Please help me, i'm not sure what to do!!!!!!!

Looking at disability rights UK they have a section that covers what students might need, but it isn't college specific, so no better than the NAS FE College information.

I've taken items in their list and commented - it shows up how absurd some of these actions are especially at FE - but this is the advice offered by Disability Rights UK:

Immediate access to pastoral support, eg particular staff member you can go to with any concern. --- this could work in a university, and I myself have been that accessible person for someone on the spectrum, and was not that easy when I was teaching or in meetings, and I was helping other students. I cannot see this happen in colleges which are often multi-sited, with small numbers of support staff spread across the different cam,puses which may be in different towns.

Dedicated support worker - --- that is usually a note taker doubling as helper - if you've got the funds to pay for this it is feasible. But Coogeybear's son's experience bears out how eaily it can fail.

Staff to have awareness training ----- sigh....this old cookie again. There's awareness training and there's awareness training. I probably was useful as I both had it and helped with it, and so better understood. I don't think the awareness training packages, even recent ones are up to the job. Also for some silly reason you often find note-takers aren't eligible for awareness training because of their contracts. And you are unlikely to have one person trained solely for autism.

Specialist tuition support eg language skills or structuring work. ---- Now that can be provided in universities, less sure about colleges

Materials in literal language, including exam papers --- now I'm perplexed - is that a notion arising from literal understanding of metaphors. Has this ever been conceived in reality?

Special photocopying arrangements ---- why autism specific?

Digital recorder for recording lectures, notes etc. --- that is a useful facility and FE colleges may do it, There's often an issue about its use in seminars if other students contributions are being recorded.

Extra time immediately after group sessions to check understanding ---- I think that's underestimating the problems of group work. It isn't just an understanding issue

Extra time to read, understand and produce answers in exams ---- so often the solution offered but not necessarily sufficient.

Alternative ways of completing team work  --- sadly that's often what needs to be done, but I don't feel Disability Rights UK understand it enough.

Support worker to act as a mediator for team work --- might work, but what is it Disability Rights UK believe needs mediation?  Again I don't think they have sufficient understanding.

To have the same information conveyed in more than one way, eg verbally and in writing --- you can guess where that's come from - yes it would help, but do they understand why?

Time to get used to the campus or site ----- yes good idea, but why down this end of the list? and just that....?

Preparation for changes of routine eg around deadlines and exam time - ---- I do get the feeling they're trying to respond to the triad of impairments here... are these the only changes of routine likely to arise? What about help with changes of class times or class locations?

Use of a separe room with an invigilator ---- yes often helps

Exam paper written on plain paper in one colour ----- rather sterotypical all comers learning support idea.

Use of a prompter to keep you focussed during exams ----- sounds like a good idea, not sure how it would work. Some students I've known have been allowed to discuss things with a note taker who writes for them, but it is difficult to deploy.

Word processing facilities if motor control is impaired ----- another case of exactly what do they understand....

That's the list, I might have missed one...This is all Disability Rights UK has on autism, as far as I can see. Is it fair for NAS to pass people on to Disability Rights UK?

Any current FE college students (or university students) feel free to comment. Am I being harsh?

Thanks Anil A - Mod for getting this clarification.

I appreciate the funding constraints but am puzzled that NAS should argue this as lower priority. Things have moved on from the notion everything stops at 18 - and the most likely place to find people on the spectrum continuing education post school is a college.

As important though, many people on the spectrum are going to college from 16 which in some ways is an easier environment than school, but the learning support needs to follow.

So for NAS Education Advice to stop at school seems strange. I will look into it, but it is not immediately obvious how far the two links are able to help with autism.

To what extent, rather than passing people on to these organisations, has NAS ensured that these organisations are fully briefed on autism needs?

And is it approporiate to have a website section on being a student at FE college, albeit rather standard, if you aren't making it clear your support doesn't extend to colleges, and that people need to approach other organisations.

Thanks

Longman, I asked for a bit of clarification on this and I got this back from our helpline team. I can make campaigns aware too. 

We fully appreciate your comments and concerns and they have already been forwarded to the service’s manager.

As a charity with funding and other constraints  we have to make many very difficult decisions about which services we can afford to provide and which ones we can't. As a result there will inevitably be limitations to what we can provide and it can be frustrating for us too as we would love to be able to provide every service and support an individual requires. Where that’s not possible we do our best to ensure that individuals are signposted to other services and organisations that can help  and, in the case of Further Education, there are already excellent services who are able and willing to provide advice and support to people with autism .  That said, we are currently exploring whether we can extend our service to include further and higher education rights and entitlements but it will take time to  raise the funds to do so, develop our own understanding of the legal and technical issues in  this complex area of law, and train our advisers. Until then please do contact the services we mentioned as they are already fully trained experts in this area of law.

Anil A - Mod this issue needs to be flagged to campaigns to get ministers to resolve this issue.

It is no use having a capacity to intervene for schools and a capacity to intervene for universities if because of legal difficulties NAS cannot advise on colleges. Many students with autism use colleges to bridge between school and university or to obtain qualifications to go into work.

I'm astonished a situation like this exists. Many people on here have had difficulties with support in colleges - NOW NAS tells us their helpline cannot cover colleges because of legal differences.

