ATU encourages students to disclose their disability/specific learning difficulty/ongoing health condition during their application process to enrol in ATU or immediately following admission. Students can disclose their disability/specific learning difficulty/ongoing health condition at any time during their studies in ATU.  

ATU is committed to providing students with disabilities with the opportunity to meet a suitably qualified staff member in the Disability Service to discuss the Reasonable Accommodations required. Once a student discloses a disability and seeks disability support, they will be invited to complete a Needs Assessment to identify their Reasonable Accommodations. 

The Learning Educational Needs Assessment is an important part of the process of obtaining reasonable accommodations and getting support at university. This activity will explain what the Educational Needs Assessment is, how it works, and how to prepare for your appointment. 

The University provides reasonable accommodations to students who disclose a disability and register with the DLSS. Students are encouraged to register with the DLSS upon registration with the University. However, we recognise that a student may not wish to disclose their disability until later in their studies, or a condition may emerge during the course of their studies and a student may disclose their disability and register with the DLSS at any time during their studies.  

A reasonable accommodation is any action that helps to alleviate a substantial disadvantage due to a disability and/or a significant ongoing illness. ATU defines a standard reasonable accommodation as an adjustment to a student’s teaching, learning, assessment, placement/work practice, or final examinations that allows participation in their education.  

Reasonable Accommodations are provided to the student for the duration of their studies. These are approved following registration with the DLSS and information regarding the approved accommodations will be accessible, as necessary, by academic staff for the duration of the students’ time at ATU. Amendments to a students approved standard reasonable accommodations may be recommended by the DLSS and communicated to staff if the student requests a review. 

The DLSS is responsible for conducting a needs assessment to determine the appropriate reasonable accommodations required to meet the student’s academic needs. A Learning Educational Needs Summary (LENS) report is then completed by the DLSS. DLSS staff are trained facilitators, specialising in advising on and providing reasonable accommodations. They serve as a key resource for both students and academic departments in identifying and implementing accommodations in teaching, learning, assessment, and placement/work practice. 

At ATU, we believe the most important first step is to make sure that you can access supports in an open, relaxed, friendly and confidential way. The Educational Needs Assessment is an important part of this. It is a structured but informal chat with a member of our DLSS team. They will discuss any supports or accommodations you might need and listen to any concerns you might have. 

Needs Assessment:

The Needs Assessment process commences with registration with the ATU DLSS: 

• Incoming students who are DARE eligible will automatically be registered with the service upon acceptance of a place at ATU through the CAO. The ATU Admissions Office will forward the Dare file to the Disability Office. 

• Incoming students who are not DARE eligible may still be able to register with the Disability Office upon commencing a course. Students must contact the Disability Office on the relevant campus to register. 

Meeting with the DLSS 

All students, whether eligible or not for DARE, must arrange a meeting with the DLSS to gain Reasonable Accommodations. Students who wish to register with the DLSS who are not Dare eligible will need to provide documentation of their disability to the DLSS – See Appendix 8 for more detail. 

Based on your Educational Needs Assessment, a Disability Officer will work to address your specific support needs. This can include any number of things such as learning support, exam accommodations, library support, maths or academic support or any assistive technology you might require. Supports and reasonable accommodations are different for every student and can depend on the student, the nature of their disability, the course they are studying, and how much support the student wants. To receive reasonable accommodations a student must be registered with the Disability Service. 

A Disability Officer will apply for funded supports through the ESF fund for students with disabilities on behalf of the student. The Learning Educational Needs Assessment is also very useful because, based on it, the Disability Support Officer can work with a number of departments across the college to make sure that your specific support requirements are met, for example, Academic Departments; Exams Office; Admissions Office; Library; and the IT Department. 

Reasonable Accommodations are defined as Standard or Non-Standard Reasonable Accommodations:     

• Standard: A standard Reasonable Accommodation is defined as an amendment to the student’s teaching, learning and assessment which enables them to participate fully in their education. 

• Non-Standard: A non-standard Reasonable Accommodation occurs when the University recognises that Schools may need to consider providing alternative non-standard teaching learning and assessment methods where standard Reasonable Accommodations are not sufficient to meet the needs of the student. 

The application of a Reasonable Accommodation will result from consideration of the circumstances of the individual student and will involve the student in discussion of possible courses of action. What is ‘reasonable’ for ATU will vary according to a range of factors and will depend on the circumstances of the individual case.

Factors influencing the determination of what is reasonable will include:

• the effectiveness of taking particular steps in enabling the student to overcome the relevant disadvantage
• whether the steps would significantly compromise the academic standards or professional practices associated with the course of study
• health and safety issues; the effect on other students
• and the financial and other cost to the institution 

The Learning Educational Needs Assessment can be very helpful to you in your learning journey. It can help you with because it gives you a chance to talk to someone in depth about things like: 

• the positive and negative aspects of studying in the past 

• any worries you might have about college 

• what you’re excited about and think you will do well at 

• what you think might help you achieve that success 

It can be a great opportunity to access and find out the supports available. Many students at ATU are very pleased to learn of the range of supports they can access to help them succeed. 

During the student’s Needs Assessment, the DLSS will identify appropriate Reasonable Accommodations for examinations. This information will be passed to the Examinations Office on behalf of the student. The Examinations Office will accommodate the requests received at least one month before the start of the examination session, in so far as practicable. 

See: DAWN Principles, Guidelines and Procedures for the Granting of Reasonable Accommodations in Examinations to Students with Disabilities (2019).