Specialist Study Skills Support
Disabled students make up approximately 18% of the student population at the University of South Wales. We understand that disability can mean different things to different people – for example:
- a physical or sensory condition
- a long-term medical condition (including medically recognised mental health difficulties such as depression or anxiety disorder)
- a neurodiverse condition or Specific Learning Difference (SpLD), such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD or Autism
USW’s mission is to support disabled students to engage fully with their learning experience and achieve academic success. This is a key part of what we do in the Learner Development Service: working directly with students to break down barriers to learning, by providing bespoke one-to-one study skills and strategy support tailored towards students with SpLDs.
Some common diagnosed conditions include; physical, sensory and mental health conditions. Or a neurodiverse condition, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD or Autism.
To discuss your situation with someone to ensure you are receiving appropriate support, contact [email protected]
It is the Disability Team who co-ordinate support for disabled USW students.
You will need to meet with a Disability Adviser to discuss your support requirements and funding which may be available to support you, such as Disabled Students Allowances (DSA).
We are the only team of tutors at USW who deliver this specialist support aimed exclusively to meet your specific study needs. To contact our Specialist Study Skills Team, click here.
You may not have a diagnosis or a medical condition, but you are experiencing some issues linked to learning whilst at USW. It might be helpful to find out more on common ‘hidden disabilities’ to understand what kind of support you may require.
Dyslexia/Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs)
Find out about Dyslexia or other Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) from the British Dyslexia Association website.
You might want to complete a short online Screening test at Dyslexia Screening and Assessments | University of South Wales
This will provide you with some feedback on whether what you are experiencing might be associated with a specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia.
Autism
Find out about Autism Spectrum support at USW and external Autism support services: Autism Spectrum Support I University of South Wales
Self Help Resources
There are lots of self-help resources that the Disability Team recommend to students for example if experiencing bullying, low self esteem, phobias and loneliness that might be impacting on your studies: Self Help Resources | University of South Wales
Assistive Technology
There is assistive technology on offer at USW that might help you with all kinds of different tasks, such as changing file formats, transferring text based information to audio files, that are more aligned to the way you learn
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With or without a diagnosis
Many students find that studying at university level demands you possess skills that you may not have had to demonstrate previously.
These skills can include higher order thinking, such as criticality, synthesising large amounts of information, presenting your ideas to an audience, and providing a record of sources and research materials in a very detailed and specific way. Up-skilling and familiarising yourself with all the different skills needed to pass assignments, gain the most out of your course and develop skills useful for the future are important aspects of independent learning and are encouraged at university.
A good place to start up-skilling might be to attend one of the academic skills webinars that provide information on some of the basic skills needed to improve your performance in assignments.
If you would like to talk to someone about further developing these skills and putting them into practise, please book an appointment with a Learner Development Specialist for general academic skills support.