Support for Disabled Postgraduate Students

Dr Emma RowlettDisability Adviser for

Postgraduate Students

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/support-for-disabled-students/index.aspx

Session Structure

• Introduction

– Support Overview

– Dyslexia and SpLDs

– Disability

– Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)

– Other support

– Coming to see us

• Any questions?

• Study Skills and Strategies (optional)

Support Overview

• Alternative examination arrangements (e.g. extra time, rests breaks, use of a computer)

• Other reasonable adjustments (e.g. recording lectures, handouts and slides in advance, adjustments to Viva Voce Examinations)

• Support to develop useful study strategies

• Advice about applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)

• Signposting to other services e.g. Counselling

Dyslexia and SpLDs

• Dyslexia Support (within Academic Support)

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/supportforyourstudies/academicsupport/index.aspx

• You will need to provide a post-16 report from an educational psychologist or a specialist teacher

– Academic Referral Forms (ARFs)

– One-to-one support sessions

– Screening and formal assessment of SpLDs

Disability

• Disability Support

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/supportforyourstudies/disabilitysupport/index.aspx

– Sensory and physical disabilities

– Long-term medical conditions

–Mental health difficulties

• You need to provide medical evidence of diagnosis/symptoms, affect on study, duration (i.e. 12m+), medication side effects

• Disability Referral Forms (DRFs)

• Accessible transport around campus

• Examination and timetabling arrangements

• Information about extending studies and voluntarily suspending/taking sick leave

• Mental Health Referral

• Disability Sport Officer

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sport/getinvolved/disabilitysport/index.aspx

Disabled Students’ Allowance

• Not means tested, don’t have to pay it back

• “Assessment of Needs” may recommend:

– specialist equipment and software (e.g. mind mapping software, text-to-speech, audio recorders, ergonomic furniture)

– non-medical helpers e.g. notetakers or mentors

– general allowance e.g. photocopying, ink, paper (unless Research Council funded)

– extra travel costs because of disability

If you’ve had DSA before

• PG DSA based on most recent assessment report unless:

– significant changes to condition or course

– equipment broken or more than 4 years old

• Apply and once accepted let us know why you feel you need an updated assessment

• NB: do not dispose of any equipment, PCs and laptops may need ‘Health Check’ first

Application process

• Depends how you are funded:

– Research Council/DTC: contact Emma

– NHS Bursary: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students/3949.aspx

– NHS Social Work Bursary: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students/Documents/Students/DSA_FORM_13-14.pdf

– Other or self-funded (England only): https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas/overview

PG Research Students (PGRs)

• Disabled PGRs: Emma - A13 Highfield House

– Including MRes and students with 1+3 Research Council funding (Masters progressing to PhD)

• Moderated online course: “Surviving the PhD”

• Support to choose and access other Graduate School courses

https://training.nottingham.ac.uk/cbs-notts/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?GoHome=1

Further courses and resources

• Academic Support “Study Resources”

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/supportforyourstudies/academicsupport/studyresources/index.aspx

• Vitae “Making Research Education Accessible”

http://www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/187791/About-Premia.html

• Graduate School “Online Courses and Resources”

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/traininganddevelopment/onlinecourses/index.aspx

• University Counselling Service

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/counselling/index.aspx

• The Careers and Employability Service

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/careers/index.aspx

• The Disabled Students’ Network

http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/getinvolved/network/disabled/

• The Postgraduate Students' Association (PGSA)

http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/organisation/7655/

Coming to see us

• Dyslexia Support, D floor Portland Building– Drop-ins until 4th October, 9.30am-3.30pm• Only for students with post-16 reports

(either provided in advance or on the day)• Book on the day at desk outside Disability

Support on C floor Portland Building– Or phone to make appointment

• Emma Rowlett, A13 Highfield House– Book an appointment now or phone

0115 8232070

Study Skills and Strategies

Introduction

We will look at three areas:

1) Reading

2) Writing

3) Identifying and developing other key skills

• Skills all students need

• If disabled can be even more important

• It isn’t necessarily the hours spent studying that are important, it’s how productive you are!

Reading academic material

• How do you read?

• Top of first page to bottom of last page?

• May work for fiction…

In groups:

• If you do read cover to cover how well does that work for you?

• If you don’t, what do you do?

• Nominate one person to feedback 2-3 key points

• This is just one method and may not work for you!

• If it is a book, look at the contents list to identify the most relevant chapters first – you may not need to read them all

• If an article, read the abstract to check it is relevant

• Read the introduction and conclusion

• Look at the headings and subheadings to get an overview

• Start reading, making notes on how it relates to your topic and the information you want

• Reading needs to be active, not passive

• Finally, don’t forget to look at the references at the end, they may be useful to you!

• Identify as much as you can that has been written on your topic but you may need to prioritise your reading:

• How useful is this book/chapter?

• Do I need to read it now?

• Should I put it to one side for later?

• Do I need to read it all?

• Am I reading when I should be moving on to writing?

Academic Writing

• In groups:

• How do you write?

• Where do you write?

• What do you do if you get writer’s block?

• Nominate someone to feedback 2-3 key points

• Write something, there is nothing worse than staring at a blank page!

• Bullet points, lists, index cards, mindmaps

• Key ideas, themes, phrases, questions

• Fill in details of resources you might refer to, (look at the notes you made while reading!)

• Expand on the ideas in note form

• Reorganise this and start to flesh them out

Reading and writing

• Are both intertwined – don’t leave the writing until the last minute!

• You also need to fit in time to collect data, carrying out experiments etc

• And have a life outside university

• Organise your time, pace yourself

• Discover where and when you work best

• Break tasks down into chunks

• Take breaks (even holidays!)

Other key skills

In groups:

• what skills do research students need?

• Nominate someone to feedback 2-3 key points

• Do any of you have all of these?

What areas do you feel you need to develop?

• Understanding what a PhD is?

• Referencing and bibliographies?

• Research skills - qualitative, quantitative, interviews, surveys, experiments?

• Giving presentations and going to conferences?

• Producing and presenting research posters?

• Software – NVivo, SPSS, LaTeX?

• Your school or DTC may run courses and provide information

• PGRs and eligible PGTs can also take Graduate School courses as part of the Researcher Development Programme:

– http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/documents/development/graduate-school-researcher-development-programme-2012-13.pdf

Coming to see us

• Dyslexia Support, D floor Portland Building– Drop-ins until 4th October, 9.30am-3.30pm• Only for students with post-16 reports

(either provided in advance or on the day)• Book on the day at desk outside Disability

Support on C floor Portland Building– Or phone to make appointment

• Emma Rowlett, A13 Highfield House– Book an appointment now or phone

0115 8232070