“The support was completely inadequate, there was no knowledge of how her autism would impact her studies” Parent
“Disabled student advisers are great, but teaching staff often don’t believe students’ needs are as complex as they say they are”. Learner
“There is a lack of specialist training and understanding amongst college staff as to how best to support many of the students in their care, thus leading to a skewed version of individuals’ needs”. Share Scotland
Many impairments affect learners in very different ways, and respondents therefore felt it was very important for staff to undertake training to help provide a fuller understanding of a wide range of impairments and the various support measures they can put in place to help learners overcome any barriers.
Many also pointed out that it was important for staff to be more aware of the impact their impairment had on other aspects of their lives, which in turn affect their learning needs.
“For students on the Autistic spectrum, lecturers should be aware of how much distress socially-intensive tasks, such as going around asking people to fill in permission forms for photography, can cause”. Learner
“We have additional issues to contend with over and above those of able bodied or non-disabled students. We do not expect easier assignments on modules but more consideration needs to be given for some of these issues when being criticised during assignment marking. It does not matter how many times you read a piece of work but if you only get 3 or 4 hours sleep a night mistakes tend to creep in”. Learner