Monday, December 23, 2019

Mental Health Stigma

Good mental health is an overall state of wellbeing that allows you to grow and thrive. Although almost 10 million people in the world suffer from a mental health condition severe enough to affect their day-to-day functioning, only 40 percent of adults and 20 percent of adolescents with mental illness receive treatment.

One of the main reasons for poor mental health experiences lies in mental health stigma. The stigma attached to mental illness can aggravate mental health problems, prevent a person from seeking treatment, and hinder their recovery.

Stereotypes about mental illness and how it affects people are present in almost every society. Almost nine out of ten people with mental illness say that stigma has a negative effect on their lives. The stigma usually creates prejudices that cause discrimination. Consequently, discrimination and prejudices often lead to negative actions toward individuals with mental health problems.

Mental health stigma causes people with mental health disorders to have difficulties at school and work, be socially withdrawn, and prevent them from keeping up meaningful, long-term relationships.

Stigma and Masculinity/Masculine Norms

Studies show that men are less likely than women to seek professional mental health help due to masculinity norms and stereotypes that expect them to be tough and behave manly. It seems that men, in general, tend to bottle up their feelings instead of seeking support. Also, studies show that men often choose to seek relief in self-medicating or alcohol and drug abuse.

Fear of failure to meet the masculinity norms of a strong, brave, and assertive man seems to cause men to feel uncomfortable and unsupported by their family, community, and health care system. Therefore, males with mental illness frequently remain unidentified, undiagnosed, and untreated.

A great podcast discussing mental health and masculine norms is the Yorkshire Grit podcast (free on Apple Podcasts).

Mental Illness Stigma among Students

Recent studies show an increase in mental illness rates among the students in the UK, with suicidal thoughts and attempts as a major concern. From July 2016 to July 2017 the rate of suicide for students in England and Wales was 1 every 4 days. Many of these students didn’t seek support or speak out to anyone (this article from the Guardian looks into this further).

One way universities can aid in overcoming mental health stigma is to raise awareness and creating more discussion around different mental health issues. Priory did a survey that found that 90% of students questioned agreed that more could be done by universities to help students with a mental health condition.

mental-health-stigma-among-students-1

How to Fight Mental Illness Stigma?

Western societies still struggle to openly address mental illness. However, removing the stigma from mental illness is a key in encouraging people to open up about their mental health issues and seek support. Personal contact with people who have a mental illness is the best way to overcome mental illness stigma. So, it is vital to encourage people to talk about their challenges. Also, promoting the awareness that no one is immune to psychological disorders is crucial in fighting mental health stigma.

There is a great number of services available to people with mental illness, from counsellors and therapists to online counselling platforms, support groups, and mental health organisations. These professionals and institutions work on reducing mental illness stigma and encouraging people to be more accepting of those who struggle with mental illness.

If you are a student who feels they may be suffering from mental health you may be entitled to the disabled students allowance.

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Saturday, December 21, 2019

Important Changes To The DSA

There have been some important changes to the DSA – Disabled Students’ Allowance.

If you applied for the Disabled Students’ Allowance but still haven’t booked your study needs assessment, on the 18th of December the DSA-QAG website closed down for good.

This means you won’t be able to find and book your nearest assessment centre via the DSA-QAG website and some of the information on your eligibility letter is now outdated and incorrect.

Don’t worry though your DSA application is still valid.

If you are around London or Reading you can book on our website and be seen within 1-3 working days.

Book today to get your support in place for the new year.

If you haven’t yet applied then this change won’t effect you as all correspondence you receive from your funding body will have the new process on it.

All the best,

A2B

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Monday, December 16, 2019

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Overview of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as seasonal depression, is a type of depression with a recurring seasonal pattern. In most people with seasonal affective disorder, the symptoms come and go at the same time every year. SAD occurs with the season change, generally appearing in autumn or early winter and receding during sunny spring and summer days.

About 29 percent of the U.K population experiences symptoms of SAD each year, with women being 40 percent more likely to experience symptoms than men.

Symptoms

Seasonal affective disorder symptoms range from feeling lethargic (lacking energy) and losing interest in everyday activities to feelings of despair, worthlessness, and guilt. However, here are some other signs that you may experience if you suffer from the “winter blues”:

  •       Low self-respect
  •       A constant low mood and sadness
  •       Disturbance in a sleep cycle, from oversleeping to insomnia
  •       Feeling sleepy during the day
  •       Irritability
  •       Apathy
  •       Anxiety and tension
  •       Extreme fatigue
  •       Craving for sweet foods, overeating and/or weight gain

Specific, autumn/winter-related SAD symptoms may include:

  •       Having low energy
  •       Sleeping for longer than normal
  •       Appetite changes and weight gain
  •       Social withdrawing

Alternatively, less common spring-summer depression may include the following symptoms:

  •       Agitation, restlessness or anxiety
  •       Insomnia
  •       Poor appetite and weight loss

Seasonal depression symptoms typically appear between 20 and 30 years of age. However, SAD symptoms may sometimes develop at an earlier age.

SAD Causes

While the specific causes of SAD are still unknown, there are some risk factors that may lead to seasonal depression. These include having depression or bipolar disorder, circadian rhythm disruption caused by a decrease of sunlight during fall and winter, gender, family history of SAD, production of melatonin and serotonin in the body.

seasonal-affective-disorder-sad

When to Seek Support

We all feel blue and lethargic from time to time. However, if you persistently experience a low mood that affects your ability to perform day-to-day activities, you may need to see your doctor.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Treatment

The most effective treatment options for seasonal affective disorder include psychotherapy, medication therapy, and light therapy. Depending on the severity and type of symptoms, different methods of SAD treatment may be used alone or in combination.

  •       Psychotherapy

Talking therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have proven to be effective in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder.

  •       Medication Therapy

Antidepressant medications like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are used to treat seasonal affective disorder. However, talk to your health provider about the possible risks, as these antidepressants have certain side effects.

  •       Light Therapy

Light therapy has been widely used as a SAD treatment since the 1980s. This therapy method uses special light boxes that produce bright, artificial light, simulating exposure to sunlight.

In addition, lifestyle measures such as regular exercise, getting as much natural light as possible, eating nutritious food, and practicing mindfulness meditation have been proven to alleviate SAD symptoms.

Book your DSA Assessment.

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Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Video Blog #7 – The Pomodoro Technique

In this video blog we will be look at with a hack that you can implement into your work plan to help increase your productivity, the great pomodoro technique.

For further information on the Disabled student allowance.

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Thursday, November 21, 2019

MindView Mind Mapping Software

MindView is a mind mapping software that makes it easy to organise and brainstorm ideas with minimal hassle. Some of the features that make MindView unique are it’s collaboration options, project management features and MS Office integration. It’s designed to easily bring your ideas to life.

