The AHEAD Response to the Review of the Fund for Students with Disabilities

One size does not fit all

June 2012

Recommendations
  1. Comprehensive research should be commissioned into the effectiveness of the fund in supporting students with a range of disabilities in higher education and into the relationship between accommodations, supports and educational outcomes.
  1. The NAO could consider reviewing the funding allocated to creating alt. textbooks and look at the efficiencies in developing a centralized Alt.Text Service which would have responsibility for the creation and provision of alternative text across the sector including liaison with publishers to acquire textbooks in accessible formats and for producing alt. materials.
  1. The Fund recognises in its allocation to categories of students with disability and specific learning disabilities that there is a huge disparity in resources between the disability support services in the university sector compared with the institutes of technology. The IOT Sectorhas disproportionately more students with specific learning difficulties and is heavily reliant upon the Fund to provide for their supports. Furthermore many institutions are small in the number of participating students and do not benefit from the economies of scale which the larger institutions do when providing support services to students with specific learning difficulties.
  1. The fund should continue to supportthe process of Individual Needs Assessment in institutes of technology as a critical instrument in addressing the needs of students with disabilities and in assuring systematic compliance with equality and disability legislation.
  1. The availability of access to key generic learning skills(including reflective learning skills, written communication, note-taking etc) provided through the fund to students with identified need should continue, these would undoubtedly benefit all students, but students with disabilities and learning difficulties will not survive without them.
  1. Greater encouragement and liaison is needed between different levels of education and events such as Better Options raise aspirations of careers amongst under-represented groups.
  1. The WAM Network is available to share information and learning with staff involved in Placement and Career Services supporting students and graduates to make the transition into work.
  1. An Impact assessment of any proposed changes to the fund should be carried out to analyze the potential impact on user groups such as students with all disabilities and the implications for disability support services within the range of different institutions, one size does not fit all.

Introduction

AHEAD welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Review of the Fund which is being carried out with a view to identifying areas of improvement. Set up by the Department of Education and Administered by AHEAD in 1994, initially the fund supported 50 students in 16 higher education institutions at a total cost of £80,000. It has moved on hugely since then and now supports over 6,000 students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties in higher education. The Fund has played a significant role not only in supporting students, but also in facilitating higher education institutions to build an infrastructure to include students with disabilities and in mobilising positive attitudes them. The basic philosophy of the Fund was that no student who would otherwise gain access to higher education should be prevented from doing so by reason of a disability and this approach remains the central pillar of the Fund.

This document provides feedback from AHEAD to the National Access Officeon the Review ofthe Fund for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education 2012. AHEAD represents most higher education institutions in Ireland, further education colleges, Teagasc and students with disabilities. It will specifically address the questions posed by the NAO in their preliminary Review Document.

Q1: In considering the current model of allocation and the stakeholders experience of the Fund, what is working well and what is not?

The Fund to date has been the sole mechanism for the cost of additional supports for students with disabilities. More importantly has made the difference between success and failure for this cohort of students. In fact the availability of additional funding has enabled the student with a disability to exercise his/her right to an education, there is little point in giving the right to access without the resources needed to engage with the course.

It was established in recognition of the fact that many students with significant disabilities have additional often costly support requirements that do not come under mainstream provision and has been instrumental in the success that has been achieved to date. What is clear after many years of operation is that One Size does not Fit All and that the extent to which a student requires additional supports depends on the interaction of a number of factors including:

  • the nature of disability;
  • level of impact of disability in a learning environment;
  • the capacity of mainstream teaching to meet the needs of the student;
  • the extent to which the course uses technology as an instrument for learning;
  • the demands and culture of the particular course;
  • the experience/expertise of disability of course tutors, the size of disability support services.

In the survey of student opinion[1] students expressed frustration atnot only at the variation of standards of support from one college to another, but that this also varied from one course to another within individual institutions. They identified the need for national quality standards so that a student with a disability who moved from one college to another could rely on a minimum standard of support.

“ Why is the level of support different in every college, it shouldn’t be dependent on whether or not the access Officer etc has all the information?”

Nationally 60% of students who benefit from the fund are students with dyslexia,with 60% of the Fund is allocated to meeting their needs. AHEAD recognises the significant improvements in both the recognition of disabilities such as dyslexia, and the range of accommodations and support structures which have been put in place for affected students in higher education over the last decade. These are essential services and need to be safeguarded in the current economic climate so that these students do not bear the brunt of funding cuts and tightening funding criteria. Furthermore institutions of higher education are obliged to comply with equality and disability legislation by ensuring there is a systematic identification of reasonable accommodations in place to address the individual needs of all students with disability and specific learning difficulty.

