Regional Assessment & Resource Centre
Background
The Ascent Regional Assessment and Resource Centre funded by the HEA Strategic Innovation Fund has been designed to promote and facilitate greater access and retention for people with Specific Learning Difficulties in third level education. SLDs include Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, A.D.H.D. and Asperger’s Syndrome.
The project has been developed to support the transition, progression and retention of individuals with specific learning difficulties (SLD) into third level education and to address the lack of information on ways in which barriers preventing access to education and employment can be removed.
This initiative has been developed by the Disability Services in AIT in collaboration with GMIT, LYIT, I.T. Sligo and NUI Galway.
The Work of the Project
As part of the work on this project, the collaborating Institutes have the services of:
- An Educational Psychologist: to provide assessment to students screened for SLD and registered with the five Institutes. These Assessments will form the basis for the development of Educational Plans for students with SLD. The Educational Psychologist will also act in a supervisory capacity in relation to the research component of the project.
- An Assistive Technology (AT) Project Coordinator: to research the AT needs of students with SLD , and the effectiveness of AT on learning outcomes within the five institutes. AT and e-Accessibility provision will form an integral part of both the Individual’s and the Institutes Educational Planning, as course materials become increasingly delivered through ICT. The AT Coordinator will also facilitate the coordination and standardization of AT within the collaborating HEIs.
- SLD project research: to Compile data on the nature of student interventions utilized in participating HEIs and to Monitor the initiative’s impact on student completion & progression rates.
Research on Assessment & Support Services
Download Ascent report
