Disabled Students Allowance
A few weeks ago I was approached asked by a parent what support I will get at university. Anyway, I thought it best to explain exactly what I am hoping to get for my time at St Andrews, via the medium of Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)
DSA is separate from the standard student loan/grant type thing from the government and is not based on your parents’ income. However, like the loan/grant, it does involve a lot of tedious paperwork. Anyway, the DSA itself comes in four parts: General, Equipment, Non-medical helper, and Travel, although Travel is rarely granted.
OK, so what goodies can you get from the equipment allowances? Well, the maximum amount is £5000, but you aren’t given this to go and buy whatever you like with, you have to go through the government. They have a company who go out and buy the equipment for you, but they will only buy certain items. For example: they have two laptops available, one a small tablet laptop, and the other a large Mac Notebook. You can’t just go to PC world and pick out the one you most like the look of!
Anyway, I think the best way to do this is to tell you what I will hopefully be getting and why I am getting it.
Tablet laptop – I am getting this firstly because my hand writing is not even legible to me, but also because I need somewhere to run various bits of software (also obtained with my DSA). I have asked for the tablet one because it is portable, but also because I can draw diagrams on it easily, which I think I will need for psychology. I also went for this because I didn’t need the high graphics available with the mac notebook.
“Dragon Naturally Speaking” – this is a nifty piece of dictation software, which I found was surprisingly accurate. I was not intending to get it, but the people who did my assessment advised me to ask for it. They think that I may find it easier to dictate essays and the software won’t spell every other word incorrectly (even though Microsoft Word can find many of my errors). However, I think the main advantage for me will be that the software can keep up with me. As you may know, I think very fast, and that is why my handwriting and spelling are both poor. Even my typing (which is very fast) cannot keep up with my train of thought. Thus I am constantly having to slow down. However, I am hoping that Dragon will allow me to write at the pace my mind wants to go at.
Mind Mapping software – the one thing I have always hated about being unable to write clearly is that I cannot do mind maps. I have tried various free programs but none have been any good. However, I am hoping that this will allow me to finally do mind maps which, when I have done them, have proved very useful (if very illegible).
HP IPac – a personal organiser. This may well be a life saver. My organisational skills are, at best, poor. It was only a few weeks ago that Dad told me I had a talk to do in a few days – I had totally forgotten! I have tried many methods – using computer software (too bulky to carry around a laptop and fire it up every time someone asked me to go somewhere), a small pocket sized diary (too small), a larger diary (too big to carry in my pocket so I only have it when I have my bag), the basic software on my phone (too simple) – none have worked. I have had a little play with the IPac, and I think I have finally found a good solution.
Voice recorder – although I can take some notes in lectures, they tend to be limited to bullet-point format. I cannot take down everything that is said – I find it hard to listen, write and learn at the same time. So the idea is that this voice recorder records the lectures for me, and when there are key points, I put them on the laptop, along with any diagrams. I then match them up and archive them so I have something to revise from.
There are also a few other bits and bobs, like a larger Bluetooth keyboard for the laptop, a laptop stand, some filing cabinets, a printer/scanner etc. There are plenty of other things you can get that I have not mentioned. But what I have set out here are the most commonly asked for items. If there is something you need that is not on this list or you think is a bit unusual, don’t panic, although I have had limited experience with them, they seem very amenable.
The non-medical helper is self explanatory, the only bit to add is that it is £20,000 per year, and again, you don’t get this money, it is organised via the government (untrusting aren’t they?)
The general allowance is to cover anything else. For me, this will cover things like a small book allowance, printer cartridges, paper, some money towards accommodation: basically anything that I can justify as an extra expense because of my Asperger’s. So I will hopefully get some money towards accommodation because I would not be able to cope in anything that wasn’t en-suite, catered and private.
The Travel Allowance is very hard to get and most people don’t receive any. You are only entitled to it if your disability means you have to travel a lot or it is very expensive for you to travel.
Anyway, I will leave it there – I could go on for pages more, but this is the gist of the allowance.
Joshua – “Disabled” student
DSA is separate from the standard student loan/grant type thing from the government and is not based on your parents’ income. However, like the loan/grant, it does involve a lot of tedious paperwork. Anyway, the DSA itself comes in four parts: General, Equipment, Non-medical helper, and Travel, although Travel is rarely granted.
