Meeting their needs through accurate justification

1. The increase in complex students
- meeting their needs through accurate justification
- with particular reference to CFS/ME, ASD and Dyspraxia
Lizzie Sherwood
Team Leader
Exeter Access Centre

2. AIM :
supporting complex students
through …
• Assessor best practice
• Matching technology accurately
to students’ needs
• Accurate justification

3. ACKNOWLEDGING LIMITATIONS
OF THE SYSTEM
and attempting to find ways of
• altering
• conveying
• reducing
PROCESS FRUSTRATIONS

4. Improved Communication
Graham Tranter – roving ambassador for SFE
• How the DSA Teams are structured
• Problems with electronic file attachments
• 42,000 applications supported this year
• 30% increase on last year
• 18-22,000 invoices per month
E-mail:
Graham_Tranter@slc.co.uk

5. Which DSA TEAM does what ?
Team 1 – Eligibility
Team 2 – Entitlement
Team 3 – Response
– Assessors key contact
– the recent Pilot was aiming for a
72 turn-a-round for queries
– DSA Officers to phone the assessor direct
rather than create a succession of e-mails
Team 4 – Invoices
Team 5 – Student Claims

6. I wear many hats too !
• Study Needs Assessor for the DSA
• Keeping up to date with changes
• SFE’s working practice
• Access Regulations
• Accessible technologies
• Team Leader for the Exeter Access Centre
• Monitoring the increase in queries
• Follow-up with SFE
• Supporting my team of assessors

7. • Specialist Teacher Diagnostic Assessor
• Maintaining PATOSS accreditation
• Specialist Tutor
• supporting students
• Fitness to Study meetings
• supporting staff
• finding work-place solutions
• supporting colleagues
• including team development
• Harassment Adviser Network

8. Family
Combined interests
experience of
in science, technology
a range of
and teaching
disabilities
Professional
experience
and
focused
career development

10. The process
Assessor Describing the
‘best practice’ impact of disabilities
and accurately
keeping up to date - especially with
with innovation Co-morbidity
Accurate and often Matching
EXTENTIVE technology
JUSTIFICATION accurately to the
is essential student’s needs

11. FIVE YEARS AGO
• 80% Dyslexia
• 10% Other SpLD mixtures
• 1% Autistic Spectrum
• 9% Physical and complex mixtures

12. My current range of assessments
• 30% Dyslexia
• 25% Other SpLD mixtures
– Mostly Dyslexia with Dyspraxic difficulties
• 10% Autistic Spectrum
– Most often with ADHD or Dyspraxia
• 35% Physical and complex mixtures
– 10% of these are Dyslexia and CFS/ME

13. Super-Specific SpLDs
Working Memory problems
Susan Gathercole and Tracy Packiam Alloway
http://www.york.ac.uk/res/wml/SG.htm
NOT YET recognised for DSA
Needs to be described as
Specific Learning Difficulties
with pronounced
Working Memory Deficit

14. C0-MORBIDITY
We understand the conditions individually
BUT
• Do we consider the ‘overlap’ enough?
• How do we gain this experience / knowledge?
• How do we best explain this to DSA officers?

15. Creating a Venn Diagram
often adds to clarity

17. An unusual Co-morbidity
Dyslexia Severe Haemophilia A
• Auditory short-term • Needs to be aware of
memory vulnerability (particularly
• Slower speed of processing damage to legs)
• Organisational difficulties • Sight weaknesses / eye
• Slower reading ability strain / vulnerability
• Slow writing speed • Prone to spontaneous
• Need for extended bleeding into his joints
deadlines • Time for Factor VIII
• 25% extra time in exams infusions three times a
• Need for study support for week
planning • Coping with pain

18. Additional impact
• Time management
• Heightened anxiety
• Increased fatigue
• Often unable to leave room
• Less interaction with fellow students
• Lower-self-esteem
• Occasional bouts of depression

19. Do I need to prioritise one disability more than
another to provide the best support?
SOMETIMES
However, it is essential that all the needs are fully
covered in the NAR justifications for technologies
– especially new technologies
Especially in negotiating the ‘tablet’ jungle!!

