Educational adjustments for daughter

mokki

Hi everyone,

My daughter passed college due to no exams only coursework, however to attend university she had to pass English which she took for 5 years and failed, she had diagnosed dyslexia and dyscalculia and a recent referral for autism. She passed her English only due to Covid and the way the college tested, on coursework instead of exam. She is now in uni and failed the first year on the exam, her whole coursework modules she excelled at. We are now asking for her to have an adjustment, however they always see the word dyslexia and offer extra time which has proved ineffective in the past. They have asked what adjustment would she like, reason for this, and link to her disability. I was wondering if anyone had any advice how to word it as they only accept certain terminology and maybe decline if they don’t deem the adjustment acceptable.

Thank you

forgoodnesssake

Sorry to hear that the university, or at least the department, seems to be so rigid. In fact they have a lot of scope for adjustments, as long as in the end the student demonstrates a good enough grasp of the subject. My son (quad CP, AAC user etc) graduated from a "red brick" Uni with a maths degree last July and actually he took much longer than the usual 3 years plus he did his exams over extended periods and often in his own room where all his IT/At was set up, plus he often used a screen reader. Maybe they were an exception but the department bent over backwards to give him the best chance of succeeding, and that does sometimes mean thinking outside the box! Certainly wasn't aware of them ever only accepting certain terminology. Some school exams officers can be very like this and the ofqual exam regulations, which are tweaked very summer, can also be over prescriptive. As far as i know Universities/Higher Education is not fenced in like that and certainly Ofqual do not oversee HE as far as I know.

I know you said that just extra time was not really an answer, and it isn't: there should be reasonable adjustments such as large or different coloured print, maybe the option of a scribe, or a reader, human or otherwise. It will depend a bit what the actual subject is but the Uni will have a student disability team and they should also help with this. Good luck

mokki

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1089218#Comment_1089218

Thank you so much for your insight,

Yes the university have a disability team but unfortunately all these departments have to be accessed online and they never respond. Apparently it’s due to the lack of funding. I appreciate your thoughts though.

Kimi87

I'd recommend contacting Disability Rights UK who have a Disabled Students Helpline.

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/disabled-students-helpline