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Grants to buy technology

Many people in the UK can get grants for Assistive Technology (AT) to help overcome difficulties caused by dyslexia or other disabilities. The funding available for equipment can vary greatly depending on what age you are and where you live. In addition to these grants, organisations will often have to make arrangements for dyslexic and disabled students, employees and customers under the Disability Discrimination Act.

If you are in Further Education — Additional Learning Support

Dyslexic students (and others with disabilities) in Further Education can get necessary equipment through the Additional Learning Support scheme from your learning provider. Any equipment that you are given will belong to the educational institution. From the year 2003/4 the government intends to extend this scheme to Work Based Learning and Adult and Community Learning and to school sixth forms from 2004 or later.

Staff in FE may not know about the system. The following comments were recently made in DIS-FORUM, the Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff:

“The problem is often that the FE institution does not claim and/or does not know how to claim from the Skills Council.”
“I worked in an FE college for students with disabilities and we were very successful in obtaining support once management that knew how to claim were in place. I repeatedly met colleagues from other institutions who did not know that the Additional Learning Support Scheme existed and felt that any funding they received was due to management largesse.”

The Learning and Skills Councils who fund Additional Learning Support are proposing the following definition, to cover all post 16 education (except University level, presumably):

Any activity that provides direct support for learning to individual learners, over and above that which is normally provided in a standard learning programme which leads to their learning goal. The additional learning support is required to help learners gain access to, progress towards and successfully achieve their learning goals. The need for additional learning support may arise from a learning difficulty and/or disability, or from literacy, numeracy or language support requirements.

The principle has been established that all providers should ensure that the ALS needs of learners are formally assessed and that the assessment methods used are appropriate to the provision in question, rather than through one standardised approach.

This information is based on consultation document from the Learning and Skills Council.

If you are a Higher Education student in the UK — Disabled Students' Allowance

The Disabled Students' Allowance is available to UK students with disabilities (including dyslexia) studying in higher education. It aims to provide them with the equipment and support they need to put them on an even footing with other students. We have full information on our DSA page.

If you are in work in the UK — Access to Work

The Access to Work scheme provides advice, information and funding for disabled individuals and their employers. AtW is run by the Employment Service (your Job Centre) for people who have long-term health problems or a disability which hinders them in their work (including dyslexia).

The AtW grant can provide:

  1. specialist equipment to suit your needs at work
  2. adaptation to premises or to existing equipment
  3. a communicator at a job interview if you are deaf or have a hearing impairment
  4. a support worker (e.g. a reader at work), if you are blind or have a visual impairment
  5. help with travel to, or in, work.

Apply for AtW funds through the Disability Service Team at your local JobCentre, if you need help with equipment to get a new job or to keep your old one. If you have been in work for more than six weeks your employer will contribute part of the cost of the equipment. There are more details on the AtW scheme on the Employment Service web site.

If you don't qualify for any of the above

If you are dyslexic (or have another disability), don't qualify for any of the above grants, and cannot afford to buy technology yourself, there are still two possible options:

  1. A local charity — your local library, Citizens Advice Bureau or Council may be able to make suggestions as to charities that might be able to help
  2. Microsoft have a list of charitable computer refurbishers. Whilst they may be able to provide you with a working computer, you will almost certainly still have to fund the software yourself.