Your experience of Disability Support Service

birdalone

Hello,
Myself I have had problems in accessing the promised support and find the attitudes of staff less than supportive.
I realise that perhaps it really is only me and that for some reason I am despised by them and not considered to be worth the effort ???
But I would be interested in hearing from any other people who are 'supported' in any way.
Wondering whether there is a disability specific bias or what?
All comments positive or negative will be welcomed.
Also has anyone had to approach the University Ombudsman?
This was recommended to me today and I feel it probably is the next logical step.
So . . . how is it for you?

FluffyCat

Well I tried to contact them two years back.......I'm still waiting for them to respond:rolleyes:
I left the college since and am in a different one now who can't do enough for me!!
I don't think its you! Its the college service!
You should contact your tutor and ask them to get the ball rolling.

The Paws

Hi! Yes - I am back after a long time browsing! Am I allowed to come back?!

I am afraid to say - it is all bad news!

Anyway, I have the very same problem as you and I am in my 3rd year now and still the “support & responds” is very poor that I had to drag my poor mother in to get them “jump up” and act quickly. It worked but this didn’t do much to solve the situation. It is an embarrassing experience because I am late 20s and still have to depend on my mother to sort out the situation in UCC. I never experience anything like it before (I worked for a long time before and when problems came up – I was able to sort it out with my boss etc) this is nearly year 2010 people!!!

I noticed that “DSS” are very good at keeping their jobs I mean – very good at covering up the “problem” and always get away with it.
I state the mistakes/ the problems they made and still “DSS” never say sorry and when I confront them – they simply focus on the future situations rather than to go back and admit that what they did was wrong etc.

I asked “DSS” to send me with the student permission to contact/meet me so that we would share out problems together but not one student came forward or should I say that “DSS” didn’t email the students???
Should I put up the student board?? I really would love to meet them even if I don’t have the same disability as you and the others but we are on the same rocky boat!!

I was thinking of contacting the University Ombudsman at one stage but I don’t have an enough backups to state the problem as many were verbal eg they said this, I said this, they said that I said that etc so it is useless). I told “DSS” to email me in the future so this is the only way that I have the source (to catch them out if you like) if I need to contact the University Ombudsman. You would need a source to prove what they did was wrong and so on - that the hard part. So do the same thing as me – just emailing from now on and don’t meet them so everything is typed if possible.

You can PM me if you want and I will be happy to “response” quickly!

Good luck in the future and your studies. Don’t give up.

x

Buceph

I've had fantastic service with them, and I know another person (who has now left UCC) who thinks they were fantastic. We both had them bending over backwards to facilitate us and they've always been helpful whenever I've gone to them.

birdalone

Thankyou for the feedback, and I am glad to hear that some of you have had a positive experience.
I am wondering if perhaps somehow it depends on the disability and their experience and knowledge of it. (As you may have read in a previous thread on this board I have Aspergers Syndrome and M E and I am a mature student.)
I am still having serious problems with them and have decided that after another distressing experience today that I will not be visiting the building again unaccompanied.
I just wish I had used my dictaphone to record the events and words used today as it is difficult to draw attention to the reality of my experience when I have no record of it. I can only relate an account and then of course my disability can be used against me to rob me of credibility.
A difficult situation.
Having said this, I have been contacted today by a more senior member of the service who does seem concerned and keen to improve things.
Although I don't have a mother to support me I do have a uni counsellor and an Aspergers Outreach worker who are very concerned about the situation and it's impact on both me and my studies.
They have reassured me that they intend to intervene on my behalf.
So we will see what the future holds. . .
I would be interested still to hear of any more experiences.
My sympathy goes out to anyone who has felt unsupported . .it's a rotten place to be in alright.

branie

I graduated 6 years ago, and I thought they did an excellent job. If it wasn't for the Disability Support Officer, who knew I had great potential, I would never have got a place at UCC.

The Paws

Hi Birdalone,

Thanks for your message - I was out sick until now.

Did you get the support you need? - an aid like tape or notewriter or something? Once you have that - It is all you need for college - from DSS really.

I got some grands when I was in first year - at reduced rates. ( I saw an aid for that grands on the noticesboard and I told DSS about that and they sorted out for me, it is really handy if you need some help especially exam paper area.) Maybe that is a help to you?