Professional MS Office integration

One of the top advantages of MindView is that you get immediate access to Excel, PowerPoint and Word templates. That means you can easily create a mind map within the app with templates, and then you can export it to Microsoft Office. It helps immensely if you want to plan out or write an essay in MindView as you can export it straight to a word document and hand it in with minimal editing.

Project Planning features

With MindView you also have the opportunity to create a project plan. You can split your plan into multiple phases if you want to. This is great for things like planning your revision schedule or a big task, such as your dissertation. MindView also allows you to transfer your plan into the prebuilt timeline or Gantt Chart.  

Colloborate with your peers

MindView also has a dedicated workspace where you can easily share your documents. This is great for group work for e.g. If you have to do a group presentation, you could plan it in MindView and then everyone could go away and complete their individual parts, resulting in a complete overview of the presentation all in one place.

Comprehensive mind mapping ideas

Another great benefit provided by MindView is the fact that you have all kinds of mind mapping features ready to go within the app. Aside from the regular notes and attachments, you also have legends, smart nav, pen mode, bookmarks, predictive text suggestions, high contrast, custom style design, automatic citation generation, relationship lines, visual customisation, access to the WorldCat Source Library and many others. It really helps a lot if you want to create complex mind maps, as everything is there for you and all you need is to test it out and give it a try yourself.

Calculation on maps

The MindView mind map software also has calculation-on-maps, if you need to work with statistics, math problems or algorithms. It helps display and calculate numbers on branches. MindView also has complete Excel integration

Visually Engaging

MindView has a catalog with 1500+ clipart illustrations. This helps make your mind maps more appealing by bringing that information to life. There are also multiple map styles you can pick from, based on what template you choose to work with. Having access to external resources like sounds, videos and pictures also comes in handy and it makes the entire experience a lot more interesting because of it.

Connecting multiple mind maps

MindView is one of the few software tools that allow you to create mind maps and also connect them between one another. The interesting thing here is that you can add hyperlinks that will guide you directly to the branch connection in another document. This allows you to have very complex mind maps that span multiple files.

Getting Started With MindView

Following the video below is a great way to get started with MindView…

Conclusion

MindView is one of the best mind mapping tools that you can find on the market at this time. It’s really easy to use, very professional and it offers you a huge range of mind mapping features. Overall, it’s an extraordinary tool to organise your ideas, plan and create your work.

Visit Matchware the creators of MindView

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Monday, November 11, 2019

What is Anxiety: An Overview

It is quite normal to feel nervous, tense, worried or afraid. Feeling such discomfort does not necessarily mean you suffer from an anxiety disorder as normal feelings of apprehension are not the same as anxiety. One of the major features of an anxiety disorder is the feeling of a nonspecific discomfort that can occur without a real reason.

How Common Is Anxiety?

The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that anxiety disorders will become the second most common cause of disability worldwide by 2020. Around 275 million people suffered from anxiety disorders in 2016 globally.

NoPanic.org states that 7.8% of the British population suffer from some form of anxiety or depression.  That’s roughly 1 in every 13 people in the UK.

Females are twice as likely to experience generalised anxiety disorder than males.

Different Types Of Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety refers to a spectrum of mental health disorders. The most common forms of anxiety include:

  • Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
  • Social Anxiety Disorder
  • Panic Disorder
  • Phobias
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

What is anxiety: An overview of the symptoms

Anxiety symptoms may be severe to the extent where they affect our emotions, thinking, and ability to perform day-to-day tasks. Also, anxiety can manifest through physical symptoms. If your emotional, cognitive and behavioral reactions are out of proportion with what is normally expected in a given situation, you may be experiencing anxiety.

Some of the most common emotional and cognitive symptoms of anxiety include:

  • Extreme worry and fear
  • Feeling agitated and irritated
  • Fatigue
  • A generalised fear of pending trouble
  • Feeling a loss of control
  • Attention and focus difficulties
  • A tendency to avoid situations or people that trigger anxiety

At the same time, you may be experiencing a variety of physical symptoms. Some of the most common physical symptoms of anxiety are:

  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Sleep problems
  • Headaches
  • Chest pain
  • Stomach aches
  • Legs and arms numbness
  • Increased heart rate
  • Feeling constantly worn-out
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sweating

Anxiety Causes and Risk Factors

Research shows that many different factors or a combination of these can cause anxiety. Factors that may trigger anxiety include genetics, environmental factors, brain changes, other medical conditions and a person’s own thinking patterns.

Genetics

In a way, anxiety runs in the family. This mental health condition is more common in people whose blood relatives also have anxiety. This NHS article looks into this further.

Environmental factors

Studies show that ongoing day-to-day stress can significantly contribute to anxiety disorders.

Other Illnesses

Other serious underlying medical conditions can cause anxiety disorder.

Brain Changes

Research shows that in some cases, anxiety may result from changes in the brain structure and function as well as from disturbances of hormones that occur as a reaction to stressful or traumatic life events.

Distorted Thinking Patterns

The above were all external factors on anxiety but anxiety symptoms often also develop internally as a result of a person’s insecurity, low self-esteem, self-criticism, and negative thinking patterns.

different-types-of-anxiety-disorders

Anxiety Treatment

While it is not a life-threatening condition, anxiety can be very unpleasant and it can severely interfere with our everyday life. However, anxiety disorders are also highly treatable. The most effective treatments for anxiety are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

There is much scientific evidence that proves the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in treating anxiety. CBT is a short-term and goal-oriented therapy with a focus on specific problems. It has proven to be successful in helping people with anxiety by changing their dysfunctional thought patterns and behaviors

Exposure Therapy

This form of therapy is effective for obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobias. During therapeutic sessions, a person is gradually exposed to a situation or object that triggers fear. By the end of the treatment, the person learns to become less sensitive to a feared object/situation.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is an approach based on cognitive behavioural therapy. It was originally developed as a treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. However, EMDR has lately been used to treat a wide spectrum of mental health issues such as generalised anxiety disorder, phobias, panic attacks, and other mental health conditions.

Self-Help Strategies and Lifestyle Changes

The first step in overcoming anxiety is understanding what you are dealing with. To effectively manage anxiety, you need to understand what is causing it. Learn to recognise the circumstances or people that usually cause feelings of discomfort. Set clear personal boundaries, learn to assertively express your needs and feelings and make positive shifts in your lifestyle.