20. First attempt ...
In conjunction with her iMAC, xxxx should have an iPad2 for when she has to remain
in bed due to fatigue. This will ensure that she can still read books in ‘pdf’ format,
access her e-mails and lecture notes on-line. She will be able to synchronise time
management tools such as Calendars and use the TextHelp App that is an add-on
to her copy of TextHelp on her desktop computer. It will prevent her from being as
far behind in her coursework and reduce her anxiety, thus aiding her
concentration.
• As her typing skills are good she should have an iPad2 with a small fold-a-way
keyboard to enable her to make notes and transfer these quickly to the
compatible computer in her accommodation. This will save her time and energy
as she will not need to type up hand-written notes or carry files, paper or books.
• Without an iPad2 and portable keyboard this student would be advised to have
note-taker support. The cost of note-taker support for 10 hours of lectures a week
for a minimum of 24 weeks would be £6,000 an academic year.
• Not only is the iPad2 more cost effective in this one situation, it also allows the
student independence and has significantly more academic uses – as a diary and
organizer, as an alternative to carrying books and paper, as a means of researching
and essay writing on campus and as a means of studying when they need to rest in
bed in their accommodation.

21. Take TWO !!
As an assessor who evaluates the needs of many students with the combination of
Dyslexia and Chronic Fatigue /ME as a disability, I am concerned at the seeming
lack of understanding regarding students with a SpLD and a serious physical
disability. However, I appreciate that unless one is supporting students with co-
morbidity (two or more disabilities) on a daily basis it is not always easy to
understand just how disabling
Dyslexia complicated by Chronic Fatigue /ME might be.
Firstly, with Dyslexia alone, everyday tasks and study take significantly
longer to complete. With CFS/ME as well, the time available to work
effectively is limited by overwhelming fatigue. As I have suggested in the
past, it is not just a case of having a cup of tea and resuming work in 20
minutes - it is essential that work it carefully organised around planned
rest periods to ensure maximum productivity. To over-ride this strategy and
try and work the same hours as other students would cause a build-up of
tiredness that might prevent xxxx from working for two or three days.

22. there's more ...
NOTETAKING
Part of affecting a strategy for xxxx is linked to note-taking. A digital recorder may be a
proven strategy for many students but not all. To record lectures and listen again
to full lectures and then type notes is a time-consuming and energy sapping
strategy. xxxx does not have time or energy to spare - she also has the advantage
of excellent typing skills. So it would be most effective for her to type notes in
lectures. An iPad is the ideal tool - it is very light-weight, it has a long battery
life. xxxx has not got the stamina to return to her accommodation during the day
if she has gaps between her lectures - she needs to work in a quiet place on
campus - not always with access to an electrical socket. Then, when she does get
home she can sleep and work again when recovered. The cost of an iPad is not a
lot more than a good digital recorder bundle and Audio-notetaker as an editing
tool. Furthermore, when the cost of training on how to use the recorder with
audio-notetaker is added in, the combined cost is substantially more than an iPad.

23. and yet more ...
Over a period of time ‘note-taking’ tools have progresses. First of all it was a small
tape recorder, then 'Dictaphones' with mini tapes, then mini-disc players with
fiddly mini-discs to label - along-side these were PDAs for students who wanted to
link notes to their computer; then came the digital recorder. The art of taking
notes in lectures is evolving - we cannot ignore excellent technology that enables
the more disabled students, especially if it is also cost-effective.
Digital recording is just one strategy and if it is not an appropriate strategy the student
will soon abandon the equipment which is a total waste of funds. A full
assessment should be tailored to the needs of the individual student. xxxx does
not need to carry around a laptop – in fact she would be exhausted carrying
around any laptop. She needs a very light-weight portable device that can give her
note-taking support and internet access
Even a lightweight laptop (barring a MACbook Air) is more than twice the weight of an
iPad. xxxx would also need to carry a bulky battery charger as no full laptop has
the capacity to run for more than a few hours. xxxx could carry an iPad and the
portable keyboard in a typical handbag. When she gets back home she can
immediately connect her iPad and up-load her notes to her main computer while
she sleeps or eats.

24. and finally !
xxxx's fatigue gives her severe headaches and she needs a large screen for processing
her work. If she had a lightweight laptop - with standard ergonomic connectivity
she would also need an external monitor to minimize eye strain, especially when
reading pdf documents and when using Texthelp to proofread documents. This
would add to the cost of her laptop equipment. xxxx's English course demands
accurate proofreading - unlike a student on, for example, a politics course - one of
the learning outcomes of all modules is accurate proofreading skills and well
structured writing. For someone with Dyslexia and CFS this is a very time-
consuming process; hence they need the most efficient and familiar integrated
system to facilitate their studies.
I would suggest that even with this support xxxx's productivity levels will not be equal
to her peers because her speed of processing is reduced by her Dyslexia and her
need to take rest breaks - when a student has multiple disabilities their problems
are compounded and the impact of a severe headache from looking at a small
screen could prevent xxxx from working for a whole day. She does not have the
physical resources to shrug-off a headache, it just becomes another hurdle - so
prevention is better than cure.

