Here in the UK, neurodiverse undergraduates are eligible for support that will help them to get the most out of their higher education courses via the Disabled Students’ Allowance Scheme.

By applying to the scheme, the student will speak with a DSA Needs Assessor who will assess the student’s difficulties and then make a recommendation for a number of assistive technology products that could help the student to unlock their potential.

## So how would a DSA Needs Assessor know what to recommend?

Assistive technology is advancing all the time resulting in new products being delivered that make a huge difference to the students that need them. So what happens when a new product becomes available on the DSA and how does a DSA Needs Assessor keep up to date on tech and then know what to recommend after they have done an assessment?

Usually, the company that is supplying or marketing the assistive technology product will provide free training to DSA needs assessors and should also put together what is known as a ‘Recommendation Guide’ that assists the DSA Needs Assessor in understanding how a piece of assistive technology meets specific needs.

What is a DSA Product Recommendation Guide?

Let me use an example of assistive technology that has recently been added to the Disabled Students’ Allowance scheme called the Orcam Learn DSA. This device is essentially a pen-sized device that scans text and reads it out for the student. The video below provides an overview of the product.

Whilst this device is sure to be useful to everyone who experiences some sort of difficulty with reading, it works in a specific way that may or may not match the way that a student needs to work. So this is where the recommendation guide comes in. The DSA Needs Assessor is able to read the recommendation guide and gain a better insight into which needs the device will meet and for which circumstances within an academic setting for a student.

At Aventido, all our products come with a recommendation guide as we are passionate about our technologies being a good fit for the user, so we are keen to invest time in training as well as publish the recommendation guides to ensure that DSA Needs Assessors have all the information that they need, as they assess the needs of the student.

Download the Orcam Learn DSA Recommendation Guide.

If you would like to check out the Orcam Learn DSA recommendation guide then click the banner below to do so.

If you would like to check out the recommendation guides of all our products then feel free to click here to see our client page and then click through to the product of interest.