DSA - result. (Possibly, result!)

[baratron]

I got a letter on Monday saying that Kingston Council had approved everything in my Disabled Students' Allowance Statement of Needs, and I could go ahead and start buying the stuff. This is something of a result after previous incidents in what seems to have become a saga.

So I went in the Disability Office today and Steve placed the order for the stuff. I'm getting a chair (cost = £800!) and a height-adjustable desk, and a "bookchair" for holding textbooks while I type, and a kind of tape recorder thing - only this being the 21st century, it uses solid state memory and outputs audio files directly to the computer. They are funding my mental health mentor and a library support worker, both for 20 hours. W00t. And there's £250 for books and photocopying and stuff like that, which I am planning to use all of because it's been allocated. I need, at the very least, a better organic textbook, because the only ones I have are either very basic or too advanced.

I would love to hope that this is going to be The Start Of A New Era with respect to me and studying, but the main thing that's holding me back at the moment is my brain: I'm still so depressed and stupid and slow. I have to try to get one of the four(!) appointments available tomorrow with my doctor to discuss depression and what I should do with drugs. Bah.

Comments

[barakta]

Excellent. You will need receipts for the books/photocopying stuff. Our photocopy machines don't give receipts but if you purchase credit from the 'desk' they can give you a receipt - might be the same where you are.

Tape recorder things are really good, is yours an Olympus? We have DM20s and DS30s and I am v impressed with them as pieces of tech.

Good luck getting GP appt tomorrow.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Birkbeck have the receipt for photocopying thing sorted. You buy your photocopy card directly from the Disability Office and they print a receipt off immediately. Very organised :)

The digital voice recorder is an Olympus DS-40 - is that better or worse than a DS-30? It comes with a big bundle of Stuff. Richard is fairly sure it outputs ordinary .MP3s to the computer.

[barakta]

That's a good idea - one of my wishlist items although we're out in the 'sticks' and the library's reasonably central. I think buying the card from the desk is reasonably common and the staff are nice - historically any assistive tech was based out of the library I think.

DS-40 is in the same range as the DS-30, 512MB storage vs 256 basically. Yes it is just like a basic USB device so I think you can just choose the correct setting to make recordings save as .mp3 and then drag em off the recorder at your leisure. Bundle o stuff being like external mics? manual, CD, little case, crappy headphones?

The DS30 and by extension the 40 were designed for 'dyslexic' students so they're compact, robust, batteries last a good while (I'd use alkalis unless you're organised enough to recharge rechargies efficiently/carry spares) and they've got dict, conf and lecture modes for different types of situation. Play with the settings, you should be able to hear the difference (I can't but kim can) so you've got like zoomish mic mode, omni (wide) mic mode and then basic dict mode. I'll email you the word document which summarises the manual which we give to our students. It's for the DS30 but iirc the manual is the same for the 40 and 50 too.

I dunno if they gave you Dragon, but here's an interesting article http://www.dyslexic.com/articlecontent.asp?CAT=Reviews&slug=271&title=Using%20a%20digital%20recorder%20with%20Dragon about recording your own notes and sometimes dragon can do the typing. Might not be useful for you.

Much of the "how best to use a voice recorder" stuff is written for dyslexics, but we are finding all students get use out of them. There's lots of ideas about things you can use it for which you might not have thought of. http://www.dyselxia.com is very good for random stuff like that.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Birkbeck's Disability Office is almost next door to the library. It's certainly very close. The only problem is that it's open from 10am-6pm and most of the time the staff will be busy seeing students, but there's a drop in every day between 5 and 6pm. Steve said in an emergency just buy the card from the machine and keep it and they'll give you a receipt later, but it's better to buy them in advance.

I have the form in front of me now, so I can tell you exactly what the bundle of stuff is. Olympus DS-40 voice recorder, 512 MB of flash memory, Sony ECM-CZ10 microphone, 2 x AAA batteries, USB Cable, DSS Software V7 (includes an Enhanced Version of the DSS player with more file editing options and direct link/transfer of audio files to Dragon to simply the transcription process. Also includes official Carrying Case), battery charger, stereo earphones. Connects to computer via USB cable (included).