Practice mindfulness meditation and relaxation techniques such as deep breathing. Studies show that mindfulness can ease anxiety symptoms, boost your optimism, and improve your self-esteem. Also, relaxation techniques like deep breathing or tightening and relaxing your body muscles that can help you feel relaxed and composed. Check out our blog post on Meditation for stress and anxiety or watch our video on 7 ways to relieve stress below…

There is also research to show that social media can affect your mental health and increase feelings of anxiety.  Try to limit your time on apps like Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. For further reading on this check out our post on how social media affects your mental health

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Monday, November 4, 2019

Time Management Tips For Students

Students are often juggling a complex variety of tasks in their lives which can become overwhelming.

Time management is the key.

We all only have twenty-four hours in each day, and it’s critical that we get a full eight hours of sleep in order to have our brain work quickly and efficiently. That leaves us with sixteen hours to manage. The more efficiently we can map out our day, the less stress we experience, the more energy we have, and the more free time we have to do the things we love.

These time management tips for students should help:

Write a Daily Task List

Each morning, write down a daily task list. Do it by hand. Apps and online calendars are handy, but study after study finds that the act of writing something helps it stick more firmly in the brain. Also, writing it means you are reminded, each day, of something that hasn’t gotten done. The more you have to re-write it, the more you get motivated to just do it and get it off your list.

Use Short Term Milestones

If you have a large project, like reading an entire book in a week, don’t just put that on your list. It will seem too daunting and also like something that can be put off. Come up with a reasonable milestone to tackle for today. Read Ten Pages. Put that down. Make sure your tasks are things you actually think could be done in a day.

Strive to always use concrete terms for your tasks. Be able to measure them. Say “revise for half an hour” rather than just “revise”. To boost productivity when doing work you could try the pomodoro technique.

Have Tasks of Different Lengths and Difficulties

Sometimes you’ll have a large block of time become available. Other times, it’s all you can do to find five minutes to breathe. By having a variety of task options on your list, you can work to find what fits where. Similarly, sometimes you’ll be full of energy and at other times you’ll be worn out. By having some easy tasks in there, you’ll have something you can do which is fairly mindless and low stress.

Write Down How Long Tasks Take

A common challenge people have is they underestimate how long a task will take. They figure they can whip through a task in fifteen minutes when in reality it takes a full hour to get it done. That is part of the learning process here. The more you keep track of what the task was and how long it took, the better your estimates will be going forward. That makes your future time planning that much better.

If Tasks Crop Up, Add Them To The List

If something gets added to your work load for the day, add that onto your list. That way you maintain that sense of how much you can realistically do in a given day and how much time it takes. It’s wise to always build in some buffer time to account for those kinds of situations. Life rarely runs exactly the way you plan for it to.

time-management-tips

Review Your List At The End Of The Day

When you finish off your day, take a look down your list and be grateful for the things you were able to get done. This is the time to count your blessings. Yes, not everything gets done – that’s the way life runs. You do your best. You learn and become better.

Then put the list aside. Evening is not the time to be plotting out the details for tomorrow – that’s likely to keep you up at night thinking about what to do and how to do it. Instead, know that your day is now done. Be grateful for all you have learned from today. Dedicate yourself to getting a solid night’s sleep.

If thoughts come up while you are trying to fall asleep that you do have to remember, write them down on a pad by your bed. Tell yourself that you will handle that when you wake up. Then refocus yourself on falling asleep as fully and deeply as you can. Getting a solid night’s sleep is absolutely critical for your energy levels and health.

Every person on this planet, whether they’re young or old, has only twenty-four hours to work with in each day. We all have obligations and responsibilities which need to be handled during those twenty-four hours. And we all have to sleep to maintain our energy and health. We can each take steps to understand our time options, optimise how well we use that time available to us, and improve our time usage from week to week. This lowers our stress levels, raises our contentment, and uncovers the free time we need to do the things we really love.

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Thursday, October 31, 2019

How Social Media Affects Your Mental Health

It’s rare to meet a person today who doesn’t use either Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp or similar apps. Some surveys show that almost 3 billion people use them every day. These applications are fun, useful, and informative. They help us connect with friends, stay in the loop with the latest updates, learn, share, and entertain ourselves. It seems as if we are never alone, as long as we have our smartphones or laptops with us.

However, research shows.  social media can affect your mental health, triggering feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, anxiety or depression. One study found that people who use social media excessively tend to experience frequent mood swings, neglect their personal life, and withdraw from real-life social interactions.

Recognising how and why you use social media and how you feel about it may help you balance your needs and stay mentally fit.

Social Media and Loneliness

We live in the age of social media and filtered reality. While you may feel like socialising with a lot of people while online, studies suggest that that social media use actually leads to feelings of social isolation. A recent study showed the epidemic of loneliness among young adults in the United States. The results indicate that young people 18-24 years old struggle with extreme loneliness and isolation. Namely, 49 percent of them say they sometimes or always feel alone while 43 percent feel their relationships are not meaningful.

A large number of friends or followers on social media doesn’t mean a richer social life. Research shows that it takes an actual social interaction, rather than a virtual one, to keep up our relationships.

It seems that the false impression of a connection that we get from social media increases our feelings of loneliness and isolation. While willing to share the intimate details of our lives online, we often forget how to have a meaningful conversation with a family member, friend on campus or colleague at work.

social-media-bad-for-mental-health

Social Media and Self-Esteem

There is an ongoing pressure to filter every aspect of your life, at the same time comparing your own with other people’s lives that often seem better, prettier, happier. A constant need to compare ourselves with others may lead to feelings of profound isolation, anxiety, dissatisfaction, and depression.

One study on 1,500 people found that 60 percent of people who use social media perceive its negative effects on their self-esteem, causing them to feel inadequate and imperfect. Also, the gap between how we present ourselves online and who we really are can cause feelings of depression, loneliness, irritation and low self-esteem.

Social Media and Anxiety and Depression

Media multitasking is associated with higher depression and social anxiety symptoms among university students, another study shows.

Also, a study published in Computers and Human Behavior found that people who use three or more use social media platforms are three times as likely as people using up to two platforms to develop general anxiety symptoms such as feelings of apprehension, difficulties concentrating and sleep troubles. Additionally, the artificial lighting on your devices can inhibit the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that helps you fall asleep. 

social-media-depression

How to Balance Social Media

1.     Take Breaks

To successfully balance the use of social media, you need to learn to take healthy breaks from it. Start by reflecting on how much time do you spend following someone, getting lost in the feed or looking at other people’s posts that bring you down. For example, you can practice taking a break from your phone 15 minutes in the morning when you start your day or right before bed.

Even if you don’t feel like you have the problem with the internet overuse, taking breaks from your devices can be healthy and positive. Our previous blog post on Forest can help with this. 