I got mine aid and it really a great help to me and yes without their support I wont be in UCC. DSS were very good for getting the aids when I needed it most but it will take time.
The only problem I have with them is the slow responses and they can get very mixed up with what I would need. so that is why I am emailing them mostly to be on a safe side!

Remember you are not Alone -ok! and Good luck!

The Paws

Hi branie,

I am just wondering - do you end up using your degree/master for your job or has that changed?

thanks! Congrats on getting Degree or etc.

corkhurler

The Paws wrote: »

Hi! Yes - I am back after a long time browsing! Am I allowed to come back?!

I am afraid to say - it is all bad news!

Anyway, I have the very same problem as you and I am in my 3rd year now and still the “support & responds” is very poor that I had to drag my poor mother in to get them “jump up” and act quickly. It worked but this didn’t do much to solve the situation. It is an embarrassing experience because I am late 20s and still have to depend on my mother to sort out the situation in UCC. I never experience anything like it before (I worked for a long time before and when problems came up – I was able to sort it out with my boss etc) this is nearly year 2010 people!!!

I noticed that “DSS” are very good at keeping their jobs I mean – very good at covering up the “problem” and always get away with it.
I state the mistakes/ the problems they made and still “DSS” never say sorry and when I confront them – they simply focus on the future situations rather than to go back and admit that what they did was wrong etc.

I asked “DSS” to send me with the student permission to contact/meet me so that we would share out problems together but not one student came forward or should I say that “DSS” didn’t email the students???
Should I put up the student board?? I really would love to meet them even if I don’t have the same disability as you and the others but we are on the same rocky boat!!

I was thinking of contacting the University Ombudsman at one stage but I don’t have an enough backups to state the problem as many were verbal eg they said this, I said this, they said that I said that etc so it is useless). I told “DSS” to email me in the future so this is the only way that I have the source (to catch them out if you like) if I need to contact the University Ombudsman. You would need a source to prove what they did was wrong and so on - that the hard part. So do the same thing as me – just emailing from now on and don’t meet them so everything is typed if possible.

You can PM me if you want and I will be happy to “response” quickly!

Good luck in the future and your studies. Don’t give up.

x

PAWS,

I am ex UCC student with a disability and have notified them (UCC DSS) that i won't be returning this October 20009 or the next. It's DSS service actually. Their attitude towards us and service were very poor. Their poor level of awareness re issues of handouts, videos, their inability to solve 'problems' so on. It's their job to educate the lecturer's re the level of awareness, for instance handouts, tutorial labs etc as they get the 'CORE' funding from the HEA for that BUT they aren't doing it at all. At the end of the day, they are only interested in MONEY!!

I have better awareness of what i need and that can be said for every other students with a disability. I was surprised that the DSS never contacted us re your requests to meet other students with various disabilities as they (DSS) have no intention of doing so because it will expose them big time re their appalling poor service and their limitations re awareness of various disability needs.

The Head of UCC DSS have been there TOO LONG as they seems to be incapable of changing or solving their problems which existed for a long time.The reason for that was for instance, when a leader in politics (say Govt) who stayed too long then it would become stale and too familar. Hence this creates stagnation and incapable of changing or solving the problems that arise. It can be applied to the UCC DSS itself and hence the need for a new fresher face and newer approach which is my personal view.

I asked them before, how much did i get for my support grant? They were very vague re figures. Also there was no complaints procedure at all until i contacted the Equality tribunal re my complaints. They got the wind of my complaint so they set up a new director of Access and a new complaints procedure last Summer AT last compared to other universities who have been pro active and implemented it 2 or 3 years ago. SO UCC DSS have been very very & too slow in implementing this only when i contacted the tribunal.

Best way for you is to contact students with disabilities without the DSS knowing and gather the evidence. Bring it up to over Disability officer's head and it would expose them. Otherwise, they will never learn it !!

At the end of the day, i was pissed off as they do make our lives harder as they were supposed to make our lives easier by way of support and other things. Sadly, that is NOT the way it is in UCC now. I know i am not the only one out there as there was another student out there still in UCC with a disability who contacted me re her disguntled voice re DSS. She said she would never go back to UCC for the Masters and would seek it elsewhere. That's why i am seeking elsewhere to other Universities for next OCT 2010.

Corkhurler

The Paws

Hi Corkhurler,

Am very sorry to hear that. I was wondering did you get the support you need before you left?
Great stuff about the new director of Access - who are they and what they do?