So yes, basically what you said, except they appear to have given me rechargeable batteries plus a charger, which is rather useful. We have 12 AAA rechargeable batteries in this house already, and charging them isn't a problem... The problem is that the charge leaks out of them rather rapidly, so you have to make sure to recharge them just before you need them, rather than as soon as you've finished with them.

The accessible tech centre has Dragon on the computers there, so if I needed to use it I could just use it at college. I haven't actually been into it yet because I can't find it - it's supposed to be on the first floor of the library but it's hiding, but I could always *gasp* ask someone.

[anansi133.livejournal.com]

This is really encouraging to hear, and it's giving me ideas for going back to school someday.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Universities vary greatly in their ability to meet disability discrimination laws, and it's definitely a thing to check out before you even apply. In our cases, the Disabled Student Allowance money is central Government funding that is handed out to local authorities for them to distribute, on the basis that it reduces waiting times for the money to be allocated locally rather than nationally. Not everyone is eligible for DSA because it is only available for, I think, degrees or degree-equivalent courses undertaken by EU students; but then the College itself also has an Access to Learning fund which helps to support some of the people not eligible for DSA, or who have more complex needs which DSA doesn't cover. (For example, it doesn't include medical expenses that you would incur anyway, or help with paying the college fees.)

But it really does depend on the college. I've studied at three colleges in the University of London, and the difference between the amount of ass their Disability Office can kick has been phenomenal. At King's, the Disability Office couldn't even get my placements sorted out within the School of Education. At Birkbeck, the Estates Management bows down to disability needs and can be forced to install ramps and coloured lines and things...

[kyte.livejournal.com]

Yay for you :>

(and depressed may be true, but stupid and slow, never!)

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Depression makes me become stupid. Seriously, my brain just doesn't work properly. The worst thing is that I'm aware of how impaired my thinking is compared to normal, so I have to try to carry on working whilst knowing that it's almost impossible. Ugh.

The "slow" is a comment relating to my coursework. Everything has been taking hours and hours longer than I think it should have done. A problem sheet that I thought would take 2-3 hours has taken over 12 hours and still isn't finished. Just getting up in the morning, washing my face, cleaning my teeth, taking essential meds and putting clothes on has been taking an hour rather than the 20 minutes it usually does. I seem to be moving and thinking at less than half speed. It's horrible.

[nitoda]

yup, that slowness is depression induced. I'm familiar with it at lower levels. ::hug::

[kyte.livejournal.com]

Ugh *hugs*

You're still not stupid, of course. Even a semi-functioning H-L has more brains in her little finger than some folks :>

[x-mass.livejournal.com]

who are you getting the kit off?

and what price are you paying for the height adjustable desk

and do they just send you a cheque

[baratron.livejournal.com]

The order has been placed through Microlink PC (UK) Ltd as they are the company that Birkbeck usually uses, and their quote was only £1.80 more expensive than the cheapest quote.

I am paying nothing for the height adjustable desk. Kingston Council is paying £713 inc VAT. Apparently it's height adjustable from 645 mm to 1112 mm. Other companies suggested £1021.08 for the same desk, or £581.40 + £87.21 VAT for a dfferent desk with an adjustable height from 720-1220 cm (that MUST be wrong - who'd want a 12.2 m high desk?).

The DSA equipment is invoiced directly to Kingston Council. They might send me a cheque for stuff that I have to pay for myself, like books and photocopying, but more likely they do a direct bank transfer.

I thought you'd had DSA yourself in the past?

[barakta]

I believe with photocopying and expenses, btw batteries for your DS40 are claimable expenses as are inks for your printer (just a case of deciding what to claim :) ) and you can submit these every $time-period so say once a month, or once a term or once a year.

