Do further education disability departments receive Autism training?

Largely there is a problem of lost momentum. When the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act first hit universities and colleges, there was panic. If we don't get this right we could be prosecuted or sued, and worse....we could drop down the league tables!

The trouble is very little has happened to institutions that failed to make provision. So we are currently in a new phase where institutions are prepared to gamble a bit (sometimes a lot) that their insurance can cover any prosecutions, in the unlikely event. So provision has been slackening off, and one of the victims, because it is difficult to understand the needs, has been autism.

Institutions that were slow at implementing the DDA have been particularly quick to go into reverse.

The provisions have also been damaged by the confidentiality rules. Institutions were more worried about legal action against them for breach of confidence, and that still holds sway. So staff were informed of a student disability on a strict need to know basis. That often meant staff who really ought to know weren't included in the information,. So a student would believe he/she had told the university they were on the autistic spectrum would then find key staff knew nothing about it.

Worst hit often are the lecturers and tutors. There is a prevalent theory that all you need to do for disabled students is "level the playing field" - hence providing measures supposed to compensate for difference - coloured paper handouts, verdana type face (to avoid serifs even though some people with dyslexia need the serifs), extra time in exams. It was then argued that as the students were now on a par with their peers, the teaching staff didn't have a need to know about them.

Another widespread anomally is that if a student is being taught across several subject areas, only the staff in the principal study area are told; the other subject teachers apparently not having a need to know.

All I can say is that most places are doing a good job supporting disabled students. But the mechanism for dealing with defaulters has largely disappeared. As I say, good subject matter for a NAS awareness campaign

Largely there is a problem of lost momentum. When the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act first hit universities and colleges, there was panic. If we don't get this right we could be prosecuted or sued, and worse....we could drop down the league tables!

The trouble is very little has happened to institutions that failed to make provision. So we are currently in a new phase where institutions are prepared to gamble a bit (sometimes a lot) that their insurance can cover any prosecutions, in the unlikely event. So provision has been slackening off, and one of the victims, because it is difficult to understand the needs, has been autism.

Institutions that were slow at implementing the DDA have been particularly quick to go into reverse.

The provisions have also been damaged by the confidentiality rules. Institutions were more worried about legal action against them for breach of confidence, and that still holds sway. So staff were informed of a student disability on a strict need to know basis. That often meant staff who really ought to know weren't included in the information,. So a student would believe he/she had told the university they were on the autistic spectrum would then find key staff knew nothing about it.

Worst hit often are the lecturers and tutors. There is a prevalent theory that all you need to do for disabled students is "level the playing field" - hence providing measures supposed to compensate for difference - coloured paper handouts, verdana type face (to avoid serifs even though some people with dyslexia need the serifs), extra time in exams. It was then argued that as the students were now on a par with their peers, the teaching staff didn't have a need to know about them.

Another widespread anomally is that if a student is being taught across several subject areas, only the staff in the principal study area are told; the other subject teachers apparently not having a need to know.

All I can say is that most places are doing a good job supporting disabled students. But the mechanism for dealing with defaulters has largely disappeared. As I say, good subject matter for a NAS awareness campaign