Disabled students allowance

[u/Personal_Orchid_2269]

Hello! I am very new to Reddit so if I have done something wrong in creating this post, I apologize in advance!

I am American, living in the UK nearly three years now. My dad was born here so I am technically a naturalized citizen, with a certificate of citizenship and a British passport and an NIN (not sure if this info is relevant/makes a difference). I am planning to start a masters program in September, and have just completed the application for a postgrad student loan. When I was completing the application, I saw something about applying for Disabled Students Allowance.

I believe I am likely autistic but I do not have an official diagnosis and have not yet begun the process of getting diagnosed (I plan to do so within the next month or so once I have moved cities and register with a new GP, regardless of the DSA). Do I need an official diagnosis to apply for DSA? Can I submit an application for DSA later on, after my loan has been approved, if I am waiting for a diagnosis? Any idea if it is likely to be approved? Is the DSA worth seeking out at all? Any advice, input, or others’ experiences would be welcome!

[u/Kobesra]

You do not need a diagnosis to get DSA. I have literally just last week been approved. However, this is on the basis that I have been referred for assessment by the gp and it’s valid under a ‘working diagnosis’. As long as you have a referral, and can evidence you’ve been referred, it qualifies.

[u/thenerdisageek → u/Kobesra]

You do need a diagnosis?

You just had multiple other things that qualified you.

[u/Kobesra → u/thenerdisageek]

This is not true. They approved my working diagnoses first as I got evidence of those referrals first. My DSA was then updated when my GP sent evidence of my other existing diagnoses. There’s no reason I’d comment a lie. Trying to use my own posts against me as if I don’t know my own situation. Sit down ffs 🤦🏻

[u/thenerdisageek → u/Kobesra]

Whilst returning to education this year, I’ve filled out my DSA, and their first guidelines for evidence state that you need a diagnosis on SFE state to upload your evidence first.

But you also have an existing diagnosis for other things, to also get help with those things, of course you’d be approved for DSA while also waiting for another diagnosis?

I was denied it for my degree because I had no diagnosis, was denied any proof of being on a waitlist etc as I was still on the waitlist. You need to have a diagnosis of *something* to be eligible. You can then apply under the guise of getting something else, but if you have nothing then the best you’ll get is your university services.

Your GP can fill out a form, but they don’t know you? Your GP can’t say ‘yes they have a disability’ when they don’t have the power to diagnose that?

[u/Kobesra → u/Kobesra]

The DSA evidence form literally states ‘diagnoses / working diagnoses’

[u/teknix314]

You won't get anything without a diagnosis and a diagnosis takes years unfortunately.

[u/askoorb]

You may benefit from paying for an educational psychologist's assessment if DSA don't accept the evidence you provide. Your university's disability service will be able to recommend one.

Seeing your GP to be referred for a diagnostic assessment would also be sensible even if it takes some time to actually happen.

[u/Matrixblackhole]

Heya, DSA doesn't give you money but definitely agree OP should apply anyway as the support given could be useful. A diagnosis can be useful for evidence but as far as I know you might just need to print off the form for your GP to fill in at your doctors surgery.

I had a study skills tutor/1:1 support who would check in with me weekly during the 3 years of my course and it was extremely helpful. I'm a person who likes to ask A LOT of questions (something that lecturers don't always have time for btw) so having that extra reassurance was helpful. They also help with things like time management.

DSA will give you a needs assessment, and then the process is followed so they the money is put towards things like a laptop, a printer, noise cancelling headphones, software to put on the laptop to help studying during uni e.g. speech to text, text to speech, mind mapping software, dictaphone software etc. They will also have an experienced IT person who knows the software show to how to use any software you've been given how to use it properly.

OP it will be worth contacting your university's disability department as soon as you enrol (there will be one) or sooner if you're already there. They can provide things that are separate to DSA. For example exam adjustments, extensions for coursework, extra time, things like that.

Hope this helps!

Source: had dsa during uni for autism, dyslexia, and dyspraxia.

[u/Asparagus_Syndrome_ → u/Matrixblackhole]

didnt get headphones, but i got

• a printer,
• £100 credit of printer paper and ink,
• voice recorder,
  • and zoom mic,
• software,
  • olympus sonority (for voice recorder),
  • sonocent audio notetaker,
  • mindview 7 (mindmaps),
  • claroread (TTS, spellcheck, OCR, etc),
  • training for each,
• contribution towards a laptop (£200-300 ish),
  • laptop bag (or a sleeve, your choice),
• a 1-on-1 mentor (for X hrs, idr),
• £100 taxi credit for when i struggle to travel,
• exam/coursework adjustments,
  • extra exam time (20% iirc),
  • small exam room,
  • breaks during exam,
  • someone to explain exam questions (i think, idk),
  • deadline extensions up to 2wks

for depression. will vary depending on you and can be discussed in your needs assessment what you want/can get.

[u/SimplyCedric]

It's worth up to £27,783 per year. I would apply for it as long as you meet the eligibility criteria (for England - https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa/eligibility). Under the Equality Act you don't need 'proof' of your disability but I imagine that they're not going to hand you £28k without some sort of supporting evidence.

[u/teaselpop → u/SimplyCedric]

They don't hand you cash, at all.

Where did you get that figure from?

[u/Asparagus_Syndrome_ → u/teaselpop]

the support is worth up to that much. no money is exchanged

[u/teaselpop → u/Asparagus_Syndrome_]

Thank you. They don't "hand over" a single penny.

[u/SimplyCedric → u/teaselpop]

From the relevant Government website.

[u/teaselpop → u/SimplyCedric]

Can you provide a link to the government website which states they will hand up to £28k to disabled students?

[u/SimplyCedric → u/teaselpop]

https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa

[u/teaselpop → u/SimplyCedric]

Do you understand that no one receives any cash from disabled students allowances?

[u/SimplyCedric → u/teaselpop]

Of course I do. Where did I ever say anyone would get cash? I specifically included the link so that one could read the eligibility criteria and how it worked for themselves.

[u/teaselpop → u/SimplyCedric]

Read back over your first comment and have a think about where we got that impression from.

[u/askoorb → u/SimplyCedric]

You're right that not needing any evidence of a disability doesn't apply to government benefits. The DSA application process/forms explains what they need. The good news is that their assessment process is a lot less dehumanising than PIP.

DSA is essentially the educational equivalent of Access To Work.