Satellite navigation and dyscalculia: reasonable

adjustment under the DSA?  

Dyscalculia and Dyslexia in Higher Education

“Forging the Future”Wednesday 5th April 2006

Edward Herbert Building, Loughborough University

Introduction Case study To protect confidentiality no names or locations

will be given Support was provided following the assessment

in line with the DfES (DSA) guidelines Subsequently a Global Positioning System

(GPS) was recommended The recommendation was approved by the

Local Education Authority (LEA) Student has been successful in using GPS to

support her to gain her degree

What is the Disabled Students’ Allowance?

An allowance to meet the additional costs arising from the combination of impairment and demands of the course

Who qualifies? A student taking a recognised course: eligibility confirmed

by their LEA or Funding body, such as the NHS The disability has been diagnosed by a recognised

practitioner SpLD disabilities include: dyslexia, dyspraxia, AD(H)D,

dyscalculia New regulations from 2007 to ensure standardisation of

recognised practitioners qualifications, tests administered and report style and content.

What does the DSA provide (05/06)?

There are four kinds of financial help: Specialist equipment allowance of up to

£4,680 for the whole course. Non medical helper allowance (up to

£11,840 for full time study; up to £8,885 for part time study).

A general disabled student allowance (up to £1,565 for full time study; up to £1,170 for part time study).

Extra travel costs allowance.

DSA Access Assessment Assessments arranged through recognised

centres Assessor reviews evidence, course

information and student details in advance of assessment

Assessment takes the form of an interview, with an exchange of information

Strategies are discussed during the interview

There will be a demonstration of equipment and software, as appropriate

History and current problems experienced by the student

Details of the course requirements

Evidence provides justification for recommendations in report

Following the interview:

Liaison with other agencies: LEA/Disability officers/suppliers/course leaders

A report is written based on the interview

It is a consultative document for the LEA administering the DSA

The report will make specific recommendations from the 4 categories of funding

A copy of the report is sent to the student before it is sent to the LEA

Reasonable adjustmentAll students can expect to spend money onbooks, photocopying, transport, paper etc.The DfES (DSA) guidelines provides for

Additional expenses the student incurs , due to their disability, by attending their course

Any recommendations must be supported by evidence of need

LEA’s have a duty to ‘gate-keep’ the allowance If the LEA feel the recommendation is not

related to both disability and course, they may decline to accept the recommendations

Case study student: Female, mature student Year 2 of 3-year degree BA Social Care Degree involves 2 long-term

placements of 100 days each During placement she must visit care-

users in their home or at day centres Diagnosis of Irlen syndrome Diabetic

Student reports: Not dyslexic: reading, writing and spelling not a

problem Main difficulty so far: passing level 2 Basic Skills

Mathematics Life long difficulties with number, space, time,

distance, money, left/right confusion Cannot use a watch Does not handle money- hands her purse over in

shops Has one PIN number for all cards Gets very stressed and confused when map-

reading Impossible to map-read and drive

Educational psychologist reports: Diagnosis of dyscalculia Ed. Psy. report notes difficulties with

map-reading, left/right confusion, numbers and sequencing

Performance subtests scores depressed, not in line with verbal skills,16 point difference

WRAT-3 Written Arithmetic at 3rd percentile

Educational psychologist reports (cont): Lowest indexical score was in Perceptual

Organization: Scaled Score of 0. Confirms difficulties with ability to identify fine details and with identifying patterns and sequences

Short-term auditory memory a strength: index score 14, 91st percentile 

This relative strength in auditory memory would suggest that the task of driving a car whilst using a GPS would not overload the auditory working memory

Course details: Course leader confirmed that two one-

hundred-day placements are compulsory During these placements the student

must attend team meetings at a variety of locations

Student must visit service-users in their homes

In order to attend the team meetings and visit the service-users the student must navigate to many, varied locations

Why recommend a GPS? The student contacted CELT concerned

about not being able to find her way to clients

The key factor is that she has to navigate a large number of routes on each placement, which does not allow for familiarity or routine to be established

She had tried alternative support: sharing a car with another student/her tutor travelling with her/map-reading herself

She asked CELT to consider supplying a GPS system

How GPS met the needs of this student with dyscalculia Simple to use and understand Route is established by postcode Student does not need to make any

decisions about route Directions given by neutral, calm voice Clear, visual ,mapping with 3D images

and arrows confirming aural instructions If driver goes off route then GPS quickly

advises how to reposition Reduces stress levels

Is it Reasonable Adjustment under the DfES guidelines? Is it an ‘additional expense incurred due

to her being a student’? Is the support justified due to her

disability? Is the support needed due to her course? Is it reasonable to expect her to be able

to use the GPS efficiently? Will the provision of this support meet her

particular, individual needs under the DfES guidelines?

Without the GPS?How would the student's academic progression

sufferwithout the GPS? She would take longer getting to people's homes

and care team meetings (time others could use for preparation/private study)

She would arrive in an anxious state and been less able to perform well on her placements

In some instances, she might have been unable to arrive at all and would have had to extend her placements or miss out on cases that would have been relevant to her coursework.

Recommendation made from Specialist equipment allowance In November 2004,after

serious consideration, CELT recommended the provision of a GPS system to meet this students needs

In December 2004 the LEA agreed this was a reasonable recommendation and agreed to supply this equipment

TomTom Go 300 recommended , today’s price £280.00 approx.

Questions we asked at CELT

Will this start an avalanche of requests for GPS systems?

Will this undermine the perception of the DSA in the mind of the LEA/public?

Is this a unique set of circumstances? A nursing student, for example, would be likely to undertake each of his or her placements on a single site and so it would be expected that familiarity with the route would soon develop. Not so in this case.

Positive factors: Student was keen and pro-active to get the

support Student liaised closely with the Disability

Officer at university to discuss the request The Ed. Psy report gave clear, specific test

results to justify the recommendations The officer at the LEA agreed to the

recommendation, after considering the evidence. He did not dismiss it out of hand.

What the student says today: Fantastic! It has transformed my life Taken away the stress of driving Gives me peace of mind: it talks to

me Took me some time to be confident

that it would get me there but now I trust it 100%

The best bit of equipment I got! I have passed all parts of my course

References: Disabled Students’ Allowance:

www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport DfES Working Party Report on

Assessment in Higher Education www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dfesreport Forum and review of GPS:

www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/tomtom-go-300-reviews.html

Questions & Answers

Sue McKennaSM9@soton.ac.uk

Centre for Enabling and Learning Technologies (CELT),University of Southampton, HighfieldSouthampton SO17 1BJCelt@soton.ac.ukTel: 020 8059 7233