Dear Parents (Or Guardians) s2

Welcome

Dear Parents (or Guardians) Guide for Parents and Guardians All parents/guardians have concerns when their son or daughter begins a new life in college. As a parent of a student with a disability, you are more likely to have questions and anxieties about the support your son or daughter can expect in college. The transition to university is a big step for all students, but particularly for those with additional support requirements. It can be difficult to find out what needs to be done and the appropriate times to do so. We want to ensure that every student is adequately supported. This guide was written to address some of those concerns, to answer questions, to describe the kind of tasks and roles your son or daughter will undertake as part of engaging with campus life, and to explain the difference in services and supports between second level and third level. Please feel free to contact us if you have further questions or need more detailed explanations. Best wishes

Declan Treanor Director of the College Disability Service

2 Table of Contents

This booklet is available in other accessible formats upon request and on our website at http://www.tcd.ie/disability/

Keep in touch with what is going on the Disability Service by follow us on:

The Student Journey

In 2011, 113 applicants with a disability accepted a Trinity place on merit, having achieved the required points for their course of choice; 77 students accepted a place under the DARE scheme. The Disability Service had 911 students with a disability registered during 2011/12. The completion rate of the students who entered in 2007 was 87%. Of the graduates in 2012 with a disability, 72% achieved a first class or upper second class degree.

The Disability Service Outreach, Transition, Retention and Progression Plan 2011 – 2014 aims to develop clear and effective support systems at all stages in the student journey from college entrance to graduation to employment. The Disability Service works with students at three stages of their Higher Education journey: Phase 1 Pre- entry - Admission and the first year experience, Phase 2 - Building and maintaining a college career, and Phase 3 - Progressing through College to employment.

3 Guide for Parents and Guardians Each phase of the student journey is aligned to the Strategic Objectives of Trinity College and to national targets for students with disabilities set by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). http://www.tcd.ie/disability/projects/index.php

Registering with the Disability Service

Our staff are experienced and highly qualified professionals with knowledge and expertise in disability, access and equity issues. We work closely with academic staff, tutors, administrators, and other support services to ensure College is as accessible as possible to all students.

The best thing you can do is to encourage your son or daughter to make contact with the Disability Service as soon as possible. It can often be helpful to discuss any issues or concerns before applying to study at Trinity College. If that was not possible then he or she should be encouraged to speak to someone in the Disability Service as near to the start of the beginning of the college year as possible. We would suggest that students:

1. Visit Pathways to Trinity www.tcd.ie/pathways-to-trinity a dedicated transition website which provides guidance about the process of making course choices and preparing for University, and also outlines the supports available within College.

2. Contact the Disability Service before the final CAO change of mind date (1st July) to discuss options. http://www.tcd.ie/disability/students/index.php

Communicating with parents or guardians

We realise that sometimes families have had to struggle to have the needs of their child recognised and adequately supported. However, once they have left school,

4 most students are regarded as being in charge of their own support. This means that we cannot respond directly to family or guardians, and can only work with the student.

We are happy to provide general information and guidance, but we are bound by the Data Protection Act and our Code of Practice to maintain confidentiality. This means that we cannot discuss your son or daughter’s progress with you unless we have written permission from them to do so. Even with the student's permission this will be at the discretion of the Director of the Disability Service.

For this reason we believe it is extremely important for parents, guardians and students to engage with Disability Service staff prior to the student entering college. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the Disability Service does not communicate directly with families or guardians.

Managing College life

If you are concerned that coursework, studying or the college environment is becoming unmanageable, or you are worried that your son or daughter is seriously unwell, please advise them to contact their Disability Officer. Other useful contacts are:

 Assigned College Tutor  Student Counselling Service  The College Health Centre

Code of Practice for Students with Disabilities

5 Guide for Parents and Guardians The Code of Practice is intended to provide a model for a high standard of service to students with disabilities. The College will take reasonable steps to ensure that it does not place a student with a disability at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non- disabled student.

The Code of Practice has two main purposes

- to outline for students with disabilities their rights and responsibilities in receiving reasonable accommodations while studying at Trinity;

- to define Trinity’s rights and responsibilities to students with disabilities and the College community.

All students registering with DS will receive a copy of this code of practice to read and sign. A web version is available on our website: Code of Practice 2012

Preparing for College life

Preparation for the move to college should begin long before attending college open days or applying to the CAO. Your son or daughter should begin preparing for life after secondary school by understanding their disability and how it may affect academic performance (self-awareness and self-determination), recognise strengths, weaknesses and successful coping strategies and communicate these to other adults (self-advocacy). These skills are a vital aspect of the third level experience, and young adults will need time to develop, practice and fine-tune their self-advocacy abilities.

