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| Assessment Referral... |
If you have been asked by your LEA / Funding Body to obtain an Assessment of Needs Report then you may complete the Assessment Referral Form and post it to us. Following receipt of this we will contact you to discuss your referral and to arrange an appointment
In addition you need to . . .
1. Read the information available from The Government (Department for Education and Skills - here you will find information and guidance about what is available to you...see:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/students/stu_students_with_d_1.shtml
2. Get evidence of your disability...you should discuss this with your current educational establishment or your Funding Body (usually an LEA) who will be able to clarify exactly what is needed...see: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/leagateway/index.cfm?action=address.list
3. Contact your Funding Body to get a Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA1) application form. Complete this and return it to your LEA with your evidence. Your LEA will consider your application and decide if you are eligible for the DSA. If you are, they will write to you stating that you should get an Assessment of Needs Report and provide you with a list of Assessment Centres in order to do this...see: http://www.nnac.org
Further information about The Assessment Appointment
1. Read the information available from The Government (Department for Education and Skills - here you will find information and guidance about what is available to you...see: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/students/stu_students_with_d_1.shtml
2. The Appointment is likely to take between 1 and 2.5 hours
3. While this appointment is called an Assessment, it is not a test and will not require you to pass anything. Instead, it is a discussion with someone who is experienced in identifying appropriate provision, resources and strategies for you to use in relation to the particular difficulties you experience or will experience on your course
4. At the appointment, your needs and the demands of your course will be discussed. The assessor will aim to agree with you all the equipment and support that you need for your studies.
The assessor will subsequently produce a written report of what was agreed with you, copies will be sent to yourself and to your LEA for their agreement.
The report (sometimes referred to as a 'needs assessment') is used by Local Education Authorities (LEAs), and some other funding bodies, to work out the support they are willing to fund from the Disabled Students Allowances (DSA).
The assessment will also help you and your university or college discuss and agree what it should be doing so that you can get the most out of your course.
5. Many students feel that computer technology would be useful to them. However, there are particular restrictions applying to these and both Access SUMMIT and your Funding Body have to follow strict guidelines from the government (Department for Education and Skills) which sets out the circumstances in which they may be recommended. All recommendations made must be directly associated with a course related need resulting from your disability. In a number of cases this means that we are unable to recommend all the resources you feel would be useful.
In particular...
...we are unable to make a recommendation for a piece of equipment because it is more convenient e.g. a laptop PC may be more convenient for a student but it is not required as a direct result of the student's disability. Similarly, many students would like to be able to run course-specific computer applications on their DSA funded computers, but in many cases such software cannot be justified in relation to the student's disability.
The specific guidance we have received is as follows:-
"Laptop
computers can be more expensive than an equivalent desk top computer. If a
desk top computer is sufficient to meet the student's disability-related
needs, the use of DSA monies to purchase a laptop computer does not satisfy
the requirement of the regulations in that this is not 'additional
expenditure which the LEA is satisfied the student is obliged to incur'.
A laptop should not be approved, for example, when the student states he/she
has insufficient space in his/her accommodation to house a desk top computer
or simply because a laptop computer would be more convenient. When an
assessor feels that the cost of a laptop is not warranted, it is permissible
for a student to use his/her own monies to pay the difference in cost
between a laptop and desk top computer.
If a student decides to purchase a laptop using part DSA monies and his/her
own monies, it should be made clear that any malfunctioning/ incompatibility
with other recommendations and resulting cost is the student's
responsibility.
The laptop computer should meet the specifications set out in the assessors'
report and have enough memory to take account of changing needs during the
course.
However, "there may be occasions when a grant from the DSA is needed to purchase a laptop computer due to a student's disability, for example, a student with a physical disability who has to work from a chair rather than at a desk, a visually impaired student who can touch type in a lecture, a hearing impaired student who can touch type and lip read in a lecture, or a student who has dialysis regularly and needs to have a laptop with him/her.
A further example of when a laptop may be considered is for disabled students studying abroad or attending residential work placements where they need to use special software to write up notes of field trips whilst still on the field trip.