25. An increasingly
common combination
Dyslexia
More
vulnerable
CFS/ME

26. An increasingly
common combination
Dyslexia CFS / ME
• Auditory short-term memory • Vulnerable to infection
• Slower speed of processing • Increased fatigue when
• Organisational difficulties reading –
headaches/migraine
• Word reading efficiency
• Compromised intellectual
• Word decoding efficiency
ability
• Slow writing speed
• Reduced performance skills
• Slow oral reading speed
• Poor concentration
• Poor phonological processing
• CONSTANT need for
• Poor spelling extended deadlines
• Need for study support (embarrassing)

27. Significantly more vulnerable
• Heightened anxiety
• Stresses over changes to schedule
• Tendency to OCD
• Often unable to leave room
• Embarrassed that she has to refuse parties
• Lower-self-esteem – doubts her place at University
• Doubts her ability (which is high-average)
• Occasional bouts of depression

28. Chuckie
- a particularly needful combination
ASD /
Aspergers
Life
in the overlap
Dyspraxia

29. A particularly needful combination
- exceptional verbal abilities
ASD / Aspergers Dyspraxia
• His exceptional verbal abilities put • Poor non-verbal reasoning
pressure on him to over-achieve • Poor directionality – sometimes
• Dislikes being interrupted – has sudden terror attacks if he has
tendency to create a one-way to go somewhere where he might
dialogue get lost – even on campus
• Misjudges social cues • Other poor spatial/motor skills
• Need for advance warning of • Poor sequencing of ideas
changes to time-table • Poor spelling
• Finds touching difficult - has to • Slow handwriting
travel 1st Class on train • Checks and rechecks all work
• Need for study support for time which is time consuming
management and planning • 25% extra time in exams

30. Life in the overlap
described as ... “bright enough to attempt to change”
• Heightened anxiety
• ASD specialist mentoring to remain calm -
becomes emotional under stress
• Anger/Frustration management - may need to
leave the room without giving a reason
• Dresses for emotional safety
(i.e. Always immaculate - wears a dark suit/shirt/tie – a
barrier, reducing interaction with fellow students)
• Occasional bouts of depression
• Increased fatigue to a state of exhaustion

31. Tommy
A trio of demanding disabilities
High
Functioning
Autism
Partial Sight SpLD
(Blind in right eye)

32. Demanding Disabilities
- has no desire to socialise / interact with the main student body
• Pre-entry orientation support – 6 planned visits
(2 blocks of 3 visits during July/August) with an aim
to improve confidence
• High anxiety about being attacked (cannot see
people approaching on his right side) – has a buddy /
note-taker with him most of the ‘working’ day
• ASD specialist mentoring with study skills –
needs to be delivered by the same person as he
cannot cope with too many support people (this
person also take notes if note-taker is sick)

33. • Super-sensor – hypersensitive to being touched so
cannot travel on public transport alone – has a taxi to
University; cannot listen to the sound of his own voice
– has to have all digitally recorded ideas transcribed
• Few emotional responses – finds it hard to
work in groups - often dismissive of his support
worker – no ‘chatting’ – walks ahead etc
• Occasional depression / self-harming
• Very high levels of fatigue leading to feelings
of despair – emotional outbursts at home (he lives
with his mother who is retired – she occasionally
requests advice)

34. Angelica
Panics at imperfections
SpLD
• Needs study support for time
ASD / Aspergers management and planning work
• Good verbal abilities mask high • Limits her writing to what she
levels of social anxiety – often can spell – hence her work reads
talks too much as if it is written by a much
• Always talks about actual facts younger person
– her course – her volunteering • Becomes sleepy after reading for
interests – never herself 20 mins – needs to improve her
• Misjudges social cues – very reading strategies
trusting of others • Has to complete work in advance
• Need for advance warning of of deadlines so she can
changes to time-table proofread thoroughly
• Her comments are often too • Problems with statistics – always
honest for the girls she lives with worried about dealing with
numbers in general but will ask
for help from tutors

35. The perfectionist
• Worries herself to a state of emotional exhaustion
• ASD specialist mentoring to help her focus – has experienced a
very emotional transition to University
• Easily frustrated by her perceived short-falls – needed study
support to endorse her own ‘good practise’ and suggest new planning
methods – help her Mathematical confidence
• Getting the right balance between academic work and her
organised social commitment – does not socialise as such but
believes in ‘social involvement’, so can get overloaded by valid committee
work and volunteering
• When over-tired she becomes increasingly anxious about
elements of her course – such as practical lab tests that go wrong or
not understanding statistics perfectly
• Life skills – the length of time it takes her to use the washing machine,
go shopping and cook meals often take a higher drain on her time and
emotional energy than her academic work

