This page contains guidance when Portfolios are required from students who have an ISP
Individuals with processing and memory diffculties:
may have an SpLD or neurodiversity, be on the Autistic Spectrum (ASC) or have Fibromyalgia, Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) Chronic pain, Epilepsy, and similar conditions which may need ongoing medication for management.
may experience.
interruptions to production of work due to a disability or medication side effects.
that tasks take longer.
difficulty with spelling, grammar, punctuation and proofreading.
problems with word retrieval.
difficulties with processing receptive oral information.
may use assistive technology for research and writing and this can be time-consuming.
To support these individuals:
If part of the portfolio relates to participation, you may need to ask the student how they can be supported to participate. Is there an option for virtual participation? Do students who take longer to process what is being said, have an equal option to participate?
There will most likely be some students with extensions so it is an anticipatory adjustment to ensure that they are able to use this and it doesn’t have any negative impact on their engagement with the rest of the module. Where their ISP can’t be used, this should be noted in the Module Handbook and communicated to students.
Individuals with sensory overload:
may have ADHD, ASC, IBD/Crohn's Disease/Ulcerative Colitis, Mental Health difficulties and similar conditions which may need ongoing medication for management.
may experience
interruptions to production of work due to disability or medication side effects.
tasks takes longer.
difficulty with spelling, grammar, punctuation and proofreading.
Possible perfectionism.
may use assistive technology for research and writing which can be time-consuming.
To support these individuals:
If part of a portfolio relates to participation, we recommend you ask the student how they can be supported to participate. Can participation be virtual? How do students signal they want to say something? How do students work together to ensure everyone has the chance to speak?
Individuals who are hard of hearing:
May be D/deaf or have auditory processing difficulties.
some people
are born Deaf or have hearing loss before they develop spoken language and they may regard their deafness as part of their identity and culture and not as a disability. They may predominantly use British Sign Language. They will not have been able to learn spoken or written English like a native speaker. They may have a sign language interpreter.
lose hearing or are deafened after they have acquired spoken language. They are more likely to use hearing aids and lipreading skills.
may have difficulty with spelling, grammar, punctuation and proofreading.
Will rely on captions or transcripts for audio-visual information.
To support these individuals:
If part of a portfolio relates to participation, we recommend you ask the student how they can be supported to participate. You will need to know if they have an interpreter and you may have questions for them about this. Are they aware of and can they understand everything that is being said by all other group members?
Always speak to the student and not the interpreter unless you are specifically addressing your question to the interpreter.
Individuals who have a Visual Impairment or Visual Difficulties:
may have no vision, only some light perception, some colour vision, double vision, nystagmus or tracking difficulties or be short and/or longsighted.
some people may
have been born with little or no vision or may have lost their sight for some reason.
need enlarged texts.
may need to use a screen reader on their phone or computer to hear information read out loud.
may need more light or be able to control light or to reduce glare and to maximize their available vision.
need information in Braille if that is a system they have learned.
A visually impaired person may use a short or a long cane to help with navigation
A visually impaired person may have a guide dog
A "mild" visual impairment may be harder to deal with than a severe one especially if someone is having difficutly adjusting to a new way of working.
To support these individuals:
If the portfolio relates to participation, you may need to ask the student how they can be supported to participate.
Individuals who have Speech/Speaking Difficulties:
May have
a Stutter or Stammer - it is not helpful to try and finish people's words or sentences.
Selective Mutism - it should be noted that although called selective individuals can't always choose when they can physically speak.
Cerebral Palsy that can affect their speech to varying degrees. They may need to use AAD or an Augmented & Alternative Communication Device to be their voice.
been born Deaf people and they may need to communicate through an interpreter.
Autism which means they may speak in a rigid or repetitive way, although this only affects some people on the autistic spectrum.
May
not be able to speak at all.
actually have a processing difficulty which means they find it hard to be put on the spot and formulate a spoken response immediately.
actually have an anxiety disorder which means they find it hard to be put on the spot and formulate a spoken response immediately.
take longer to get their point across.
need to have a support worker.
To support these individuals:
If part of a portfolio relates to participation, we recommend you ask the student how they can be supported to participate. Can participation be virtual? How do students signal they want to say something? How do students work together to ensure everyone has the chance to speak?
You may need to communicate with the student via email in advance to agree on communication going forward.
Always speak to the student and not the support worker or interpreter unless you are specifically addressing your question to the support worker/interpreter.
Individuals who have Mobility Difficulties:
May have these due to congenital issues, or a result of injury, muscular dystrophy (MD), cerebral palsy, amputation, multiple sclerosis (MS), pulmonary disease, heart disease or other reasons.
some people
may use a wheelchair some of the time or a walking aid.
may have a visual impairment that affects mobility at least until they have mobility training, although obstacles and changes to familiar environs can also cause difficulties.
may take longer to travel between teaching sessions or project meetings.
A visually impaired person may have a guide dog.
To support these individuals:
Does the student need any help with physically providing the portfolio?
Can this be a virtual portfolio?