That is unjust and unfair.

Hi Coogybear

I believe they emailed you. They've recommended you contact Disability Rights UK & the Equality Advisory Service, as the helpline doesn't cover colleges due to differences in the law covering further education. 

http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/how-we-can-help/helplines/disabled-students-helpline

Have you been able to contact the college principal? I think the fact your son is only 16 should make it imperative that they act responsibly, and it may be your best way forward.

Colleges don't act like a company where there might be a clear pecking order, or a school where the head has a hand in affairs down to classroom level. The Principal will be rather remote from student matters (high level financial decisions, posturing etc) assuming the matriculation and teaching is happening independently. There will be someone in charge of student services in charge of someone looking after a learning support team.

Pointing out serious unfair practice should jolt the Principal into action. But the line managers in student services wont want him or her to know anything is amiss, and the system will generally try to stop you reaching the Principal, because if he gets annoyed it has bigger implications (re-organisation, jobs on the line, etc)

What I suspect happened to your son is a line manager realised he had allowed a stuation to develop (failure to provide agreed support) and took very unfair action to save his butt. But he won't be so cocky if the Principal takes your side.

Seems a shame NAS has let you down like this. There does seem to be a very beaurocratic infrastructure in NAS that doesn't cross refer well.

Coogybear - I've been in touch with our education rights team and I understand they've provided some contacts I hope you find useful. 

The Government ought to be supporting this but colleges if they come under the Local Education Authority may be down to a Local Government intervention.

I looked for the Government pages and found www.ndirect.gov.uk/disability-support-at-college which only seems to apply to Northern Ireland!?!? What a muddle....

A less directly helpful option seems to be www.gov.uk/.../education-rights seems to be just school related. This is the trouble - the present government has meddled and fiddled with everything in the four years it has been supposedly directing recovery, and now nothing works properly. I suppose putting things back together again was not on the curriculum at Eton.

But then the NAS guidelines on FE colleges just parrot a standard format with nothing specific to what actually happens in colleges.

Another option might be National Union of Students http://www.nus.org.uk/, but while they talk about rights to financial support there's not much about day to day practicality.

The Children and Families Bill (is it law yet? - February it was to be) is supposed to take effect from next September, so not much help in the current situation. www.gov.uk/.../further-education-learning-difficulties-and-disabilities-reforms

That might be why colleges are being lazy about things, they'll have to improve soon but can be rubbish for now.

The Association of Colleges http://www.aoc.co.uk might be one way to voice a complaint, as they represent the Governors of colleges 14-19 age group. But this is one of those hilariously secret non-transparent organisations - almost everything on the site is "Access Denied" unless you have a password, so I wouldn't expect much. Such organisations are almost invariably totally useless to the public. But they were supposed to have had a conference 5th December on Learning Difficulties and Disabilities. If you know anyone who has the password.........

However something possibly related to this is posted on a pdf file at Council for Disabled Children website www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/.../countdown-to-change-fe-final.pdf  You might have to go via the main website.

It does look like they are going to have to consult more, but looking at the slow progress over the Autism Act implementatiomn, this might take years!

Most colleges make it a little difficult to contact the principal. You should be able to phone the college number and ask but you will likely be deflected to an underling who can only take a message, and whoever gets back to you wont be the principal, but someone fairly junior and unable to comment.

If you look under "about" in their home page it should tell you about the mission statement, or a statement from the principal about the aims and objectives of the college. Sometimes there's a link to a personal email address and/or phone number off such notices, or somewhere closely related you should be able to get a direct contact number for his secretary or a senior administrator.

i WILL ATTEMPT TO CALL BUT I'M NOT SURE WHO TO ASK. mY SON HAS BEEN FAILED THROUGH LACK OF PROVISION AND IT SEEMS NOW THATS BEEN CHALLENGED, THERE Is AN ATTEMPT TO COVER UP THE SHORTFALLS.

A complete disgrace and a clear disregard for the support of a students needs, as well as a clear abuse of of his vulnerability. :(

By "attempted" I meant I'd successfully posted, just I'm quite non-plussed by what has happened. You do need to seek legal advice.

As I said before its clearly a bent college. But seems "bent" is the new order of things.

NAS needs to get involved.

I'm not sure why you cannot comment on the earlier thread I have mentioned no names or implicated a specific area. Have i been blocked????

Can you explain OP?

I cannot comprehend Their actions! My son is distrought, now realising he should have refused to sign, 

Tell you the truth i'm pretty distressed myself.

Can NAS advise? I FELL SO LOST!

:(

Have attempted a reply under original thread. But NAS needs to come in on this. Also other forum participants need to come in on this and pass comment.

The college in question seems to me morally unsound - perhaps questions need to be asked about how it is being governed. But obviously this is an individual incident with issues that concern OP and the college on behalf of his son.

I just don't comprehend an FE college that conducts itself like this. 

I guess they've recognised they could be in legal trouble after yesterday's meeting, made a rush job at closing all loop holes and liabilities by coercing your son to sign off or complete any gaps. Not the slightest interest in his welfare. Just their own sorry unprofessional and disgraceful hides....