Presentation for the disability Adviser Assessor Post Idiot.- We can find nothing wrong with you, so just get up and get on with your life. Me.- If I could get up it would be you who would be needing this bed.

Let’s differentiate between legal and “moral” obligations For me this is a contentious issue. It’s very easy to reach for the DDA and look for what requirements we’re supposed to meet. But in reality those people for whom the DDA was written, and I say that with my tongue in my cheek, probably would prefer institutions to try tuning in to their own specific needs, and these are not going to be found in a government paper, nor a web site, nor a list of tick boxes on an assessment form. The place to find it is through the individuals we assess. What this means is that no matter how much research we do the first and most important point of reference should be our clients

My point is I could easily sit here and reel off the rules with regards the DDA, and an institutions responsibilities. I could also spend loads of time going in to the possible needs an individual may have, but what I think you might be after is what is it that I could possibly bring to this situation

The reason I’ve started like this is that I believe that while a great deal can be dealt with by a formulae what really makes the difference is how people deal with each other.

The first thing that might be apparent is I’m different, but who isn’t? This is my starting point, I accept that everyone is different and try to deal with people accordingly. I accept that by nature most humans try to categorise other people, and this includes me, but my general conscious approach is one of accepting individuality.

Billy Bragg has a good line on this matter. “In a perfect world we’d all sing in tune but this is reality so give me some room.”

So my approach to assessing people is one of dealing with them as individuals. What does that mean in practise? Well for me it means contacting people directly, where possible, offering pre assessment contact through which they can make known their needs. Sometimes people are not forthcoming especially when confronted with a stranger so it’s also important to make available more anonymous means of finding out what people’s need are. I’d just like to make it clear that I’m really just talking about their needs relating to attending an assessment at this point.

So this is my position, it’s client centred and aimed at creating a situation where the actual assessment is suitable for the client. I’d like to interject at this point that a “client centred” approach includes a service provider centred approach too. What this means is that an unhappy assessment officer, for instance, is not likely to be truly client centred. Likewise an institution has needs too, as does the government through legislation so for me part of this job would be about negotiating and balancing the many needs involved within the process.

When I read your scenario for this post my first thought was that this situation would have to require some initial contact with the individual because the “condition” is such a variable one. Secondly the terminology is not that used, generally, by those living with ME, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, so I would have wanted to read the referral form to see if this was indeed their own term of reference.

So what am I saying? I’m saying I’d need to get in contact with the person to see how the land lies. If your department didn’t have an appropriate questionnaire for the person I might try and draw up / edit one and get some feedback from the person to see how we could improve upon it. In fact a section for improving assessments would be a part of any assessment I’d want to be a part of.

It goes against my nature to second guess a person and list out to you the possible requirements a person with ME may have. However I imagine that my approach would involve splitting up the situation in to the following:

The journey to assessment centre, what are their needs relating to transport, parking, access in to the building, and access in to the office. Does the person require a home visit?

Once in the office how does the environment affect the person? Lighting, noise, proximity to other people, or electronic equipment, comfort of chairs, desks, or even a couch to lie on if they feel exhausted. Tone of voice and delivery of information (both in terms of the amount and form),

Other issues might include Extended time for interviews terminology, Rules of engagement Financial problems Confidentiality All of these are important variables within the equation. Many of which are going to have to be tuned in to subtly by the assessor.

Different methods of communication

I could go on but I’ve probably go on enough. What I wanted to turn to next was the institutional responsibilities. I’ll be quick ~ I promise ~

Well just so you know I do know a little bit about The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 SENDA,

But I don’t want to pretend to you that I know it well, I don’t, but I know it well enough to sense what is generally in breach of it. I’m not going to wade through it here (phew I hear you say too) but I do want to make clear it’s main objective which is: That it’s unlawful for an educational institution to discriminate against a disabled person: especially in relation to admission or enrolment; in the "student services" it provides or offers to provide; or by excluding a person because of their disability.

So in conclusion Although there’s an important legal obligation there’s also a moral one which is to allow people to have a voice within the process and I believe my part in a team such as yours is to help people have the opportunity to speak with that voice if they want to. Thank you