Disabilities Liasion Unit

Service List (Non-Medical Assistants)

There is a range of  tasks where help can make a great difference to the life of a student with a disability.  The areas where students most commonly ask for assistance are outlined below.  What type of help and the amount of time you would like to offer is entirely up to you.  We keep your details on file until we can match you up with a relevant request for support from a fellow student.

If you accept the offer we arrange contact between you and the student.  As a matter of routine, on receipt of your application we will ask for a short reference from your employer, Tutor or Supervisor and/or hold a short formal interview.

Note-Taking | Typing | Amanuensis | Special Exam Needs | Reading

 

Note-taking in lectures

You should accompany the student to lectures and take notes. If your handwriting is unclear, you should type the notes before presenting them to the student. You need to have knowledge of the subject for which you are taking notes, preferably at least to degree level.  However, you should not supplement notes with your own knowledge, but simply record what is said in the lecture.  Please tell us what courses/subjects you are currently doing/have recently done.

 

Typing up essays or parts of theses

From an audiotape or perhaps hand-written material, you may be asked to type up the material and save it on to a disk.  You should have your own access to a computer and a tape player either at home or work.  This type of work is undertaken on freelance basis only.

 

Amanuensis during the examination period

Sometimes a student might require assistance whilst they are sitting an examination. An amanuensis is someone who writes down the answer as the student sitting the exam dictates it to them when for whatever reason they are unable to write the answers themselves and no other method of scribing their answers is available to them. An amanuensis should be able to sustain clear handwriting for the whole exam and extra time may be allowed the student (who will normally sit the exam in specially set up rooms) to accommodate this arrangement. This service is usually requested in the run up to the exam period, sometimes it is done in anticipation of a need that is later resolved and the request cancelled. (But this is highly specialized, please come and talk with us before you offer your services)

 

Students requiring special arrangements in examinations

Special exam arrangements may be approved for students who are unable to sit formal University exams under normal exam conditions as a result of a disability or other Conditions. Special arrangements are designed to ensure that equitable conditions are provided, to evaluate students to demonstrate their knowledge and competence notwithstanding their disability. Click here for guidelines and more information [pdf].

 

Reading for the University Taping Service

Volunteers read University materials on to audiotape for members who have visual impairments.  Readers should have a good standard of education and should also have good clearly spoken English.  They should be happy to operate recording equipment (a standard tape deck is used) and to work unsupervised.  Initial training is given and ongoing support available.  Demand for the service is intermittent and volunteers are alerted by e-mail when texts are waiting to be read.  There is no direct contact with students in this role.