phone 0115 8484366/4458
Email [log in to unmask]




-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Heather Griffiths
Sent: 15 June 2011 11:23
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: Note takers attending in absence of student

________________________________
From: Heather Griffiths
Sent: 15 June 2011 11:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Note takers attending in absence of student

Dear all

We normally have a policy that our note takers are not allowed to attend in the absence of the student.  One of our Needs Assessors has recently been recommending that a note taker attends every session, even in the absence of the student.  This is primarily for students with mental health issues.  This concerns me and will be quite difficult to justify to our academic staff.  Please can anyone share what policies they have to address this issue.  For example, how many times do you allow a note taker to attend in the absence of the student before you start having discussions about whether the student is on the right sort of course for them etc.  I know each situation is likely to depend on the individual but would be grateful if anyone can share how they address this.

Many thanks

Heather Griffiths
Inclusion Co-ordinator, Disability
Newman University College
Genners Lane
Bartley Green
Birmingham
B32 3NT
email:[log in to unmask]
Tel: 0121 476 1181 ext 2421

________________________________
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