2.     Practice Mindfulness

Most social apps are designated to have an endless feed that keeps you scrolling down infinitely and mindlessly. So, try the opposite and learn mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a skill that empowers you to focus on the present without trying to interpret or self-judge. In other words, mindfulness allows you to notice what’s going on while you spend time on social media. For example, try reflecting on why you are on your phone or what motivates you to keep scrolling through the feed. For further reading on Mindfulness check our blog post here.

 3.     Set the Boundaries

It is important that you use social media responsibly and thoughtfully. In other words, pay attention to the ways in which you share your thoughts, feelings, posts, and photos online and be mindful of the content you share. Much like in the real world, we need to set healthy boundaries between ourselves and others on the internet as well.

These boundaries will help you feel safe and comfortable. For example, if you’re sharing your opinion about something that happened at the university, be mindful of how do you feel about sharing it, who will see it, what kind of reactions it may bring about and how those would make you feel. The same goes for sharing your pictures and emotional states.

No one can deny that social media has brought numerous advantages to our lives. So, we can’t consider it generally a bad thing. However, research and everyday experience show us that social media has the power to affect our mental health and interpersonal relationships if we don’t find a healthy way to balance it.

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Monday, October 28, 2019

Dragon Dictate DSA Software

Dragon Dictate DSA Software allows you to carry out a range of tasks on your computer (Windows OS only) using verbal dictation. 

Features

You can use Dragon for many actions that you normally would have to use a touchscreen or a mouse for. There are a few basic commands which help you start up, like “open”, “send an email” or “close this webpage”. But there are also many more advanced voice commands that allow you to control many other aspects of your computer. (click here for full voice command list) 

Beyond using Dragon for commands and controlling the functions of your computer, you can also use it to dictate text. For example, if you had to write an essay or an email. Studies show that your average person can dictate up to 3x faster than typing and Dragon is 99% accurate.

Another big feature of Dragon is its learning ability. When you speak, it learns to recognise your voice and the way you pronounce certain words. This means the more you speak and the software learns the more accurate it becomes.

Dragon Dictation Software and disabilities

If you have Dyslexia or another disability that affects your ability to write or sit at a computer then Dragon can be immensely helpful:

  • If you find it easier to articulate your ideas rather than write them down then Dragon will allow you to do this.
  • If you have slow typing speed then Dragon will allow you to compose work with speeds up to 120 words per minute (the average typer only does 40 words per minute).
  • Using Dragon means spelling errors are completely eliminated.
  • If you are dictating and you pause naturally while talking then this is where punctuation should go. Being aware of this can help with sentence structure when composing your work.
  • If you sometimes use the wrong word e.g they, their and they’re, when dictating Dragon will use the correct word for the sentence.
  • Dragon is also very helpful in alleviating ergonomic issues. If sitting in front of your computer for too long or typing on a keyboard causes you pain, then dictating will allow you to continue working from any position and without having to type.
  • Using voice recognition, you also don’t need to be looking at your screen, allowing you to rest your eyes or pace around while dictating a document or email.

Where can you buy Dragon?

If you are a student studying with a disability then it may be recommended for you during your study needs assessment and provided as part of your equipment allowance from your disabled students allowance.

Dragon can also be ordered online through the Nuance stores.

Getting Started With Dragon

The below video shows how to get started and some of the functions…

Dragon Alternatives

If you are using Windows 10 or above then you can use the built in speech to text function (learn more).

If you are an Apple user then unfortunately Dragon isn’t available. You can however use Apple’s Voice Control function which works well (learn more).

Google Dictate is another option that works very well on both Windows and Mac, however it can only be used with the Google Chrome browser and Google Docs (learn more).

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Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Meditation for Stress and Anxiety

Stress and anxiety are all around us in our modern world. News stations show negativity 24/7. Social media and mobile phones add to the chaos. And for students who have extra tasks on their shoulders, it can be hard sometimes just to get out of bed to face a new day.

Meditation for stress and anxiety can help. It’s the solution for a world which sometimes can seem to have gone wrong.

What Is Meditation?

Meditation is like a personalised training session for the brain. We understand that to make an arm get stronger we do physical exercises such as push-ups or arm curls. Our brain needs that same kind of exercise to build its ability to function smoothly. By engaging in regular practice sessions, we reap a wealth of benefits not just for the brain but for the body as a whole.

What are the Benefits of Meditation?

Meditation is one of the most powerful investments you can make in yourself. That’s because the mind is not a separate entity that works in solitary isolation. Your mind literally interacts with and controls every other aspect of you, from how well you sleep at night to how well your stomach digests food.

That means a meditation practice brings:

Better mental functioning. From increased concentration to improved memory, from lowered stress to reduced depression, all aspects of how your mind works are lifted through meditation. Your sleep rhythms fall into better line. Better sleep leads to clearer thought. The benefits cascade into each other.

Better physical functioning. Your mind is tightly tied to every other aspect of your body. It controls how actively your immune system fights off colds and invaders. It controls how well your digestive system processes nutrients. At night, your mind sends out the legions of clean-up crews to repair and rebuild your muscles and tissues.

Better emotional functioning. When a body is stressed, the stress hormones which flood the system cause all sorts of damage to muscles, tissues, and organs. On the other hand, when the body is in a relaxed, calm state, they body is far better able to repair and heal itself. Meditation helps the mind deal with challenges and pressures in a calm, even-keeled manner. It lets the thoughts work through issues without adding the stress hormones into the mix.

Better compassion and empathy. Humans are trained by evolution to focus in on themselves when challenges appear. It is simply harder to invest energy in helping someone else when you can barely get yourself out of bed. Through meditation, you are able to get yourself into a better position where you can now be present for your family, friends, and larger community.

meditation-for-anxiety-and-stress

A Meditation for Stress and Anxiety

This meditation can be done anywhere at any time where you can pause for a few minutes. Practice this and add it to your toolkit of ways to deal with stress and anxiety.

If possible, sit or lie down. If you aren’t able to, stand with your feet hip-width apart and balance yourself evenly on both feet. Let your gaze go soft, so you’re not really looking at anything in particular. Let your hands relax.

Breathe.

Take in a long, slow, deep breath, filling your upper chest, mid chest, and lower abdomen. Let your abdomen fill out like a balloon. Feel the nourishing oxygen flowing into you, bringing its energy and health into every corner of your lungs.

Pause.

Breathe out, out, letting your body expel the toxins and negativity. Let your body release the carbon dioxide and waste. You don’t need that any more.

Pause.

Breathe in, slower, deeper, feeling the air move past your nostrils with a gentle movement. Focus on that sensation. On the oxygen-rich air flowing into you, revitalising you, nourishing you.

Pause.

