DARE - Disability Access Route to Education

 

We have reviewed the most common mistakes which students make when completing a DARE application. You should review the following carefully to make sure that you make a full and complete application to DARE.

1. You must complete your DARE application by the dates specified

• Step 1

  Apply to the CAO at www.cao.ie by 17:15 on 1st February 2012.

• Step 2

No later than 17:15 on 1st March 2012 you must disclose your disability and/or specific learning difficulty in your CAO application and fully and correctly complete Section A of the Supplementary Information Form (the SIF is a part of your CAO application).  If you wish to be considered for the DARE scheme, you must indicate this on Section A of the fully completed SIF by ticking "Yes" to Question 5  by 17:15 on 1st March 2012.

• Step 3

You must return the fully completed Second Level Academic Reference (Section B) and Evidence of Disability (Section C) to the CAO by 17:15 on 1st April 2012.

2. Applying to DARE: If you want to apply to DARE you must tick 'Yes' to question 5 on the Supplementary Information Form before the 1st March. Each year students fail to tick the DARE box and as a result are not eligible to be considered for this scheme.

3. Your Evidence of Disability must be from the accepted Medical Consultant/Specialist: The correct Medical Consultant or Specialist must complete the Evidence of Disability Form as this is one of the main reasons that students are deemed ineligible for DARE. There is a link to a table of the accepted Medical Consultants or Specialists in Section C, and it is also on the first page of the Evidence of Disability Form and on the DARE website at www.accesscollege.ie. You should review this table carefully to be sure that you meet this requirement.

If you already have a report verifying your disability, then you may be able to send this into the CAO instead of the Evidence of Disability Form.  Check to make sure that the report was completed by the accepted Medical Consultant or Specialist, completed within the appropriate timeframe, and contains the same information and level of detail as the Evidence of Disability Form.

Top Tips Section C Evidence of Disability - The following is a summary of this table with tips on things that you must remember.

For Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, verification of your disability must be provided by a Psychiatrist or Psychologist or Neurologist or Paediatrician, and there is no age limit on reports. Remember the most common reason for ineligibility for applicants with Asperger’s Syndrome/Autism is where applicants provide a report from a professional which refers to the initial diagnosis but do not provide that report. For example a report from an Educational Psychologist refers to the initial diagnosis which was made by a Psychiatrist. The applicant only provides the report from the Educational Psychologist and does not provide the report from the Psychiatrist. This applicant would be ineligible as the report from the Psychiatrist making the initial diagnosis must be submitted.

For ADD and ADHD, your verification must be provided by a Psychiatrist or Psychologist or Neurologist or Paediatrician. Remember from 2012 verification of your ADD and ADHD must have been completed within the last 3 years i.e. report must be dated after 1st February 2009. Remember the most common reason for ineligibility from applicants with ADD is where applicants provide a report which refers to the initial diagnosis but do not provide that report. For example the report from an Educational Psychologist refers to the initial diagnosis which was made by a Psychiatrist. The applicant only provides the report from the Educational Psychologist and does not provide the report from the Psychiatrist. This applicant would be ineligible as the report from the Psychiatrist making the initial diagnosis must be submitted.

For blind and vision impaired students, verification of your disability must be provided by an Ophthalmologist or an Ophthalmic Surgeon and, once again, there is no age limit on reports. Remember for blind and vision impaired students your evidence of disability must contain very specific information on your visual acuity scores; field of vision loss; and loss of near vision, central vision or peripheral vision where appropriate.  If this information is not provided, it may not be possible to assess your application and you will be ineligible for DARE.

For Deaf and hearing impaired students, verification of your disability must be provided by an Audiologist.  There is no age limit on reports but the report must confirm the level of hearing loss in decibels.  Remember for deaf and hearing impaired students you must enclose a Bilateral Audiogram with your evidence of disability.  If you do not enclose an Audiogram you will be deemed ineligible for DARE.

