[senco-forum] Use of Digital Recorder in A level lessons - Urgenthelp and advice needed for student with dyslexia

I reckon this is a dfficult one -- and I have no answer. I wouldn't fancy litigation. The few cases of pupils sueing (re dyslexia) haven't been very satisfactory in my view and took years to resolve. I don't do litigation -- just straight SEN CoP and?tribunal stuff. And I'm not?sure about DDA either. There is a balance of teacher's personal rights as against pupils. The 'reasonable adjustment' here may well be deemed 'unreasonable' for the teacher -- pity if teacher's are taking this line.?Best resolved by discussion and compromise / understanding. Teacher Unions often have clear views on this stuff.

-----Original Message-----

From: barbara horsfall turner 

To: 'Christine Taylor' ; senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk

Sent: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 8:50

Subject: Re: [senco-forum] Use of Digital Recorder in A level lessons - Urgenthelp and advice needed for student with dyslexia

Have you got the head teacher on board with you? Could just invoke the  slightly higher authority however (I'm sure Brendan will have a view on  this)  failing that I would go to ed psych and to LA, or indicate to english  department that this is your next option, on basis that in our increasingly  litigious society the young lady could at some stage sue the teaching staff  and throuhg them the LA as not providing the necessary support for her to  reach her potential - rather as (and I don't remember case names) the  dyslexics who sued and won in house of lords( I think I've got that correct)  a couple of years ago.    Perhaps a softer approach would be to ascertain what the english departments  alternative strategy is that will allow said pupil to access the curriculum  fully before going in guns blazing -just off top of my head having put pc on  as its dismal here     Barbara ht     -----Original Message-----  From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk  [mailto:senco-foru
 m-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of Christine  Taylor  Sent: 07 March 2008 23:35  To: senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk  Subject: [senco-forum] Use of Digital Recorder in A level lessons -  Urgenthelp and advice needed for student with dyslexia    Hi Everyone,     I need some advice regarding the use of a digital recorder in lessons.  I am  the SENCO in a secondary school and in September a young lady joined our  Sixth Form from another school.  The young lady has dyslexia, mild cerebral  palsy and experiences problems processing information.  Our EP has carried  out a number of assessments on her and found that, in terms of her reading,  number work and spelling, she is functioning on a level similar to that of  an eleven year old.  Our school has strict entry criteria for the Sixth Form  and this young lady has worked extremely hard to meet the criteria, given  her disabilities.      She needs a great deal of support in class but is such a determined and hard  working 
 student.  She is studying four A level subjects; Geography, English  Lit., Sociology and General Studies.  In order to help her with the  development of knowledge and understanding, her father purchased a digital  voice recorder for her to use in her lessons. This was on the advice posted  on many of the Dyslexia related websites.      Before the student started using the recorder, I instructed her to ask the  teacher at the beginning of each lesson for permission to use it. This is  what she does. Teachers have been informed that they can keep the recorder  on their desk and pause the recording whenever they wish to do so  (especially if they are reading the riot act to young Johnny who is  disrupting the lesson).  Teachers have also been told that, if they were  unhappy with the way the lesson went, and they want to delete the whole  lesson, they may do so.  If the teacher can also ask the LSA to operate the  recorder and the teacher just has to indicate that she wants it 
 turned off  and the LSA will do this. The young lady fully understands that teachers do  have the legal right to refuse to have their lessons recorded and she is  more than happy with this arrangement - anything she can get in an audio  format is of great use to her.      Following a lesson, she uploads the recording to her computer and saves it  as an MP3 file.  This is labelled, e.g.  Chaucer, Chapter 4 Lesson notes.  She then plays these back when working on her homework and when revising for  class test and exams.  This way she can access the information much easier  than trying to read notes.  Also, all the time she is trying to write up  notes, she is too busy concentrating on her writing and spelling and is  therefore, not gaining an understanding of the points being made.     Initially, all of her subject teachers were happy with the arrangements and  regarded the use of the recorder in a positive manner.  However, one of her  teachers (Head of English) has objected 
 to her using it but has not said  why.  This objection has not been caused by the young lady misusing or  abusing the use of the recorder.  It is simply that the teacher objects to  her using it.  He has now told the other members of staff in his department  that they must not allow her to use the recorder in any of their English  lessons.     This has created a very awkward situation.  As SENCo, I regard the use of  the recorder as a 'reasonable adjustment' under the DDA (1995) and believe  that the rules for use that we have put in place are very reasonable for all  parties.  All of her other subject teachers have no objection.       Disability Equality and the DDA state that it is our duty to ensure that  reasonable adjustments are made so that pupils have access to the curriculum  and information.  In a audio format, the student can access the information.  However, I fully appreciate the fact that teachers do have the right to  refuse students recording their lessons.  
     Can anyone offer me any advice on what I should do in this situation?     Christine          

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