Breathe out, out, out, releasing the used carbon dioxide from your system. You’re done with that. Your body releases all it no longer needs. Feel how the breath moves past your nostrils.

Pause.

As you continue to breathe in and out, fuller and deeper, pay attention to that sensation at the edge of your nostrils. Focus just on that feeling.

Thoughts will poke their way in. That’s how thoughts work. When they do, be aware of them as drifting clouds. The thoughts are not you. They are simply clouds which go past the sky of your mind. The thoughts do not define you. They are waves in your ocean. Watch them come, watch them go, and return your attention to your nostrils.

Breathe.

You’ll find again that you’ve been distracted by thoughts. That’s all right. The point of meditation to build your skill with returning from distraction. When you realise you’ve been pulled away again, compassionately smile and then let that cloud drift on. Return your attention to your breath. To the inflow of oxygen. To the outflow of all you no longer need.

Breathe.

Continue this for the time you have. Even just two or three minutes can bring an improvement, if you’re able to do it regularly. Find a way to work meditation into your normal routine. It will help every aspect of your health, from the physical to emotional to spiritual.

For other ways to relieve stress check out this article and video.

Thanks for reading,

A2B Assessments DSA Assessment Centre

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Friday, October 18, 2019

Upcoming Event: AccessHE University Info Day

Here at A2B Assessments we are always on the look out for great events that we can get involved with, help out and promote.

If you’re a school or college student studying with a disability then we have the perfect event for you. 

On Wednesday the 6th of November (11am-3pm) at London Metropolitan University, North Campus (Holloway Road) AccessHE will be hosting a one off event to answer any questions you may have about continuing your studies in higher education.

Attendees Will:

  • Visit a university campus and understand the support available for disabled and dyslexic students, including mental health & wellbeing support and those with hidden disabilities.
  • Hear a motivational talk on university life and study from disabled students/alumni 
  • We are getting involved and will be presenting a talk on the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA), needs assessments, additional funding and more.
  • Ease concerns and ask questions during panel Q&A sessions for both students and parents/teachers 
  • Participate in an interactive workshop on assistive technologies.
  • Take part in an accessible campus tour with student ambassadors and/or a showcase of assistive technologies and equipment in the on-site centre
  • Be provided with a free lunch and refreshments

Captions for the event will be provided by AI Media.

How To Attend:

Please note, this is a ‘booking only’ event. Places are limited and allocated on a first come, first served basis so we encourage you to book on ASAP to avoid disappointment.

This event is for school (year 11+) or college students with a disability considering university.

Click here to book

If you have any questions about this event or are looking to book for a large group of people, please email accesshe@londonhigher.ac.uk

View the event flyer

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Thursday, October 17, 2019

Guest Post: STAART

In this guest post we have invited Melanie from STAART to tell us more about what they do. STAART is a group for disabled and dyslexic people considering going to university, and current disabled students. The purpose of the group is to provide information and good practice concerning disabled students in further and higher education. Over to Melanie…

Hello everybody. My name is Melanie and I am a disability outreach officer at the University of Greenwich. There are two main aspects to my job – STAART Ambassadors and the overall STAART initiative.

STAART ambassadors are current disabled students at the University of Greenwich who have been through a rigorous (but gentle) application and interview process. If you do not have at least one disability, you cannot join our team. STAART ambassadors generally apply to become specialist ambassadors as they received little, or no sensible advice themselves when they applied for their university place. This is often as a result of being given the wrong advice – the main one being told not to tick the disability or learning difficulty’ box on their UCAS applications. Prospective students are continually told they will not get an interview and/or place if they tick the box. This is a blatant lie. In reality, admission officers have no idea about gender, race, disability, etc. of the applicants. We know that this situation is still happening as the STAART attend our Open Days and hear this bad practice is still ongoing.

The benefits of being STAART ambassador are numerous. They have the support of myself and each other; they can work around their studies; they get paid; and have opportunities they would never have experienced otherwise, such as representing STAART at conferences and welcoming disabled students from Zayed University in Dubai. I would say the biggest advantage is of the active STAART who graduate, 90% of them achieve a First Class or 2:1 degree – the highest possible classifications.

The STAART initiative was launched in summer 2016 but is the accumulation of ten years experience of supporting disabled students with their transition into university. As I am an outreach officer, rather than a recruitment officer, my role is to support disabled students going to any university. STAART provides workshops; external events; drop-ins; specialist transition days; and social media. Whilst we have only been in existence for three years, we would definitely say the initiative has been a success.  Below is a photo taken at our STAART end of year picnic in Greenwich park in August.

STAART

My personal journey through university has not been easy and I am very honest with prospective students. I nearly had to leave my BA Sociology due to my mental health having a bit of a breakdown and I had to interrupt my doctorate for two years when I was put on morphine patches. Aside from work, I love travelling, Dr. Martens, our cats, Scrabble and wildlife.

If you are considering university, myself and my team may be able to support you. Here is our webpage which has much more information – STAART Web page.

If you would like to join us on Facebook, here is the link: STAART Facebook Page

We’d like to thank Melanie for the guest post,
A2B Assessments,
DSA Assessment Centre

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Monday, October 14, 2019

5 Tips For Giving Amazing Presentations

Presenting in front of people can be anxiety inducing and stressful. As a student,  it’s extremely likely that at some point on your course you are going to have to deliver an oral presentation, either to your whole tutor group or just to your tutor.  Here are some tips to help get you through

1. Prepare Well in Advance

You need to be well prepared to give a great presentation. Never leave anything until the last minute as it may result in nerves during the presentation. Gather all the materials and equipment you need including the visual aids, the equipment, and presentation notes and cues well before the day of the presentation. You can write the notes but it is always advisable to practice the presentation several times before the day so that you do not have to rely on the notes. If you practice well beforehand you should have index cards with cues about your presentation rather than reading word for word from prepared text, which may be less engaging for the audience.

2. Use the Audience to Make a Good Presentation

A good speaker is always thinking of the needs of the audience. You need to take into account what the audience wants and their level of education and understanding of the subject matter. You can then tailor your oral presentation to those attributes. The most important person in the room may be the tutor but they may also use the response levels of the audience to rate your presentation. Latch onto the needs of the audience and present in a manner that makes everyone feel included to get a good grade. For instance, you can include visual aids, and charts to show effort in research and an understanding of subject matter for the tutor. For the students in the audience, you can tone down the language and vocabulary and include a questions section to make everyone feel included in the presentation.

student-presentation-tips

3. Use Visuals Wisely

While visuals should not be the center of your presentation, they are a good complement. However, you need to be careful with how you use visual aids so that they do not take over your presentation. Slides and videos need to be short and brief summaries and illustrations of the concepts you are discussing. Ensure you use clear images, reasonably sized fonts, and short phrases so that you do not fall into the trap of just reading from slides. Slides should always be succinct and be a starting point from where the audience gets an overview of what you are discussing, while you develop and expand the concepts.