Students with Developmental Coordination Disorder, or Dyspraxia as it is more commonly known, and Dysgraphia must provide two reports.  Firstly, you must provide a full psycho-educational assessment completed by a Psychologist, and secondly, you must also provide verification of your disability from an Occupational Therapist or a Neurologist.  The report from an appropriately qualified psychologist must be less than 3 years old i.e. report must be dated after 1st February 2009. There is no age limit on the reports from an Occupational Therapist/Neurologist. Remember you must submit reports from both a Psychologist AND an Occupational Therapist/Neurologist. Failure to do so will make your application ineligible for DARE.

For students with a mental health condition, verification of your disability must be provided by a Psychiatrist.  Reports for students with a mental health condition must be less than 3 years old i.e. report must be dated after 1st February 2009. If your Psychiatrist is unsure of what information to provide in your report there are Guidelines to help them on www.accesscollege.ie.

Students with a neurological condition, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Brain Tumour, Brain Injury or Stroke must provide verification from a Neurologist or another relevant consultant.  Students with speech & language disabilities must provide verification from a Speech and Language Therapist. There are no age limits on reports.

Students with a physical disability must provide verification from an Orthopaedic Consultant or another relevant Consultant appropriate to the disability/condition.  There are no age limits on reports for students with physical disabilities.

Depending on the nature of the illness, there are a number of different consultants that can verify a significant on-going illness.  Let’s take a moment to go through each of these.  Students with Epilepsy must provide verification from a Neurologist.  Students with Type 1 Diabetes must provide verification from an Endocrinologist or Paediatrician.  Verification of Cystic Fibrosis must be provided by a Consultant Respiratory Physician or a Paediatrician.  Verification of Gastroenterology Conditions must be provided by a Gastroenterologist.  For all other conditions, verification must be provided by a relevant Consultant in that condition or a Consultant Registrar or Registrar. Remember for students with a significant on-going illness your evidence of disability must be less than 3 years old i.e. report must be dated after 1st February 2009.

Students with specific learning difficulties, which includes Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, must send in a full psycho-educational assessment instead of the Evidence of Disability Form.  Simply put, a psycho-educational assessment is a report completed by a Psychologist, which confirms if an individual has a specific learning difficulty and how significant that difficulty may be.

There are Four Top Tips to keep in mind regarding psycho-educational assessments:

• First of all, we are looking for a full psycho-educational assessment and not a summary report.  There are guidelines on the CAO website and on the DARE website www.accesscollege.ie, which tell you the level of detail that we are looking for in a psycho-educational assessment.
• Secondly, you should ensure that the correct tests were used during your assessment.  Once again, there are guidelines on the CAO website and www.accesscollege.ie on appropriate tests for diagnosing a specific learning difficulty.  If you are in any doubt, you should print off these guidelines and ask your Psychologist to confirm that the correct tests were used.
• Thirdly, you must ensure that all the test scores are listed in the assessment.  If not, you should print off a Psycho-educational Summary Sheet from the CAO website or www.accesscollege.ie and ask your Psychologist to fill this out.  The Summary Sheet captures information that may be missing from the original report and should be returned to the CAO with the original assessment.  Remember this Summary Sheet will be a compulsory requirement from 2013.
• And finally, is your report less than 3 years old i.e. dated after 1st February 2009?  This is perhaps the most important point as every year we get a lot of out-of-date assessments that are automatically deemed ineligible for DARE. 

4. Now that you have your Evidence of Disability remember to check to make sure that your Evidence of Disability Form is stamped or accompanied by the accepted Medical Consultant/Specialist’s business card/headed paper. Remember if the form is not verified in this way your evidence of disability will not be accepted and you will be ineligible for DARE.

5. Sending your documentation to the CAO: Now that you have all of your documentation together you should post all of the documentation yourself to the CAO, Tower House, Eglinton Street, Galway.  Remember keep photocopies, put your name and CAO number on all documentation, and keep proof of postage.  For convenience there are four certificates of postage slips pre-printed with the CAO’s address on the inside cover of the CAO Handbook.