The Paws.

corkhurler

The Paws wrote: »

Hi Corkhurler,

Am very sorry to hear that. I was wondering did you get the support you need before you left?
Great stuff about the new director of Access - who are they and what they do?

The Paws.

Paws,

That's fine. I got support such as Notetaker, Sign Language interpreter so on. Problem was that some of the lecturer's refusal to give me handouts especially in Tutorials and in some areas. Tutorial was difficult because of no support whatsoever. Hence the need for the handouts.

Also lab times & location which i asked to a lecturer for to be posted on the Electronic blackboard which i need to pass it on to my notetaker. It was refused as i was shocked. I asked my class rep to bring up this matter to this lecturer & again i was refused. I couldn't believe it as the lecturer's are well paid as it only takes 3- 5 mins work to do this.

Support got worse over time as i noticed one thing that DSS lacked good awareness of what we need for supports. They should know better.

The director of Access is Dr Denis Staunton as i don't know what he do but it was an consequence of myself contacting the Tribunal this year.

Look at the UCC website as it is there. The interesting part was that they- UCC DSS never told us or you or any disability student in UCC that they have set up a complaints procedures which i found out later.



Please feel free to write or pm me.

Corkhurler

Max001

Hi 'Guys'

Was looking in the UCC societies page and found no society for 'disabled'
students. Its not for me to say whether there ought to be such.

Couldn't find a postgrad common room listed by the union either, but thats another bucket of wierd. :rolleyes:

Wondering out loud if the 500 odd 'disabled' students that the DSS office says are attending UCC should start a society and/or otherwise get organised.

Any thoughts?

Max

corkhurler

Max001 wrote: »

Hi 'Guys'

Was looking in the UCC societies page and found no society for 'disabled'
students. Its not for me to say whether there ought to be such.

Couldn't find a postgrad common room listed by the union either, but thats another bucket of wierd. :rolleyes:

Wondering out loud if the 500 odd 'disabled' students that the DSS office says are attending UCC should start a society and/or otherwise get organised.

Any thoughts?

Max

Max,

All i know is that UCC have a post Grad Library which is different from the Main Library.

I think 500 'odd' disabled students are attending UCC is not an accurate representation. It could be a misleading figure. I would expect a lot less than that. I could be wrong there but HEA would know the exact figures as they give funds to all eligible students with a disability in Ireland.

Also in their website, some of the data seems to show or massage their inflated figures. Also UCC website in relation to DSS data is outdated and it doesn't reflect the present time. For example, i left UCC last October but i am still registered with them. It's strange allright.

They have an Assistive technology lab for all disabled students. The opening hours last year was from 10am to 7pm.

Their website said 500' odd disabled students attending in UCC.
If that was the case, then the Assistive lab would then stay open for long hours to faciliate them & also to assist their assignments work etc.

Now the opening hours for this year (2009-2010) is now from 10am to 4pm. That would suggest or point to a lot fewer or a lot less disabled students attending UCC are using the Assistive technology lab.

There was a society called Irish Sign last year as it caters for a Sign language for people who wants to learn or join the society. I e-mailed the auditor for that society as i got no response from them since up to now.

Then i learned that the Auditor for that society was a Sign Language interpreter from Cork as she made no efforts at all to reply re same. It reflected on her badly in my view given the fact she has a deaf Brother and sister as well. It was a shame really and perhaps reflected their attitude of a distant society.

Corkhurler

Max001

Can't sleep either eh?

Can't argue the logic of your points, nor would I intend to. As I couln't sleep was googling other uni disability sites and clicked through a lot of Glasgow's and was impressed.

Mind me asking your opinion on setting up a UCC society to support/lobby for disabled students?

corkhurler

Max001 wrote: »

Can't sleep either eh?

Can't argue the logic of your points, nor would I intend to. As I couln't sleep was googling other uni disability sites and clicked through a lot of Glasgow's and was impressed.

Mind me asking your opinion on setting up a UCC society to support/lobby for disabled students?

Yeah can't sleep either as i was coming out from a nightclub and grab a quickie food to eat to appease my hungry stomach !!

Set up a lobby for disabled students in UCC, from what i can see from other post (paws) that UCC DSS were seen to be unwilling to give them information to contact all other students with a disability with a view of meeting and perhaps friendship and talk about something that they may have something in common to share.