1.1 Creation of Alternative Textbooks:

Visually impaired and blind students who require textbooks in alternate formats experience great difficulty accessing textbooks and other materials in real time in comparison to their non disabled peers. The difficulty is that the numbers of students experiencing this difficulty is small and spread across the sector. The NAO could consider reviewing the funding made available to create alt textbooks and consider a centralized model which would have responsibility for the creation and provision of alternative text across the sector including liaison with publishers to acquire textbooks in accessible formats and for producing alt. format materials.

Q2: How can the Fund promote Independent Learning?

Students with disability are not a homogenous group, even within categories of disability and their support requirements will be differences. The current allocation model uses a system of Individual Needs Assessment to identify support needs, as recommended by the National Disability Authority. Yet the decentralization of the Fund together with the increasing numbers of applications has created a trend towards a generalized allocation of supports for categories of students. For example, decisions regarding supports for students with dyslexia are based purely of levels of functional literacy. Thisapproach cannot assure that individual learning needs are met as it as it does not account for the complexity of dyslexia which affects individuals differently, nor does ensure compliance with current legislation. An individualized approach will accurately identify the learning requirements of the student in relation to the demands of the course and signpost appropriate supports and accommodations across all the academic functions.

2.2 Individual Needs Assessment

Generalized allocations of supports represent a blunt instrument and do not address adequately the identification of individual support needs and reasonable accommodations as required by equality and disability legislation. The process of Individual Needs Assessment is a key mechanism for selecting the appropriate supports within the context of the demands of the particular courseand the infrastructure within the institution as the needs will differ significantly depending on the nature and demands of the course. A quality assured needs assessment will provide a pathway to independent learning for the student while an inadequate needs assessment can lead to inappropriate and costly supports. The fund should continue to support Needs Assessment as a critical instrument to address the needs of students with disabilities, thus reflecting the huge variation of resources available within and between higher education institutions. Furthermore there is a proportion of students who have undiagnosed learning difficulties who cannot afford the psychological assessments required for eligibility for the fund, but who require some form of preliminary assessment to determine if there are sufficient indicators of dyslexia to justify a full diagnostic assessment.

2.3 Specialized Study Skills

Students want to be assured of a minimum standard and to know their preferred methods of support will be respected. The first year of student experience is crucial to retention and the HEA national Strategy [2]recognizes the importance of generic academic and learning skills for all students, for students with learning difficulties they are even more crucial. The Fund has enabled the development of a range of modulescustomized to address the additional difficulties of students with specific learning difficulties experience and to enable them to manage their own learning in an academic environment. These modules are available through the Disability Support Services nationally, re commended by the Dyslexia Association and HADDand include such provisions as:

  • Individual Assessment of Need;
  • The development of specialized study supportskills customized for students with learning difficulties;
  • Independent learning skills and Academic Tuition;
  • Mind Mapping and memorization techniques,
  • Essay writing;
  • The use of ICT and Assistive Technology;
  • The production of alternative format textbooks;
  • Advice on appropriate support to staff throughout the institution.

The availability of access to key generic learning skills provided through the Fund including reflective learning skills, written communication, note-taking etc would benefit all students, but students with disabilities and learning difficulties will not survive without them.

2.2 Sustainable Solutions

It is recognised by the HEA; by the EU in the Bologna Communiqué2009 and the UN convention of Human Rights that mainstreaming supports for students with disabilities means that all academic schools take responsibility for the inclusion of students with disabilities. The finances available to the Fund are static yet the numbers eligible for the fund has practically doubled in three years from 3,099 in 2007/8 to 6,932 in 2010/11. Add to this the fact that the fund is not currently being usedby eligible students within further education,nor is it used by students with disabilities on part time courses, who may become eligible in the future, the current funding arrangement is not sustainable and puts huge pressure on existing services.

