Available Support
Type of Support Available for Students with a Disability
- Blind or partially sighted.
- Speech or language difficulties.
- Physical disabilities.
- Medical condition.
- Mental Health difficulties.
- Dyslexia
- Learning difficulties
- Hearing difficulties
- Autism or Asperger syndrome
- Other Needs
If you are disabled or have learning difficulties you may need certain facilities, equipment or support services to enable you to study and do as well as you can. The following give some idea of what you may need. It is not a comprehensive list and the list is not in any particular order.
1. If you are blind or partially sighted you may need:
- Time to get used to the campus.
- Support teacher or support worker.
- Personal reader.
- Course material in Braille, in large print, on tape or on disk.
- Tape or Braille transcription services.
- Handouts and booklists in advance for transcription.
- Tape recorder.
- Scribes, amanuenses or notetakers.
- Explanation of visual aids in lectures (or alternative methods of teaching).
- Arrangements for practical and field work.
- Specialist equipment, e.g. closed circuit television, computers with speech synthesisers, Braille notetakers, and text scanners etc.
- Private study area in library, longer book loans, special arrangements for photocopying.
- Exercise area for a guide dog.
- Good lighting, adequate signs, good colour contrasts on buildings.
2. If you have speech or language difficulties you may need:
- Modified assessment arrangements for any oral exams.
- Textphone (e.g. minicom) at home and on campus.
- Communication aid or interpreter.
- E-mail facilities.
3. If you have physical disabilities you may need:
- Physically accessible classrooms, study spaces, toilets, catering and leisure facilities.
- Personal assistants or mobility helpers.
- Adapted furniture for studying.
- Powered wheelchair, and facilities for charging it.
- Computer - possibly adapted, e.g. for switch operation or voice input.
- High resolution flatbed scanner.
- Typing or transcription services.
- Tape recorder for taping lectures, notes etc.
- Scribes, amanuenses or notetakers.
- Support for practical and field work.
- Alternative exam arrangements.
- Particular travel arrangements.
- Parking space on campus.
- Timetable planning to ensure accessibility and avoid long distances.
- Long enough at mealtimes for medical needs.
- Rest room on campus.
- Well ventilated classrooms if heat leads to discomfort.
- Accessible accommodation if studying away from home, possibly on campus.
- Physically accessible telephones.
4. If you have a medical condition
e.g. epilepsy, diabetes, ME, eczema, sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis or asthma, you may not consider yourself to be disabled, but you may need support or special arrangements in higher education. You may need:
- Arrangements for work if fatigue, stress and effects of medication are an issue.
- Timetable planning to avoid fatigue and problem environments.
- Tape recorder for lectures.
- Arrangements to meet specific dietary needs, e.g. sole use of a fridge.
- Room to rest in on campus.
- Medical support and emergency arrangements.
- Ongoing dialogue with staff if you have a hidden and/or fluctuating condition.
- Contact from staff during any periods of time away from studies.
- Flexibility in attendance and punctuality, if treatments or therapies are tightly scheduled.
- Designated parking space.
- Awareness amongst staff, e.g. porters or college nurse, of your condition.
- Maintenance of confidentiality regarding your condition.
- Specialist or adapted computer equipment, e.g. a monitor without flicker if you have photosensitive epilepsy.
5. If you have mental health difficulties you may need:
- Timetable planning and help with work programme to deal with stress.
- Extra support and help with planning before or during exam and assessment periods.
- Exam officers to be aware that problems may arise during exam periods.
- Support from welfare and counselling staff.
- A named contact to go to for support when necessary.
- Academic staff being clear about what they expect from you.
- Flexibility in attendance and punctuality, if treatments or therapies are tightly scheduled or during times when difficulties are worse than usual.
- A quiet room to rest in.
- Contact from staff during any periods of time away from studies.
- Maintenance of confidentiality about your mental health difficulties.
- Sufficient information and awareness amongst staff who do know about your difficulties to prevent major misconceptions.
6. If you have specific learning difficulties , e.g. dyslexia, you may need:
- Specialist tuition support, e.g. language skills, structuring work.
- Computer or word processor with spell-check.
- Tape recorder.
- Handouts and booklists in advance of classes.
- Special photocopying arrangements.
- Extra time for library book loans.
- Scribes, amanuenses or notetakers.
- Handouts and exam papers on different coloured paper.
7. If you have learning difficulties you may need:
- To be treated with respect as an individual, without staff being directive, patronising or making assumptions about what you know and what you can do.
- Materials in plain English, or with symbols.
- Enough time to make responses.
- Independent advocacy services.
- Specialist staff.
- A support worker.
- Tasks and any changes of routine explained clearly.
8. If you are deaf or hard of hearing you may need:
- Human aid to communication, e.g. sign language interpreter, lip-speaker, speech to text.
- Qualified support teacher or tutor, e.g. for language tuition and concept support.
- Induction loop system in lecture halls and seminar rooms.
- Radio or Infra Red microphone system.
- Textphone (e.g. minicom) – at home, and University.
- Access to a fax machine.
- Access to e-mail facilities.
- Deaf awareness training for people at the University.
- British Sign Language (BSL) classes for people you have a lot of contact with.
- Tape recorder and costs of copy typist for recording lectures met.
- Cost of photocopying materials met.
- Computer or word processor to assist with English, e.g. grammar.
- Flashing light or vibrating pad for fire alarm.
- Flashing bell for hall of residence room.
- Notetakers.
- Local authority support services for deaf or hard of hearing people.
- TV which has subtitles and video which has the capacity to record subtitles.
9 . If you have Autism or Asperger syndrome you may need:
- Immediate access to pastoral support or a particular staff member you can go to with any concern.
- A dedicated support worker.
- Staff to have awareness training.
- Specialist tuition support, e.g. language skills, structuring work.
- Materials in literal language.
- Extra time immediately after group sessions to check that they have been understood.
- Alternative ways of completing team work than group working.
- To have the same information conveyed in more than one way, e.g. verbally and in writing.
- Time to get accustomed to the campus or site.
- Preparation for changes of routine, e.g. around exam time.
10. Other needs you may have include:
- Access to relevant college documents, e.g. Disability Statements, equal opportunities policies, students' handbooks etc.
- Sufficient information and awareness amongst staff and students who know about your disability.
- Staff to act as role models for other students in treating you with respect and offering equal opportunities.
- Adequate financial support to cover any extra costs.
- Access to all college and campus facilities.
- Support and information before and during the admissions process.
- Additional time allowance to complete the whole course.
- Additional time allowance to complete coursework.
- Alternative exam and assessment arrangements.
- Study skills service.
- Specific accommodation arrangements.
- Evacuation and safety procedures.
- Support from local authority services.
- Disabled Students' Co-ordinator or Inclusive Learning Co-ordinator.
- Disabled Students' Representative in Student Union.
This information in this page is extracted from Factsheets available from Skill - National Bureau for Students with Disabilities.
More information is available from www.skill-info.org.uk 