That would suggest to me or you or others that they are not very open to share things and perhaps more secretive which impressed on myself when i queried them - how much did i get for re my application for support grant in an academic year? They were very vague re figures and then said to me 15K. Nor did they showed me the correspondence in relation to the funding which i asked them for but none.

You can pm me if you want or post it on this forum.

Corkhurler.

Max001

Appreciate yr views CH. Lotta food for thought n yr makin me hungry!! lol Everythin you say makes a lotta sense.

Gonna try n get some sleep. Will def keep in touch with ya though and anything sensitive, I'll PM ya.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

birdalone

Actually I tried to post an email on the [EMAIL="sit@ucc"]sit@ucc[/EMAIL] email board a few days ago, to all students, inviting any students on the autism spectrum interested in forming a supportive social group to contact me.
They have had one at Trinity for ages.
I got a reply saying my post had been forwarded to the moderator . . . and guess what . . . it was never posted on the board.
So this is what I am thinking. There are often e mails to all students from other groups, so I am not sure why my invitation was not deemed appropriate, and more to the point , why I was not contacted by the moderator to explain it's rejection.

I want to widen this thing, but I am not sure how to do it.

I think your idea of a group for student's with disabilities is a great idea, for all and any disabilities.
As there is definitely strength in numbers.
What is the most effective way of making contact with registered students with an invitation then? Posters on campus ?

As for my own difficulties . . there has been progress and I was given an appointment with the Assistive Technology service and on Friday last was given an hour's training and left with a laptop with Dragon software installed upon it and a digital dictaphone.
Had an in - class exam in the Boole the same day.
Sat at the back in the wheelchair space to avoid fluorescent lighting and the crowded seats as usual, to find that there was an unusual loud humming.
I soon found that it was wrecking my head and knew I would not be able to think straight for the test.
I mentioned it to a member of the staff present who suggested I move, we thought it was a dodgy light, to the other side of the hall, but the sound was the same there.
It was then suggested that I could go and find a quiet place in the library and do my in class test there, be allowed some extra time and if I was too late to catch them in the boole I could take my paper over to the sociology dept later.
Turns out the PA amplifier had been left turned on and in a locked cupboard to which they had no access.
I was impressed. Attitudes were both sympathetic and helpful.
There were no sighs or frowns, but a genuine understanding and concern.
I just thought I would mention this , so as to acknowledge positive when it exists.

Interestingly, the man I was dealing with told me later that he has children with autism within his own family . . . aah, so that explains things.
I was treated with gentleness and an acceptance of the nature of my difficulties.

A start at least.

I had been assessed by DSS in September though and am only beginning now to find some of the support I clearly stated I would need.

So , my meltdown was on Tuesday and it then took only 3 days for wheels to begin to turn.

Having said that, I am still recovering from the level of distress and the damage to my self esteem I experienced that day.
I am sorry to hear of the trouble that others have had , and of the impact it has obviously had.

I do feel that there has to be a change for the better and that just like other groups of people have unions etc, so we, as disabled students may well find something of value in a gathering together to work towards a common aim.
It goes without saying that this is no vendetta and there are no personal attacks involved in this.
My own motivation is purely to ensure a fair deal for students with disabilities who have the guts to try.

Max001

Birdalone.....thanks so much for your post. So glad you feel things are improving for you. I understand what you mean about what fighting for your rights can take out of you, I really do. I don't know how it is for everyone else dealing with a disability....sometimes I find it very isolating, which is why I thought a dedicated society for support / lobbying might be useful.

Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I'd hope there might be a good model elsewhere that we could use initially as a way to get started. Maybe someone could do some research on this.

Possibly meeting with the SU societies president might be a good first step. May as well seek out help and advice from the get go. Happy to set up a meet for late next week, or early the week after. Anyone interested in going? We could meet up beforehand if you like to put names to faces

tauruz_ie

I've found the DSS very helpful regards my disability organising examination centres and extra time. Getting a liason for my course also. Alot of other help has been offered to me but I myself do not require it so I am not sure wheter its good or not. It disappoints me to hear that others have not had such a good experience.

Deaf student

I have been reading this thread before i could post it here. I am an ex UCC student with hearing loss - deaf. Hence, Deaf student.

My experience with UCC disability support service (UCC DSS in short) was nothing short of appalling and they called themselves ' experts' in the area of disability particularly as regards to provision of any deaf student support needs. It's a total joke re they called them themselves 'expert' by labelling themselves as disability professionals.