6. Checking your online DARE application: You should check that you have completed your online application correctly.  Go to www.cao.ie, click on My Application, enter your log in details and check the information you have entered.

7. Eligible for DARE: If you are eligible for DARE this means that you can compete for one of the reduced points places that are reserved for eligible DARE applicants.  You must meet the minimum entry and course requirements to be considered for one of the reduced points places.

8. Not Eligible for DARE: If you are not eligible for DARE, you can still get into college through the CAO if you meet the entry requirements for the course of your choice.  Even if you’re not eligible for DARE you can still avail of a variety of academic, personal and social supports while studying at third level.

9. Checklist: Now that you have reviewed the most common mistakes use this checklist to make sure that you make a full and complete DARE application. Use the DARE Application Guide if you need further information on any of the steps to making an application.

Common Mistakes	Detail	Top Tip	Yes/No
You must complete your DARE application by the dates specified	You must apply to the CAO at www.cao.ie by 17:15 on 1st February 2012. No later than 17:15 on 1st March 2012 you must disclose your disability and/or specific learning difficulty in your CAO application and fully and correctly complete Section A of the Supplementary Information Form (the SIF is a part of your CAO application). If you want to apply to DARE you must tick 'Yes' to Question 5 on the Supplementary Information Form by 17:15 on 1st March 2012. You must return the fully completed Second Level Academic Reference (Section B) and Evidence of Disability (Section C) to the CAO by 17:15 on 1st April 2012.	Late applications are not accepted and are ineligible for DARE. Each year students fail to tick the DARE box and as a result are not eligible to be considered for this scheme.
Your Evidence of Disability must be from the accepted Medical Consultant/Specialist	Refer to the Table of Accepted Consultants/Specialists. This Table outlines the relevant Consultant/Specialist, age of reports and confirms the eligibility criteria.	If the professionals are not as per the Table your application will be ineligible for DARE
Your Evidence of Disability Form must be stamped or accompanied by the accepted Medical Consultant/Specialist’s business card/headed paper.	The stamp or business card verifies the evidence.	If the form is not verified in this way your evidence of disability will not be accepted and your application will be ineligible for DARE.
If you already have a report verifying your disability, you may be able to send this into the CAO instead of the Evidence of Disability Form.	Check to make sure that the report was completed by the accepted Medical Consultant or Specialist, completed within the appropriate timeframe, and contains the same information and level of detail as the Evidence of Disability Form. Remember the Evidence of Disability has been drafted to be easy to complete by professionals and we would recommend that you get this form completed.	If the report is not completed in this way your application will be ineligible for DARE.
Some reports have to be less than three years old	Students with Mental Health Conditions, Significant Ongoing Illnesses, ADD and Specific Learning Difficulties must provide evidence of disability that is less than three years old.	Reports that are out of date make the application ineligible for DARE.
If you have been granted an exemption from Irish at second level you must apply for a language waiver to the relevant third level college if appropriate	Applying to DARE and applying for a language waiver are two separate processes. Students with specific learning difficulties (incl. dyslexia) and students who are deaf/hearing impaired who have been granted an exemption from Irish by their school for their Leaving Certificate must also apply for a language waiver for third level entry to the relevant authority: Students seeking admission to NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth, UCC or UCD need to apply to the National University of Ireland, Merrion Square, Tel 01-4392424, email registrar@nui.ie. Students seeking admission to Trinity College Dublin must make a written application to the Admissions Office, Trinity College Dublin before 1st July of the year of entry. Students seeking admission to the University of Limerick should contact the Admissions Office, University of Limerick Tel 061 202553, email admissions@ul.ie. Detailed information on the language exemption process at third level is available under FAQ section at www.accesscollege.ie.	If you have not been granted a language waiver by the relevant authority you may not matriculate which means that you may not get an offer of a place at that college