OK, so what goodies can you get from the equipment allowances? Well, the maximum amount is £5000, but you aren’t given this to go and buy whatever you like with, you have to go through the government. They have a company who go out and buy the equipment for you, but they will only buy certain items. For example: they have two laptops available, one a small tablet laptop, and the other a large Mac Notebook. You can’t just go to PC world and pick out the one you most like the look of!
Anyway, I think the best way to do this is to tell you what I will hopefully be getting and why I am getting it.
Tablet laptop – I am getting this firstly because my hand writing is not even legible to me, but also because I need somewhere to run various bits of software (also obtained with my DSA). I have asked for the tablet one because it is portable, but also because I can draw diagrams on it easily, which I think I will need for psychology. I also went for this because I didn’t need the high graphics available with the mac notebook.
“Dragon Naturally Speaking” – this is a nifty piece of dictation software, which I found was surprisingly accurate. I was not intending to get it, but the people who did my assessment advised me to ask for it. They think that I may find it easier to dictate essays and the software won’t spell every other word incorrectly (even though Microsoft Word can find many of my errors). However, I think the main advantage for me will be that the software can keep up with me. As you may know, I think very fast, and that is why my handwriting and spelling are both poor. Even my typing (which is very fast) cannot keep up with my train of thought. Thus I am constantly having to slow down. However, I am hoping that Dragon will allow me to write at the pace my mind wants to go at.
Mind Mapping software – the one thing I have always hated about being unable to write clearly is that I cannot do mind maps. I have tried various free programs but none have been any good. However, I am hoping that this will allow me to finally do mind maps which, when I have done them, have proved very useful (if very illegible).
HP IPac – a personal organiser. This may well be a life saver. My organisational skills are, at best, poor. It was only a few weeks ago that Dad told me I had a talk to do in a few days – I had totally forgotten! I have tried many methods – using computer software (too bulky to carry around a laptop and fire it up every time someone asked me to go somewhere), a small pocket sized diary (too small), a larger diary (too big to carry in my pocket so I only have it when I have my bag), the basic software on my phone (too simple) – none have worked. I have had a little play with the IPac, and I think I have finally found a good solution.
Voice recorder – although I can take some notes in lectures, they tend to be limited to bullet-point format. I cannot take down everything that is said – I find it hard to listen, write and learn at the same time. So the idea is that this voice recorder records the lectures for me, and when there are key points, I put them on the laptop, along with any diagrams. I then match them up and archive them so I have something to revise from.
There are also a few other bits and bobs, like a larger Bluetooth keyboard for the laptop, a laptop stand, some filing cabinets, a printer/scanner etc. There are plenty of other things you can get that I have not mentioned. But what I have set out here are the most commonly asked for items. If there is something you need that is not on this list or you think is a bit unusual, don’t panic, although I have had limited experience with them, they seem very amenable.
The non-medical helper is self explanatory, the only bit to add is that it is £20,000 per year, and again, you don’t get this money, it is organised via the government (untrusting aren’t they?)
The general allowance is to cover anything else. For me, this will cover things like a small book allowance, printer cartridges, paper, some money towards accommodation: basically anything that I can justify as an extra expense because of my Asperger’s. So I will hopefully get some money towards accommodation because I would not be able to cope in anything that wasn’t en-suite, catered and private.
The Travel Allowance is very hard to get and most people don’t receive any. You are only entitled to it if your disability means you have to travel a lot or it is very expensive for you to travel.
Anyway, I will leave it there – I could go on for pages more, but this is the gist of the allowance.
Joshua – “Disabled” student
posted by Joshua at
10:02 PM
1 Comments:
Josh,
Your blogs are brilliant and an enormous help for me while trying to get appropriate resources/support written into my teenage daughter's statement.
What would be really helpful (if you could manage it without too much hassle) is to be able to have a 'print version' of these.
You are an extraordinarly person already making a huge impact on the autism world even before you qualify as a Clinical Psychologist.
Have a great start at St. Andrews. We'll be thinking of you!
By
Sudu, at 9:34 AM
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