Independence and responsibilty

Often first year students are unprepared for the amount of responsibility that is expected in the college environment. These skills and abilities can be developed by 6 encouraging your son or daughter to take responsibility for educational and personal goals while they are still in secondary school. You can help by encouraging your son or daughter to problem-solve and address the situations independently, while you offer support and additional help, only if needed.

In college, students are expected to meet deadlines, be prepared for class and tests, and to make wise use of their time. Good time management, organizational, and study skills will be important to the preparation for college learning.

Assessment of student needs

Once an offer has been accepted, a Disability Officer will contact each student with a needs assessment appointment. This is an opportunity to discuss support requirements and concerns. It is absolutely vital that each student attends an appointment before the academic year begins. It has been our experience over the last decade that students who engage with the service prior to the start of the academic year, find the transition to university easier.

A detailed needs-assessment will be carried out by a Disability Officer, who will discuss previous educational support during secondary school, and the type of supports that might be required in third level. The level of support required will differ between students, and even students with similar disabilities, as each student brings with them their own experience.

Communicating student needs and supports to College staff

The needs assessment report is called the Learning Educational Needs Summary (LENS). This report outlines the supports required - for example, it will tell academics about additional exam supports.

7 Guide for Parents and Guardians If necessary, a meeting will then be organised between the student, their College Tutor and/or department and their Disability Officer to discuss the LENS.

The LENS is then sent to students to confirm their agreement with the arrangements. Unless students confirm acceptance of this document in a timely fashion, supports are not activated and this information is not forwarded to academic staff. In our experience the most frequent reason for delayed or absence of supports and/or accommodations is a failure on the part of the student to respond to communications from the Disability Service.

Supports available to students

Students with a disability or specific learning difficulty (including dyslexia) may require support whilst studying at Trinity. This can take various forms depending on individual requirements.

Examples include:

• Exam Accommodations • Access to Assistive Technology • Extended Borrowing in the Library • Specialist tuition for students with dyslexia • Tuition for students with disabilities • Academic/ Library assistant http://www.tcd.ie/disability/T-Services/index.php

8 Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology is essentially support in having a computer or other technology equipment assist one to work effectively in areas that cause some difficulty. Once registered with the service for assistive technology support a number of resources are available:

- A college-wide software package called Texthelp Read & Write is available in all college public computer rooms. This software has a range of tools and techniques to ensure essays or projects are planned & completed. For information on this software see: http://www.texthelp.com/page.asp? pg_id=1261

- Full access to use of the Assistive technology resource rooms (ATIC areas) in the Libraries. These areas have computers, scanners, printing facilities, and many different software packages, including:

 Software that allows ideas, projects and essays to be planned visually and dictionaries, thesaurus, word prediction and homophone support.

9 Guide for Parents and Guardians

 Software that allows documents to be scanned and read aloud by a computer.

- Access to 1:1 training & advice from the Assistive Technology officer Andrew Costello – located in the ATIC area of the BLU complex.

- Access to support on a range of free-to-use software from the Disability Service website at:

http://www.tcd.ie/disability/T-Services/AT/index.php

- we would highly recommend that the My Study Bar from the free software area of this site is downloaded.

Unilink Occupational Therapy Service Trinity College is unique in that we offer a confidential occupational therapy service for students who may be experiencing mental health difficulties, physical, sensory or chronic health disabilities. Unilink is run by the Discipline of Occupational Therapy in collaboration with the College Disability Service. All staff members in the service are

10 qualified occupational therapists and are bound by the Code of Practice of the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland.

The aim of the Unilink Service is to enable the student, to develop practical skills and strategies to help them in their role as a student both academically and socially.

Unilink is a student-centered service, this means that the sessions are guided by what the student needs and wants to do. Additionally it is up to the student whether they wish to avail of the service or not. Unilink is available on a one-to-one basis throughout the students’ college career. http://www.tcd.ie/disability/services/Unilink/index.php

Academic and study skills support

DS provides an online study skills resource to all students: Skills4Study Campus. This is an online programme providing e-learning modules and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Instructions for accessing this programme can be downloaded from http://www.tcd.ie/disability/docs/General%20Word%20docs/How-to-access- Skills4Study-Campus.doc

11 Guide for Parents and Guardians Academic support is also available as leaflets, podcasts and in mp3 format from http://www.tcd.ie/disability/services/AST/index.php and can also be downloaded from TCD iTunes or YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/DSServiceTCD#p/u and

One-to-one Academic Support is available to students with significant needs registered with the Service. Every reasonable effort will be made to support students but this service is subject to the availability of tutors in specialist areas. Academic support is not an editing, proofreading or 'quick fix' solution, but aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of in writing and improving skills.