4. Practice Your Delivery

You will be judged within the first five minutes of getting on stage and hence you need to ensure that your delivery is the best it can be. To ensure a good delivery you should:

1. Measure your speech such that you are neither speaking too slow or too fast.

2. Rehearse and try to get out any verbal tics such as saying uhhm… and ahhh… which may distract the audience.

3. Stand straight with your shoulders back and get something to keep your hands busy such as a pen, a phone, a cue stick or anything that will keep the hands occupied.

4. Rehearse and check for the appropriate pronunciation of words you are encountering for the first time.

5. Project your voice to an acceptable level such that you are just loud enough to be heard but are not shouting.

6. Maintain eye contact but move your eyes across the room resting on different persons and not only the tutors. This helps to engage the audience which will respond better to the presentation. 

presentation-tips

5. Follow a Model

Find great models of good presentations on the subject you will be speaking about. Your tutor may have archives of successful presentations from last year which can act as a guide for your presentation. You can also get cues from the speaking techniques of authorities in the field that can inform the format you will take in your presentation. Nonetheless, the general model for a successful presentation typically involves.

1. Telling the audience what you are going to tell them.

2. Telling them.

3. Telling them what you just told them.

Following a model is very important in oral presentations as it helps the audience cling to orientation phrases that help them understand where they are in the speech. Unlike a written presentation, the audience cannot skip ahead or skim. They need you to tell them of the transitions and overall structure if they are not to get bored with the speech. 

Conclusion

Giving a presentation in front of the class or your tutors can be a daunting prospect. However, it does not have to be so if you follow our 5 tips for giving amazing presentations . By being prepared, setting goals, practicing and having a cohesive structure to your oral presentation, you can impress your tutor and get a good score. You do not have to implement all the tips in the article at once, but working on a few areas at a time will significantly improve your public speaking skills over time. 

Learn more about A2B Assessments DSA Assessment Centre.


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Thursday, October 10, 2019

World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day, a day aimed at increasing awareness around mental health.

Visit https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/world-mental-health-day for plenty of useful articles around mental health and to learn more about World Mental Health Day. Mind also have some useful information.

Ed Sheeran and Prince Harry have also teamed up for this hilarious video to increase awareness…

The post World Mental Health Day appeared first on A2B Assessments DSA Needs Assessment Centre.

Monday, September 30, 2019

Accessibility Features on iOS

The iPhone has a number of accessibility features built in to its operating system (iOS). These features not only make it easy for regular users to conveniently customise how their phone behaves, but also improve the usability for many people who have disabilities.

Among these accessibility features include:     

VoiceOver 

This feature is designed to help guide the blind. It is a gesture-based feature that reads the screen thus enabling you to use your phone even if you can’t see. It tells you everything, from the app you’re touching to battery level and more. This feature is enabled by going to settings, in the search bar at the very top type accessibility, VoiceOver can do things such as:

• Telling you what’s on the screen

• Description of images and reading of texts in images

• Typing on braille keyboard, unlocking the device and launching apps

• Pronunciation of words and phrases using the Pronunciation Editor

• Description of audio files

• Zooming of texts and pictures

• Adjustment of fonts

click through to the accessibility settings and turn on voice over.

accessibility-features-on-ios-voiceover-2

Hearing Aid features

The Apple hearing aids are to be used by those with hearing impairments. Based on an innovative Bluetooth technology, the hearing aid features come with exclusive sound processors that deliver outstanding sound quality. The features are easy to customise and use. It can be paired with a hearing device and used in noisy environments. Among these features include Mono Audio and Live Listen. 

Mono Audio allows you to adjust the audio channels in both ears so you can enjoy a balanced sound. It is ideal in case you have a problem in one or both ears. 

accessibility-features-on-ios-hearing-aid

Live Listen

Live listen uses a microphone to collect sound and make them clear to you. Textphone software is another cool feature that enables you to make calls without using any hardware. Textphone transcripts are stored in the call history. It also has a special keyboard with shortcuts for common textphone commands. 

iphone-accessibility-features-live-listen

Vibrating and Visual Alerts

Vibrating and visual alerts prompt you in case there is a phone call, mail or text message. Just set the LED flashlight to see when there is a notification. 

iMessage allows you to initiate a conversation without hearing a word or saying anything. With the feature, you can also send group messages to many people in different locations. 

iphone-vibrate

Assistive Touch 

With AssistiveTouch, you can quickly adapt to your phone’s Multi-Touch screen. It supports gestures such as pinch, rotate, and shake and many more. You can make these features accessible with just a tap of a finger. 

assistive-touch-ios

Touch Accommodations

Touch Accommodations makes your device to adjust depending on how you touch it. It recognises how long you touch it or even repeated touches. 

iphone-touch-accommodation

Reading and Learning 

Those with learning disabilities like dyslexia can also enjoy accessibility features like Speak Selection, Speak Screen, Predictive Text or Typing Feedback. The features can be added to functions like writing messages, long documents or reading emails. 

Speak Selection allows you to highlight specific texts, sentences, and words you want to hear. Typing Feedback speaks out every single letter you type while Predictive Text provides suggestions of words you can choose to reduce spelling errors. 

Other accessibility features that make your reading smooth include Dictionary and Safari Reader. When stuck on some terms, the dictionary can help you. Safari Reader helps to reduce clutter when reading and navigating the web. 

accessibility-features-ios-reading-and-learning

Siri Shortcuts

This feature helps you to accomplish most of your day-to-day tasks. You can set it to remind you about making a reservation, send a message to someone or even make a playlist.  Only available from iOS 12 and later.

FaceTime 

FaceTime allows you to visually communicate using gestures, facial expression or sign language. 

Guided Access and Screen Time

People with conditions such as autism and other sensory problems can get help on focusing on specific tasks by using this feature. A teacher or parent can limit the phone to stay on the current screen or app for a specified time. Keyboard and touch access can also be limited or disabled using this feature. Such acts can disrupt learning or reading. 

accessibility-ios-guided-access

Switch Control 

Switch Control is made for those with physical motor-related problems. The feature is customisable depending on how you want to use. It lets you navigate through various items on the screen and perform certain actions using hardware that is Bluetooth-enabled. You can switch platforms, synchronise with other devices or with your iCloud account using your phone. This eliminates the need to set up different switches on every single device. 

Thanks for reading.

Find out more about our DSA assessment centre.