I recalled when i was called up for an interview with a head of the department as i asked him... would they pay for the services of Irish sign language interpreter? The head of that department said it was no problem. So i went there and communicated via the means of a sign language interpreter.

It was grand until i contacted UCC Disability support service to set up an appointment with a view to discuss my support needs (i was offered a place).

For instance, various support needs such as Electronic Note taking, Sign Language interpreter, hand-outs in advance- these were the supports that i need so on in order to follow the lectures. Otherwise, I or other student would be lost.

When i met the deputy head of the UCC DSS as i asked her would they (their office) pay for the services of Irish Sign Language interpreter in order to facilitate the meeting between me and her? She refused to pay for the fee for the services of Sign language interpreter. Naturally, i was stunned and shocked when i heard her remarks. Our meeting ended sometime quickly after that. Compare that to the head of accounting dept, who agreed to pay without any hesitation. It was more of an attitude problem rather than money issues.

It was very clear that it was breach of discrimination. It's like refusing a Braille sheets to any blind man/woman. It was a breach of their/our rights in terms of access.

Then other poster that i met in UCC as we knew each other well. We discussed it re Deputy Head’s refusal to pay for it as compared to the head of department which i had an interview with. Then we contacted the HEA (Higher Education Authority) afterwards re UCC Disability office's refusal. They were shocked when they heard my story. They were insistent that i should contact UCC Disability office again which i refused to have anything do with it.

Then i got a text message from the interpreter saying that UCC wanted to meet me. So i told her that it has to be on my terms -for instance that they pay for the interpreter's fee and loss of CAO offer which i turned it down in the first place.

So we met in their office and they agreed to pay for interpreter's fees and offered me a place in Finance instead of accounting course (which was full).

So i thought that chapter was closed after all that. However it went on from one set of problem to another set of problems over the past 2 years.

Various problems such as booking the Electronic note taker/s and scribe writer who came in a certain (same) lecture quite a few times despite my e-mails (i stated-only electronic note taker) to the disability office. Unfortunately, they had to pay out two of them out of my support grant at the end of the day, which they had obtained from the Dept of Education. That demonstrates poor organisation on their part re hiring of two people in a certain lecture.

One of their problems was i wasn't notified of one exam which hadn't shown up nor was it posted in their electronic blackboard. Imagine that i wasn't aware of it until on the day of the exam. It was shocking and surreal. No wonder i was furious & pissed off with UCC disability office.

Also some lecturer had shown their video's without any subtitles or a transcript of that video. It was unacceptable- how can you expect me to hear everything without any form of subtitles or a transcript compared to my ex class mates???

It was no problem as regards to other things organising exam centres, other support such as laptop, hiring the electronic note takers et al. HOWEVER, a strong nagging & persistent point was their negative attitude towards us.

Example of this was when a friend of mine emailed them re only 6 weeks note taking instead of 12 weeks but they (UCC DSS) went ahead with 12 weeks booking which infuriated her. She knew that they made a huge mistake there as there was no redress in her case. She lost 6 weeks of grant money, which was totally unacceptable in my view. That 6 weeks grant money could be used for other things such as extra support. They had to go for the cheapest note taker that they can get as her grant budget got smaller after that.

Naturally i was furious and pissed off with UCC disability office for making many mistakes over the past twenty four months. There was a huge question mark regarding their negative attitudes towards any deaf student/s like myself, my two Deaf friends of mine in UCC. It was very stressful as i got sick. It was only when i recovered as i realised it played a part there. My doctor said it to me it was the cause of it as he was furious. So when i left UCC as it was like stress had been relieved in some kind of a way.

Theirs (UCC DSS) negative attitude had already played a part there- defined direct bearing on us as regards to their service & also their refusal to pay for it, many of their staff not fully aware of it re various disability needs, their continued discrimination to me (3 times) even they at times were seemed to be unaware of it that doesn't really excuse them of anything including discrimination.
No complaint procedures back then only highlights their lack of awareness in provision of their services. It could only be construed as sweeping under the carpets re no complaints procedure.