Additionally, learning support is available for students with specific learning difficulties through the College Counselling Service. The learning support team offers one-to-one appointments and workshops that cover study and organisational strategies, academic writing skills, managing examinations, presentation skills, and other topics related to academic study. Further information is available at: http://www.tcd.ie/Student_Counselling/student-learning/undergraduate/

Parents and Guardians Checklist

 The assessment of needs process must be initiated by the student themselves. Students will receive an invitation to meet their Disability Officer and they should make sure they attend this appointment.

 As a parent or guardian you may feel quite strongly that you want to advocate on behalf of your son or daughter within the needs assessment process. The Code of Practice and the Data Protection Act means that Disability Service staff are not able to discuss your son or daughter’s individual needs with anyone, including parents or guardians, without written consent from the student. 12  Specific supports that the Disability Service provides require that the student takes responsibility for following procedures, and attending meetings and appointments. If these procedures are not followed, your son or daughter could risk losing these supports.

 If your son or daughter experiences any difficulties in college or if the nature of his/ her disability changes, they should contact the Disability Services immediately. If we do not hear from your son or daughter, we assume that all is well.

 As young adults, it is the responsibility of the student to confirm or amend their college supports including examination accommodations. Accommodations are not put in place until requested by the student.

Useful information / Weblinks

TCD Orientation website for new students http://www.tcd.ie/orientation/

Course information packs http://www.tcd.ie/orientation/pre-arrival/packs/

Fresher’s Week http://www.tcd.ie/orientation/freshers-week/

Student life in TCD http://www.tcdlife.ie/

Student’s Union http://www.tcdsu.org/

13 Guide for Parents and Guardians

Senior Tutor’s Office http://www.tcd.ie/Senior_Tutor/

Disability Service Contacts

Declan Treanor Declan Reilly Disability Service Director Disability Officer across all Schools E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (01) 896 3475 Tel: (01) 896 3776

Alison Doyle Jennifer Maxwell Disability Officer across all ESW Administrator Schools E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (01) 896 3971 Tel: (01) 896 3014

Andrew Costello Carol Barry Assistive Technology Officer Executive Officer Email: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (01) 896 2903 Tel: (01) 896 3111

Claire Gleeson Kieran Lewis UNILINK Occupational UNILINK Occupational Therapist Therapist E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 085 7585835 Tel: 087 274 3879

14 Lynn O’Toole UNILINK Occupational Therapist Tel: 086 3209966

Other Useful Addresses in College

Admissions Office Address: Regent House, Trinity College Dublin Telephone: 00353 1 896 4444 Fax: 00353 1 872 2853 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.tcd.ie/Admissions

Fees Office Address: 5 College Green, Floor 3, Trinity College Dublin Telephone: 00353 1 896 1852 Fax: 00353 1 896 2576 Web: www.tcd.ie/Treasurers_Office/fees/

Student Health Centre Address: House 47, Trinity College, Dublin 2 Telephone: 00353 1 896 1556 Web: www.tcd.ie/College_Health/

15 Guide for Parents and Guardians Accommodation Office Address: West Chapel, Trinity College Dublin Telephone: 00353 1 896 1177 Fax: 00353 1 671 1267 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.tcd.ie/accommodation/

Senior Tutor’s Office Address: House 27, Trinity College Dublin Telephone: 00353 1 896 2551 Fax: 00353 1 672 5089 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.tcd.ie/Senior_Tutor/

Student Counselling Service Address: Third Floor, 7-9 South Leinster Street, Dublin 2 Telephone: 00353 1 896 1407 Fax: 00353 1 608 3464 Web: www.tcd.ie/Student_Counselling

Examinations Office Address: West Theatre, Trinity College Dublin Telephone: 00353 1 896 2345 / 3710 Fax: 00353 1 896 9260 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.tcd.ie/Senior_Lecturer/teo/

16 Student Union & Education Officer for Student with Disabilities Address: House 6, Trinity College Dublin Telephone: 00353 1 896 6545 Fax: 00353 1 6777957 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.tcdsu.tcdlife.ie

Careers Advisory Service Address: 7-9 South Leinster Street, Dublin 2 Telephone: 00353 1 896 1721/1705 Fax: 00353 1 6793295 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.tcd.ie/Careers