36. Assessor best practice – personal level
Sharing specialist • with Colleagues
knowledge • with SFE
Good communication • Making the most of the
with SFE/DSA team Response Team
Inviting suppliers to give • 4-6 training sessions
personal training
• Product knowledge
• Improving products
• On going CPD
Understanding your own
learning style • On-line test 

37. VARK
How do I learn best?
http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire
VISUAL
AURAL
READ/WRITE
KINESTHETIC

38. Some sample questions ...
Do you prefer a teacher or a presenter who uses:
• question and answer, talk, group discussion, or guest speakers
• demonstrations, models or practical sessions
• handouts, books, or readings
• diagrams, charts or graphs
• You are not sure whether a word should be spelled
`dependent' or `dependant'. You would:
• find it in a dictionary
• write both words on paper and choose one
• think about how each word sounds and choose one
• see the words in your mind and choose by the way they look

39. MY RESULTS
My scores were:
• Visual: 9
• Aural: 6
• Read/Write: 6
• Kinesthetic: 8
Multimodal

40. Assessor best practice – with students
Explain
– this is not a TEST ! • Students relax and tell
you more
Listen carefully to HOW
the student explains an • Can often pick up
issue another concern, even
another disability
Carefully explain the
process of what • Process help-sheet
happens once the
interview is over

41. DSA Application Process
APPLY FOR DSA
Download the DSA forms online or obtain paperwork from Student Finance England (SFE).
Send form to SFE with medical evidence and /or a copy of an Educational Psychologist’s report.
RECEIVE A LETTER FROM SFE/ BOOK ASSESSMENT
If eligible for DSA – book a Study Needs Assessment with the assessment centre
named in the SFE letter or your nearest centre. They will need copies of all the
evidence sent to SFE and may send you a pre-assessment questionnaire.
STUDY NEEDS ASSESSMENT
This is a discussion with an assessor with knowledge of your disability and the support
needed for your course. The assessor will write a report and send a copy to you.
RECEIVE ASSESSMENT REPORT
Make sure you send back, signed, any forms you receive with your report.
If you don’t, SFE may not receive a copy of your report and support will be delayed.
RECEIVE A LETTER FROM SFE
This will tell you what support SFE has agreed to, from the report. SFE will indicate their
preferred quotation. If you need help with ordering equipment, contact the DRC.
RECEIVE RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT
Contact the DRC Disability Adviser –
to help ensure DSA recommendations are put into place.

42. TOP TIPS
• Learning from students - they know a lot about
their own difficulties, which is particularly useful if
it is something unusual
• Observe the student’s body language – it can give
you clues to what might be appropriate support
– This is also why I think all students should be interviewed
face-to-face
• More pro-active students often have brilliant
solutions that are not expensive and are not on
equipment lists

43. Potential challenges
• Finding out about the facilities available
at a specific University during vacations
• Considering what are ‘reasonable’
adjustments
• Convincing the ‘independent thinking’
student that they need more support
than they consider essential

44. Process frustrations
• E-mailing SFE and just getting a computer
generated reply
• Indicating a ‘preferred quote’ with well-
reasoned evidence to support the choice
and having it ignored by SFE
• Not always knowing which quote has been
chosen

45. BIGGEST FRUSTRATION

46. Final thoughts on DSA recommendations !
Assessors are sometimes understandably
reluctant to suggest new solutions
but should persevere.
- Particularly with regard to human support
- New technologies
- Travel alternatives

47. Conclusions
• Every disabled student deserves a
well-reasoned objective assessment
• Theoretically It is the professional
(impartial) balance achieved between
the assessor and SFE that makes this
a fair but arguably too lengthy system

48. Recommended Reading
That’s the Way I Think – David Grant – Routledge
Dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD explained
- ISBN 978-0-415-56464-9
The Passionate Mind – Wendy Lawson – JKP
How People with Autism Learn
- ISBN 978-1-84905-121-7
Aspergirls – Rudy Simone - JKP
Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome
- ISBN 978-1-84905-826-1

49. Contact Information
LIZZIE SHERWOOD
Disability Advice
e.m.e.sherwood@exeter.ac.uk
Specialist Teacher Diagnostic Assessments
lizziesherwood@yahoo.co.uk