Their negative attitudes towards us and their inability to solve various problems which seems to run and run, their knowledge of ' deaf' awareness (their provision of Sign language interpreter doesn't however mean that they have full knowledge or full awareness at all). For instance no hand-outs in advance re a certain tutorial as head of my course apologised to me re this after I walked out.
All you have to do is go behind their facade and see it for yourself. It's like any surface where you can see it on the top of the surface (no problems- illusionary surface) but not beneath the surface where many problems lie lurking there). That’s for the sake of analogy.


What prompted me to leave UCC was their persistent negative attitude/s towards us as i was discriminated again which i have had enough of that shyte coming from them which was not surprising(when looking back now). In hindsight, i shouldn't have taken up their offer at all after HEA intervened in the first place. All of these above mentioned problems were the main contributory factor in my decision to leave UCC.

I have transferred to another higher education institution. I have no regrets of transferring out of UCC as it went well for me so far up to now.

The main reason for my posting here is to warn any Deaf aspiring students who wish to come to UCC to study re pitfalls there.

birdalone

an unusual gathering of unusual people
. . we can't form a society as such it seems.
I have done some research.
but we can be a group . . .
because I feel a group could be useful I propose a gathering of folk.

I suggest 1st october , have not got any further than that as yet.
Any one who would be happy to help me get something together please contact me by pm or a post would be even better.
I am thinking of notices on boards in UCC.
If we begin with a gathering and see where we go from there . . .

birdalone

. . because I am not able to use sign language, if there are any deaf people who feel they might like to come along, there is an issue of an interpreter.
I am keen for the members of our group to be enabled within it, that means different things for different people.
I have my own needs too.

How could we go about making it easy for everyone to access the gathering and be able to participate equally too?

I know there is a lot of potential here, and there are people out there with what it will take to make it happen . . and happen well.
We only need a few of us . . .

panda100

I have to admit Im really surprised after reading this thread!

I've started working with UCC DSS this year as a PA and Notetaker, and my experience with them so far has been great.
I worked with Lucan disability action group for years ,which is the organisation that deals with students with disabilities up in Dublin, and UCC seems to be far better organised and ran then the Dublin universitys.

One thing that is frustrating is the complete lack of ISL classes in Cork city. There's only courses for complete beginners or fluent signers.Theres no middle ground! Its really frustrating me that my ISL skills are going to take a huge jump back since Ive moved to cork.

I think theres a coffee morning on Wednesday for students with disability's? Are people on here going to that?
If you do set up a group meeting here from boards I can help assist those students with hearing impairments. My isl is very basic but I can write down what others are saying etc.

birdalone

Your offer is really welcome Panda 100.

I am intrigued by the mention of a coffee morning on Wednesdays for student's with Disabilities.
I have never heard of this and would love to hear some more details if you, or anyone else has them.

Deaf student

One thing that is frustrating is the complete lack of ISL classes in Cork city. There's only courses for complete beginners or fluent signers.Theres no middle ground! Its really frustrating me that my ISL skills are going to take a huge jump back since Ive moved to cork.

There is a deaf club in Mc Curtain street as they provide sign language classes. I think there is one for beginners this month or next month and also not sure for advanced classes where i used to teach before.

I know there were some ISL classes in coummunity school in Blackrock & CIT (Cork Institute of technology).. i'm not sure re these classes now as they don't advertise it in public.

Mythyka29

HI all

The Cork Deaf Association runs classes in Irish Sign Language. See www.corkdeaf.ie for more details. You can also contact the Irish Sign Language Academy courtesy of the irish Deaf Society (www.deaf.ie) who also run some classes in COrk. It's bad timing as classes are just kicking off now but might be worth putting your name down for classes early in the new year.

My own website www.corkinterpreter.com has details about how to go about learning sign language with a view to becoming an interpreter here:

http://corkinterpreter.com/how-to-become-an-interpreter/

- but most of the advice goes for learners of the language as well.


Alvean Jones' online YouTube ISL tutorials are excellent:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mysticvean#p/u/23/bPyT7Opvi2Y



Hope this helps


Cormac

panda100

Thanks for the advice Cormac,I think you were the interpreter at the CDA introductory class a few weeks back

I've decided to do that class but It just a bit of a pain having to go back to the beginning again. I already paid €200 to do a 20 week FETAC course in Limerick and passed their Level 1. Its just a bit of waste of money having to go back to the beginning again and I'm trying to save my funds for my masters in social work! They should really have a national regulated ISL training, it seemes to be different courses all over the place. OK,Sorry rant over

Sorry I didn't mean to derail thread!