LEAs should always ensure that the need for a laptop occurs because of disability, if necessary consulting with the assessor of course needs and the Disability Officer. LEAs should also recommend that students with laptops should take out sufficient insurance to cover possible loss/damage when the laptop is in transit or used outside their home".
6. A number of funding bodies will allow you to add your own money to those funds they are able to make available to allow you to purchase additional or alternative equipment. For example: it may not have been possible to recommend a laptop PC and so a desktop was recommended and your Funding Body has approved this, but you would still prefer a laptop; your Funding Body may allow you to pay the difference to the supplier to allow you to get a laptop PC.
7. It will be helpful if, before the Assessment Appointment:-
The assessor’s job will be to consider how these difficulties can be addressed through the use of The DSA given those limitations which do apply. There are rules Access SUMMIT and Funding Bodies have to use to help with determining what is and what is not allowed from The DSA...see: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/administrators/doc/Disabled%20Students%20Allowances.doc
8. You may wish to bring someone along who knows your needs well to make sure that all options have been considered during an Assessment Appointment; this is fine. In other cases, parents or advocates may need to accompany you to The Centre and may wish to be involved in the Assessment Appointment; if this is acceptable to you is acceptable to us; but please sort this out before the appointment and let us know if someone will be attending with you. This helps us with room allocations and lets us know what to expect.
9. When you first arrive for your Assessment Appointment we may need to check out some details with you. We may have other Assessments organised so we may need to ask you to wait for a short time while we get everyone sorted out.
10. During the Assessment Appointment it is likely that you will be given the opportunity to try out various resources. The Assessor will need to write some notes to help with writing the report. Some Assessors will type these notes directly into a PC.
11. Following the Assessment the Assessor will write a report which will form the basis of your request to your Funding Body for assistance from the Disabled Students Allowances. The Assessment Report will usually take between one and two weeks to write. It will then be sent to you by Access SUMMIT to check over. Check over the report carefully when you get it to make sure it is accurate, is a fair record of your discussion and has the recommendations you agreed with the Assessor.
12. If computer technology is recommended Access SUMMIT is obliged to specify a supplier. Access SUMMIT, under the direction of the government (Department for Education and Skills - DfES), must specify a supplier recognised by them. These suppliers have satisfied The DfES that they meet certain standards. In most cases, Access SUMMIT specifies our nearest recognised supplier which is Remtek based in Salford. However, we are in no way tied to Remtek and can specify other DfES recognised suppliers as the need arises.
13. Then contact Access SUMMIT to either: agree that the report is accurate and can be forwarded to your Funding Body or to point out any inaccuracies or omissions and negotiate any changes that the Assessor feels are legitimate.
14. If you agree that the Assessment Report is accurate it will be sent to your Funding Body for their decision.
We will usually supply a copy of this to: yourself, your Funding Body, and the Disability Advisor at your university (unless you advise us otherwise).
Access SUMMIT has no control over this decision or the length of time the decision takes but we suggest that if you have not heard anything from your Funding Body within three weeks after the Assessment Report has been sent to them you should phone or e-mail the person dealing with your request at your Funding Body using the contact details on the front of your Assessment Report.
15. Occasionally Funding bodies ask Access SUMMIT for more information or clarification about a particular recommendation. We try to deal with this as quickly as possible but if it does happen the final decision will be inevitably delayed.
16. Your Funding Body will consider the report and advise you of their decision. You should NOT order any equipment until advised to do so by your Funding Body or you may end up paying for it yourself.
17. Unfortunately, no assessor cannot make 100% accurate judgements about what will and what will be appropriate, and so you will need to take some responsibility for thinking carefully about the options and trying things out. It may be the case that the resources/strategies agreed upon in the assessment do not work out, in which case it is possible to consider alternatives and ask for further funding.
18. If, after reading this, you have any queries about the Assessment, please contact Jonathan Spicer (Assessment Co-ordinator) on 0161 275 0999 or Email assessments@access-summit.org.uk