Dyslexia and University: My experience at Falmouth

This article was written by Dance & Choreography BA(Hons) student Kaitlyn.

As a student with dyslexia, university seemed like a bigger struggle for me as I stressed about the written work associated with my course. I didn’t know before arriving at Falmouth what support options were available, which is why I am writing this, so everyone understands what support is available and my experience with it.

We have multiple support options available at Falmouth. The one I have used the most in my time is our Academic Skills team, which I will be referring to as 'ASK' from now on. ASK run sessions during classes, when it comes up to written assignments, to help with referencing and any generic questions the class may have approaching a deadline. They also hold group sessions, which I have found particularly helpful. The session I attend is a study time where you join a call or meet in-person and a group of you set targets for what you want to get done in the time and then get on with those targets. The team check on you regularly and are there if you need any specific help, which helps keep you on track. They also have bookable 1-1 sessions, which are incredible to have help with working through essays. This includes helping with planning, however you work best, which could be verbal rather than written and proof reading, which is one of my biggest struggles as I struggle to catch spelling errors and I change tenses accidentally.

The library staff are also incredibly helpful when trying to research and find resources. Each department has a specific librarian that you can book sessions with, like you can with the ASK team. You are introduced to them during induction week and they are an amazing help. I regularly struggle with finding online resources & books in the library and being able to book a session and have help finding the correct things makes research feel ten times easier. If you ever need a specific book and cannot find it or need help booking sessions with any of the teams in the library, you can talk to The Compass. These are lovely people, who are there Monday-Friday to help with any issues, from help with the printers or needing to contact the Wellbeing and Accessibility teams, to planning a call with the doctors if you have no idea what to say. This is something that I have asked about on a few occasions now. They are a great central location in the library to go to if you are not sure who you need to talk to and need signposting.

The other key team that has helped me is the Accessibility team. During my time at university so far this is the team that I have kept in contact with the most. Each department has an accessibility advisor, who is there to help students in the same department as you. My advisor helped me organise my Individual Learning Plan (ILP) and adjust it as necessary. This really helped me, as it made all my staff aware of me being dyslexic and allowed me to, as much as possible, have my essays marked focusing more on the content and understanding of the module and as much as possible looking over spelling and grammar.