Vanessa and her twin brother, Steve, are both studying photography at their local college. They are both dyslexic and highly creative in their own ways. As well as the practical elements, their course requires them to take notes, make oral presentations and conduct library based research.  Their assessment for this term requires them to develop a portfolio of written evidence to demonstrate their understanding of the theoretical aspects of their subject. 

Although they are both dyslexic, they experience the condition in very different ways: Steve is a poor reader and really struggles with the physical act of writing, but he loves the technical details of the course and is a charismatic and confident presenter. Vanessa, on the other hand, has little difficulty with reading or writing, but is weak at spelling and has a poor short-term memory. She really struggles to retain the factual information from the course and to manage her resources and time. She lacks confidence in front of people she doesn’t know very well as, unlike her brother, she trips over her words and has trouble finding the exact words to express herself clearly – especially when stressed. 

Following discussions with their course tutor and the disability officer, the following support was put in place to support them on their course: 

Steve:

• a scribe to take notes in theory sessions  which alleviated the pressure, freeing Tom to attend and participate more fully in class;
• use of a digital recorder to back up the notes;
• extra time (25%) in the exams to allow for his slow reading;
• use of a PC installed with speech recognition software and a separate room for exams. 

Vanessa:

• a spellchecker installed on her laptop;
• extra time (25%) in exams to accommodate her poor short-term memory;
• use of a digital recorder to make notes to herself as an aide memoire;
• Vanessa was allowed to submit a video of herself delivering presentations rather than having to do it ‘live’ in front of an audience;
• weekly sessions with a specialist tutor to check her understanding of the course work and help her prioritise her work and meet deadlines.

Remember, the experience of disability is highly individualised, and people with the same impairment may have very different needs when it comes to making adjustments to practice. It is really important to have a discussion with the disabled person themselves about what their particular needs – and solutions – might be.