What is needed is a sustainable solution that looks to mainstream teaching and learning to be inclusive across the whole institution as highlighted in the HEA National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030. The challenge is to use available resources including the Fund and the Access grant to assure both specialised supports and the quality of teaching forstudents across all academic departments. This means shifting responsibility from disability support to academic departments. This is already happening and there is greater awareness of good teaching and learning practices and genuinely inclusive learning practice amongst academic staff. TheNAIRTL and Lin conferences highlight the increasing flexibility pedagogy and thegreater use of technologyand e.learningcurrently embedded in academic practice. Colleges are increasingly taking a more strategic approach to inclusion and broadening access to supports by installing appropriate software such as Inspiration and TEXT Help Gold in libraries and study areas, and having policies on accessible documents throughout theinstitution. Many institutions offer study support to all students and include provision for students with disabilities within this framework. These mainstream initiatives to promote inclusion can be supported through the Access Grant.

2.3 National Perspective

It must be recognised that there is huge variation in the size, resources and capacity of higher education institutions to mainstream disability supports and that inclusion still presents significant challenge for institutionsthat are at different stages along the continuum. For example the university sector has in the past had the advantage of the Strategic Innovation Funding to develop essential disability services which are nowresourced from mainstream funding. This is not the case inInstitutes of Technology whoare still heavily reliant upon the Fund to provide for essential disability support services. Many smaller institutions cannot benefit from the economies of scale which the larger institutions do in using the Fund.

Furthermore, while mainstream developments can certainly greatly reduce the cost of providing additional supports specifically for disabilities and specific learning difficulties, given the large numbers of students with dyslexia enrolled[3], there will always be a requirement to provide specialised dyslexia supports to ensure the different support needsof students with specific learning difficulties are met within that service. Students want a quality assured service that they can rely on from one course to another; a minimum standard of inclusion. Research should be commissioned into the effectiveness of the Fund in supporting students with a range of disabilities and the relationship between accommodations, supports and educational outcomes.

Q 3: Students with sensory and physical disabilities are under-represented in higher education, they are not accessing courses

Greater encouragement and liaison is needed between higher and secondary schools through events such as Better Options are needed to raise aspirations amongst under-represented groups

  • Guidance Counsellors and teachers in secondary schools need up-skilling to include students with disability in their services/teaching practice.
  • Greater liaison is needed with the colleges of education to bring more people with disabilities into the profession of teaching to provide role models for children with disabilities. In particular, people who use Irish Sign language need access to teacher education.
  • State Examinations Commission policies on reasonable accommodations in examinations and the use of technology in state examinations needs to be reviewed as the policies are inadequate and do not allow students to adequately demonstrate their ability.
  • The NCSE are currently conducting research on the transition of people with disabilities into higher education and will be publishing a research paper on this issue this year.

Q4: Does the Fund reach all students with disabilities who need support?

The fund reaches students on full time funded courses in higher education who disclose their condition and can provide adequate medical verification. There are many students who are outside these categories such as:

  • Students experiencing difficulties but who do not reach the rigid criteria for supports.
  • Students engaged in education who do not have a medical verification of their condition, for example students presenting with difficulties consistent with dyslexia.
  • Students in Further Education not engaged on PLC courses.
  • Students with a disability on TEAGASC courses.They do not come under the remit of the Department of Education because they are studyingagriculture; they cannot access the fund and are severely disadvantaged.
  • Students on courses in private colleges including open university and other distance learning courses have no access to supports,
  • Students with disabilities on part time courses.

Q5: Should the Fund have a stronger focus on the labour market?

AHEAD has developed a successful model of connecting with employment and raising awareness of the qualifications and skills of graduates with disabilities. It has supported students with disabilities in making the successful transition to employment over a six year period through the GETAHEAD graduate forum and Willing Able Mentoring programme, a fully paid internship scheme for graduates with disabilities. Support works; 40% of the graduates who participated on the WAM programme found employment through the programme. Higher education does not support individual graduatesto secure work, but rather creates the conditions for them to acquire experience. Many institutions have responded to the Bologna Agreement by including work placement, internships and co-operative learning as essential elements within courses. While these work placements are invaluable in developing key employment skills relevant to an occupational, it is more difficult for students with disabilities to find experience commensurate with their skills and abilities. Similarly graduates with disabilities need a more nuanced response to facilitate them in navigating a quite hostile work environment. According to recent NDA research public attitudes towards disability are more negative than five years ago and there is greater resistance to employing people with disabilities. Graduates with disabilities meet significant barriers in accessing the workplace in spite of their qualifications. AHEAD and FAS research indicates that 75% of employers are not employing graduates with disabilities. As more and more courses are encouraged to incorporate some aspect of work placement there is a corresponding need to assure the correct supports for students with disabilities so they can experience the same workplace learning as their peers.