The post Accessibility Features on iOS appeared first on A2B Assessments DSA Needs Assessment Centre.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Seeing AI By Microsoft – Free Software Showcase

Seeing AI by Microsoft combines the power of AI and the cloud to deliver an intelligent app that narrates the world around you. The app helps the visually impaired and the blind see or get around or navigate their world with better ease. 

The Seeing AI App is for the blind or low vision community that have problems functioning in a world made for people with good vision. It provides productivity and ease of tools for labeling utilities, obstacle or object recognition, and reading printed text. While there are many apps out there that can do the same things, there is no one single app that can do everything it does.

How it Works

The app uses the phones camera and computer vision to analyse what is in front of the phone including objects, text, and people. It then relays the information to the user via the computer assistant that communicates through your phone’s speakers.

It is divided into several navigational channels corresponding with technologies that would make life easier for people with a visual impairment. 

These channels are Scene, Person, Currency, Product, Documents, and Short Text (the Scene and Person channels are still in development).

Short Text – The feature uses the phone’s camera to search for printed material. Once it finds it, it uses optical recognition software to translate the printed material to machine text that is read out to the user through the phone’s speakers. It can be great if you are going through your mail, reading menus, or need to find a hotel room number.

Document – The feature uses optical recognition software to read documents. All you need to do is aim your camera phone towards the page of a document and the software will provide prompts when the corners and edges are all visible to the camera lens. Once they are all visible, it will prompt the user to hold steady and then automatically take a photo that will be sent to the cloud servers for processing. Once it has been processed, it uses voiceover to read out the document, including the formatting.

Product – This comes with a barcode scanner that makes it easy to scan the barcode on products to identify the product and details such as ingredients, directions, and any other pertinent details. Locating the barcode can be quite the hustle which is why the Seeing AI beeps when it spots it and increases the rate of the beep when you move closer to the barcode. Once it is close enough to the code, it will snap the code and using AI will identify what the product is, including the details.

Person – Seeing AI uses object recognition software to recognise people’s faces. If you have a library of photos of family and friends, the app will tell you when one of those people is near when you point the camera at them. The app guides you to center the face of the person and then tells you to snap the picture. It will then estimate their emotion such as frowning or smiling. If the person is in your image database it will also read out their name once their face is in focus.

Currency – The app uses object recognition software to identify the denomination of the currency through and then reads it out to you (unfortunately this currently only recognises US dollars).

Scenes – This is an ongoing project in beta with experimental features that you have to turn on in settings. When you take photos the AI recognises the objects, then gives a description of it such as “probably a man sitting on a couch” or “street corner with signs”.

Recognise Images in other Apps – It uses object recognition software to identify objects in apps on your phone such as WhatsApp, Twitter, and Mail.

Other features include an audible tone for corresponding to the brightness of the surrounding; description of the perceived colour and reading out loud handwritten text. 

Where to download…

The Seeing App is currently only available on the App Store where you can download it onto your iOS devices for free.

For further information on the Microsoft Seeing AI app and for video demos of each function click here.


Further information on our DSA assessment centre.

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Monday, August 12, 2019

Calm Harm Stops Self Harm

The Calm Harm app is an iOS and Android app developed by Consultant Clinical Psychologist Dr. Nihara Krause. Using principles derived from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the app teaches impulse control, emotional regulation and tracking of underlying triggers so that users can be more equipped to overcome the urge to self-harm.

Who the App is for?

If you are a student with mental health difficulties and you sometimes feel the urge to self harm then this app might be able to help. The app is designed specifically for young adults who are looking to be free of the physical and emotional pain of self-harm. 

How Calm Harm Works?

According to DBT, the urge to self-harm is like a wave that is most powerful at the outset and diminishes as the person resists it.

The app aims to help users to ‘surf the wave’ of self-harm, through a choice of several activities. The activities are in the following categories:

  1. Distract – The user can select a range of activities to distract themselves
  2. Comfort – The user can select from activities that provide comfort in times of distress 
  3. Express – The user gets to express themselves in several ways to relieve their feelings
  4. Release – The user provides several ways of releasing tension that they can use instead of self-harm

Self-harm can be an uncontrollable urge that is driven by a wide range of reasons specific to the individual. The app recognises the individual complexity in the nature of self-harm and provides a range of activities to suit different needs. 

Since what may work at one time may not work the next time, there are many activities to try out depending on the personality of the individual. The different activities are also categorised so that it’s easy to decide which one to use depending on the intensity of emotions being felt. The app works on an incremental strengthening of the users will.

Calm Harm also comes with additional features that include a list of resources, including country-specific hotlines and websites to gain access to material related to psychological health and social support to deal with family problems, self-harm, and associated issues. Users can also get to personalise their activities, keep a personal log, and maintain a personal emergency contact list. The list may include important people to call such as adults or friend that can offer support when they need it. 

With its multiple methods to release anger, to calm and to distract combined with the many resources the app offers, it provides a powerful toolbox to deal with the wave of self-harm when it arises. 

Where To Download

The App is available for free on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

All the best,

A2B Assessments

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Thursday, August 8, 2019

Specsavers Are Offering Free Eye Tests

You only get one pair of eyes, so it’s essential that you take good care of them. Huge eye-care brand Specsavers are offering free eye tests if you go to the branch on or before August 31st 2019. If you have been feeling like you have been straining your eyes lately or you just want to check everything is A-OK like it should be, this is a great opportunity.  

As a student, you might not feel you have the extra money to throw at this kind of thing, and now you don’t have to. If during the eye test they discover your vision is not so good, then you can begin the process to improve your vision either in the form of glasses or contact lenses. 

So how does the free eye test actually work? Start by entering your postcode on the Specsavers website and find the nearest store to you that offers this deal. Select a store, print a voucher and then book your appointment. During your appointment, show that voucher for everything to be completely free of charge. Don’t have a printer? That’s fine, you can simply show the voucher on your phone or tablet. 

An eye test does not take long to do and it should be pretty easy to fit into your day-to-day life. It’s definitely worth it. You don’t have long left to secure your slot so if you’re interested do it ASAP.

Visit Specsavers

All the best, A2B

The post Specsavers Are Offering Free Eye Tests appeared first on A2B Assessments DSA Needs Assessment Centre.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Adjusting To Life After University

Adjusting to life after university can be an exhilarating experience. There is a feeling of immense pride that after years of skipped meals, all-nighters and serious stress over exams you have finally attained your objective and graduated. You feel great for about three weeks and then things start to change. You get a pervasive feeling of loss and a heightened sense of uncertainty as you no longer have the familiar schedules and routines that you had as a student. University does provide a cocoon of familiarity and community with mentors, teachers, and friends that provide advice and support. It is not uncommon for students to become anxious and even depressed after graduation. However, you do not have to feel lost after graduation, follow these tips to ease the transition from student university life to adult professional life.