[x-mass.livejournal.com]

the hardware issue is because if because we've had to get stuff now so she can actually do something rather than wait until some report is filed eventually and by that time she has failed the course

[baratron.livejournal.com]

That's just stupid. When did you get the DSA form in? When was Natalie's assessment? I handed in the form on something like 20th October and the earliest assessment I could get was on 6th December. (Mark called round several of the useful London Access Centres to find the one with the shortest waiting times, which turned out to be Roehampton, which was also the nearest one to me conveniently enough. They often use Hendon as well because they are "friendly". Experience has shown that some Access Centres aren't sufficiently experienced with some disabilities or complex disabilities so Birkbeck only recommend some of them.) The Access Centre sent me a copy of the report to approve on Christmas Eve. I couldn't face opening it to see how broken I was, but it didn't matter because Roehampton automatically assume you've approved it if you don't reply within 5 working days. So I got the letter from the Access Centre saying they'd sent it to the council on 14th January, and the reply from the council saying it was approved on 16th January. (The delay was because none of the offices were open over Christmas). Now I'm just waiting for everything to get organised. When I do my course next year, I will hand in the form as soon as I have confirmation of a place. And then the DSA will start with the assumption that I have all the stuff from this year and then build on it.

In an emergency, which this clearly is, the college Disability Office should have voice recorders and possibly bookchairs available for loan. You shouldn't have to max out your credit card to pay for stuff for which she is entitled by law. Seriously. Where is the hold-up - at the Access Centre or at the council? Someone needs their arse kicking.

The adjustable desks I've been recommended are either the Tungsten 1200 x 800 mm Electric Workstation or the Assmann Rectangular Desk, Electrical Height adjustment, 3 pre-set heights, 1200 x 800 mm. The chairs are either the Hoganasmobler Plus 562 Multimatic with standard neck rest and seat size or the Herman Miller Aeron Mesh Ergonomic chair, size Medium B. I don't expect those would be the right chairs for N though as she is considerably taller than me.

And yes, I remain incredibly amused by Assmann as a company name.

[x-mass.livejournal.com]

ruskin will only help if your assessed as being dyslexic, and will only offer limited access to some laptops (that are inappropriate for the_borderer) and no help with desks chairs etc

the_borderer has not assessed as being since the only check at Ruskin is for visual issues not audio. So we managed to get a dyslexic check that still said she was not dyslexic (cost £250) but did point up the audiology issues. The assessor didn't cover or check her dysgraphia and the various other issues she has, which I wrongly assumed that she would. So its back to the doctor again to try to get her referred to a educational psychologist who can asses her needs properly. We many need to go to several people to get her writing issues fully handled. We also need to get a physical assessment done which will form part of the report. That will all be handed to an OT we have commissioned to do a report and then and only then can we go to the access centre. I been through this mess before and had the access centre screw me over because they didn't understand multiple needs. I was told by them that if I got an OT report they would change there diagnoses, needless to say when I produced the report the access centre assessor ignored it. At the time sit stand workstations were a new idea to them, and they wouldn't countenance spending money on buying a good desk and chair beyond a limited amount.

ruskin is very much all mouth about disability

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I don't understand - what do Ruskin have to do with the assessment? That's the college where she actually is, right? Don't you go to an independent Access Centre for the assessment? And why is it Ruskin's job to allocate money to spend rather than the local council?

Or is she not eligible for DSA?

[x-mass.livejournal.com]

ruskin try to get people to use their access centre, they also only give you support in class with exams etc if your dyslexic etc

the issues with access centres is more my fear that they will not be aware of and make the correct assessments of the_borderer issues. I was so badly messed around for my dsa I want to make sure she doesn't suffer the same consquences

[syllopsium.livejournal.com]

The latter desk is obviously supposed to be listed in mm. Good luck getting on top of a 720cm desk ;)

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Good luck with fitting it in the house, too! We have high Victorian ceilings here, but even our tallest rooms are only about 3 m high :)

But yeah, the thought of a 7.2-12.2 m height desk is too amusing.

[36.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear DSA recognised your requirements. I was going to say 'congratulations', but really this is your right and *shouldn't* be something you have to fight for...

[barakta]

This!

[boxofdelights]

Excellent news.

[nitoda]

Excellent news - glad your assessor has been able to support you and hope this will help to improve things for you and begin the process of lifting you out of the depths of depression. Good luck with GP also.