Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello
Has anyone had success applying for student finance - especially the disabled student allowance? My son was diagnosed as Asperger's aged 5 and since then had no professional contact as we have just got on with life. It's clear university will bring huge changes and he is going to need help once there - he's moving approx 3.5 hours journey away.
Student finance say they need a professional letter stating how his autism affects him day to day.
Any advice gratefully received.
Does your son have an EHCP? If so, this is valid for his further education. Just send a copy of the EHCP and the latest review. If not, which is more likely for a more academically able student, maybe the SENCo at his school (or equivalent at FE College) could write a brief letter explaining his issues and accommodations. Does his school have a dyslexia specialist teacher? A letter from them would be very useful. I realise we are in the summer break now, but the application for DSA can be made after he has started uni and the Learning Support Team or whatever they call it where he is going will be able to help. When I was uni I had a report from a clinical psychologist confirming my ADHD. (I was not diagnosed as autistic at the time) I had a short meeting with a specialist from Learning Support, and they wrote something. But that was 25 years ago and things may be different now.
When I was at uni doing my social work course I got DSA to pay for a set of books so I could mark them up and annotate them, and some help with a new computer when my old one died. He can also get a mentor to work with him. Other people have mentioned mind mapping software, which is useful. I recommend all my students to get Grammarly - this checks spelling and grammar, and there is a free version and a slightly more functional paid version. Try the free version first. Maybe look at software which keeps track of references and citations. Some will actually put them in the required format, e.g. Harvard or APA ready to cut and paste into the reference list.
There are a lot of utilities in MS365 or Office that help neurodivergent students (and lecturers) - I use the Outlook calendar and the ToDo function, together with the same app on my mobile phone. Some people find MS Notebook helpful ... I use it occasionally but could probably make better use of it if I am honest.
Ian said: Some people find MS Notebook helpful ... I use it occasionally but could probably make better use of it if I am honest.
It is excellent when you have a touchscreen and stylus.
I use a Surface Pro with a stylus and it is great to make freehand notes, draw stuff and pull other text / doc / images / videos etc into one file - so it represents how my mind works in some stages of a project.
Its a shame the laptop is quite breakable though.