Make New Friends

Not being with friends that you have spent years with can be one of the most difficult things to cope with after graduation. You need to be creative in keeping in touch with your uni friends, if you’re all in different cities try and get a WhatsApp group together and make the effort to meet up when you can. 

What will help you, even more, is creating new friends in your professional circles. While making friends is not so easy as compared to when you were in college and university, it can still be done. You can start with your colleagues and you will be surprised at how many close friends you can make. You can also make new friends while engaging in social activities such as sports clubs and the gym. 

Be Patient

One of the biggest disappointments you may experience may be having to adjust to a life or job that is not aligned to your passions. After graduation, you may have to work in a job that you have no passion for and live below your expectations. As an adult with new responsibilities, you may have to take whatever is offered and be patient to build on that. Job offers are typically few and far between and hence even if you have to take boring jobs, you have to be patient. Use these opportunities as a stepping stone for bigger things more aligned with your expectations or passion.

Set New Goals

In college, you may have gotten by doing all nighters a few days before exams and been able to get away with missing classes, but in real life, you will need to set new priorities. It is no longer about passing exams that are a few weeks away but more about adult responsibilities. You need to set new goals such as paying off your loans and saving money. To regain the sense of striving towards something and achievement, you should set a goal such as going back to school for postgraduate studies or saving enough for a deposit on a house or apartment. Having goals will give you a sense of purpose and increase your drive making you adjust faster to adult life. 

Turn Uncertainty Into Opportunity

Decide to be positive about the challenges you encounter in your professional and social life. Acknowledge that turmoil is natural and is likely happening to most of your friends too. As such, you should take any challenges as opportunities to build yourself towards professional and personal excellence. For instance, if you are having problems grasping complex concepts at work, do not take it negatively but as a learning opportunity. Seek out mentors and more experienced colleagues to help you with the challenge and learn a new skill in the process. If you have been rejected by a hiring manager when you thought the job was in the bag, call the company and ask for feedback on how you could improve in the future.

Accept Your Changing Identity

Your identity has been tied to your education for most of your life. As an adult professional you need to acknowledge that this is changing fast and your professional life is becoming more important. While it may be an uncertain time as you try to find yourself, acknowledging your changing identity and embracing it will help reduce anxiety and go a long way to help you adapt to changing circumstances. Be reasonable with your expectations such as what job you can get and how fast you can move up the ladder. You can get a good job right from the start but the important thing is to not get disappointed or frustrated when you start spinning wheels.

Conclusion

Adjusting to life after university can be a daunting and frustrating experience. However, it does not have to be, given that a lot of people that went before you had the same experience and came out just fine. By being patient, adopting new habits and acknowledging your new and changing identities and circumstances, you can come out of the experience stronger. By following the tips in this article you can enter into responsible adulthood and achieve a lot in your professional life.

All the best,

A2B Assessments.


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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Your Landlord

It’s that time of year where students are moving from student halls to houses and while many landlords are good people, there are some who take advantage of the relative inexperience of students. There are tons of horror stories of landlords ignoring damp ceilings and peeling paint while charging an arm and a leg for a shoebox-sized room. So what can you do to avoid the money grabbing, dodgy and unscrupulous landlords? The following tips will show you how to avoid getting ripped off by your landlord;

1. Keep Records Of Everything

No matter how much you love and trust your landlord, you need to document every transaction and correspondence. If you ever discuss anything in relation to your contract, whether it is in person or over the phone, insist on a written record or email them so that you have a record of it. You also need to keep the receipts of all payments you make to the landlord in the form of rent or repairs to the property. This way, if you agree that the landlord has to repair the broken toilet or that you will repair it and you can deduct it from the rent, he cannot dispute the agreement.

2. Rent From A University Approved Landlord

Some universities will have a list of preferred and approved landlords in the locality. Check the list to find some good landlords who are less likely to give you problems with your tenancy. If you cannot get somewhere from the list of approved landlords, find accreditation schemes or websites that review student residences. Most of these will have reviews that can tell you a lot about a potential landlord.

Unipol is a good example of a student housing site which has landlord reviews.

3. Insist On A Deposit Protection Scheme

The law requires that every landlord puts your deposit in a scheme such as Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The money has to be deposited with one of the services within 14 days or you can take the landlord to court. Having your deposit in a scheme means that in case of a dispute when you are moving out of the house, your money will be protected by a neutral party until you resolve the dispute with the landlord. The scheme will usually be involved in resolving the dispute and will listen to the facts and look at the evidence from both parties before making a decision.

4. Have Repairs And Maintenance Written Into The Contract

You hear stories of students who had to deal with ceilings hanging dangerously low, leaking roofs, and mouldy walls. Such properties can be very dangerous and could lead to injury and illness if the landlord refuses to fix them up. To protect yourself from uncaring landlords that do not maintain the property, get everything in writing such that you can have legal recourse. It is also critical to have it written into the contract who will be responsible for minor and major repairs. Some aspects to consider include if the landlord asks you to do repairs, how will the cost be recouped? Will it be in the form of reduced rent or will the landlord reimburse you?

5. Take Photographs Of Everything

There are crooked landlords who will give you an inventory that may not necessarily be true. They may leave out some truths such as broken fittings, cracked windows and chipped paint, and then try to charge you when the lease is over. To prevent being ripped off by such landlords, take photographs of every inch of the apartment before signing the agreement. Take photographs and rectify any discrepancies in the inventory by indicating all damage. Ensure that the landlord has copies of all the photographs by sending them to their email so that you have evidence when you are moving out.

6. Read the Contract And Understand Everything Thoroughly Before Signing

We typically just breeze through the terms and conditions of say a mobile phone contract and accept everything without really reading in too much detail. However, you cannot afford to do this with student housing contracts. Crooked landlords will hide small things in the contract and if you are not careful, you may find yourself charged for the most ridiculous things when your lease is up. Check for unfair clauses such as statements that say the landlord can amend the lease at any time or that you may have to pay for structural repairs. If you find such clauses in the contract, ask for clarification but if you can ask for them to be removed or look for a different property all together.

7. Do Not Accept Anything Less Than What You Paid For

Never let the landlord have any excuses for why the property is not in good condition. When you are moving in, the property needs to be in the expected condition. Never accept a shoddy apartment with broken fittings or bad paint. If the landlord does not agree to fix up the house, ask for your rent and deposit back.

Conclusion

Students are sometimes not necessarily the best tenants but a lot of landlords take advantage of them because of their inexperience. If you follow the tips in this article you can significantly reduce the odds of getting ripped off and get to enjoy your student housing.

A2B Assessments

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