Chapter thirty
STUDYING FOR PLEASURE
OR FOR A PURPOSE
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Chapter thirtySTUDYING FOR PLEASURE
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Note: This is the original text of the chapter in the 1992 book and it has not been updated. Page numbers refer to pages in the book.
Some ways of overcoming study problems caused by the arthritis
YPA tales to spur you into action
Still at school? Some brief notes
For everyone: where to start
Some of the many qualifications you could study for
Further education (FE)
Studying for pleasure/adult education (AE)
Distance learning
Higher education (HE)
Other helpful bodies
Financing your studies
By 'studying' I mean both academic and non-academic skills – anything that broadens the horizons. Anything that expands and emphasises abilities, not disabilities. When the brawn's not what it used to be, let the brain take the strain.
Some of us have had our schooling interrupted by the arthritis, but determine to make up for it later. It's never too late. Others of us manage to notch up sufficient qualifications and schooling to go straight on to further studies of some sort – vocational training, or further and higher education at a college, polytechnic, or university.
Some of us develop arthritis later, and decide we need to retrain in order to continue working. Others of us, after bringing up a family and more or less stabilising the arthritis, decide it's time to get the grey matter fully operational again. Or maybe we just opt, for fun, to learn a new skill like family tree researching, singing, even lace-making (yes – despite weak fingers). Some good reasons for studying:
What you do depends on you. I can only give a few signposts here to all the opportunities around. Don't stick exclusively to advice and advisers for disabled people. They can certainly tell you about things like access to colleges, study aids, and financial assistance. But, well-meaning though they may be, some have limited ideas about 'what disabled people can do', and may have limited knowledge of the vast range of opportunities open to anyone, much of which might suit you, give or take a modification or two here and there.
They may know little or nothing about your type of arthritis, too, the difficulties it causes and how to overcome them. You might be discouraged from aiming high because they don't want you to be disappointed if you fail, or simply because in their limited experience disabled people have been able to achieve very little. Alarming, and not true.
It's even more important that we should have all the education and training we can get. I for one prefer to try something and fail, rather than not be allowed to try. You might need to explain that 'brains don't get arthritis'. Nor does it affect hearing, speaking or vision (except for a rare few people with certain types of arthritis, whose vision is affected, but even that need be no barrier to judge by the achievements of some YPAs).
Seek as much information as possible from non-disabled sources, including ideas in schemes for other people with special needs, eg for unemployed people, mature students, or women returning to education/work after child-rearing.
One specialist organisation you can rely on to help you aim as high and as wide as possible is 'Skill' (National Bureau for Students with Disabilities). Skill does sterling work helping people overcome disability barriers in further education – be they physical, information or attitudinal barriers:
"People with disabilities often have to deal with others who do not understand their needs, or may feel they know best what is right for the disabled person. It is often difficult to understand, let alone accept, that the person with a disability is usually the best judge of their own capabilities."
Skill offers information and advice to students and staff. However, their resources are limited, so do do your own detective work first, especially on non-disability related questions. Send an SAE for a list of Skill's various publications. Skill's 1986/87 report explains what they deal with:
Another helpful organisation is the Educational Guidance Service for Adults (EGSA). EGSA gives free and independent educational guidance on courses, admission requirements, and grants to anyone (not just disabled people), over 19 (not school-leavers), who's interested in returning to or continuing in education. EGSA has computer bases on all sorts of courses throughout the UK. Counsellors can help with questions such as which course to choose? Will it meet your needs? Will you be able to cope with it? Some enquirers may only need one-off information, but EGSA helps other enquirers too who need regular support and encouragement, eg people with learning or study difficulties, or people with particular personal or domestic problems.
You may need perseverance and determination to overcome any barriers, be they physical or other people's discouraging attitudes. But don't be discouraged – take heart from all those who've done it before.
JCA in early childhood meant long stays in hospital for one YPA, but he later went on to get six A grade and two B grade O level passes and five Highers (in Scotland), and then the Pitman's typing exam. Another, now in her early 30s, developed RA at the age of 16 but managed to pass O levels in hospital. Later, while she worked, she studied for an ONC in Business Studies at evening class, and qualified as an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. A works accountant developed RA in her 30s, which meant rethinking things, and retraining to work from home, running an accountancy and book-keeping service. She needed a new computer: Arthritis Care helped with some of its cost. Another 30 year old, with arthritis since childhood, gained four O levels and the RSA typing exam. She worked for five years but was made redundant. Undeterred, she successfully studied for the RSA Private Secretary course.
Glyn Barney missed a lot of schooling when he developed RA at the age of 15, but went on to take a foundation course in art and photography, followed by a three-year diploma course at West Surrey College of Art and Design. He now works as a freelance photographer. Ken Porter was part-time manager of a band when he developed RA in his early 20s. He studied for an accountancy qualification, mainly on his own, and is now a senior manager in a leading firm of auditors.
Carol Cambridge (with JCA) and I (also JCA) both managed to get Honours degrees in modern languages, Carol at Reading University, me at Kent University, and we both did the compulsory year in France. Carol's just added the Diploma of the Institute of Personnel Management to her qualifications. We managed at university with only minor concessions to the arthritis, eg I was allowed extra time to write my exams, and lived on campus the whole time. A very good time it was, too!
When Peter Nightingale (30s, RA and diabetes) was a manager with a local authority, his employer financed his part-time studies for the Diploma in Management Studies, at Ealing College. One YPA in her 20s has had arthritis since she was two, and lost her sight (a rare few people do, sadly, with some types of RA). Nevertheless, she studied at college and got nine O levels and three A levels, followed by studies at Leeds University in data processing, with the help of a team of volunteers (Community Service Volunteers have a special scheme). Another, who went on to become a computer programmer with the RAF, graduated from Leeds with a 2:1 Honours degree. She too had earlier lost her sight.
Carol J started off on a Youth Training Scheme working for the Civil Service and was then made permanent. Martin Ellingford (with AS) studied A levels in his 20s and went on at 26 to obtain a social sciences degree at Hatfield Polytechnic. Open University students and graduates abound – Mandy King, Pamela Waterhouse, Jennifer Purple, Janice Simons, etc. More about the OU on page 247.
Another YPA developed severe AS at the age of 14. After nearly a year in hospital he had to attend a special school, where you couldn't do O levels. He left at 16, was advised to go to a disabled. college, but decided instead to go to the local Tec to study O and A levels. Then on to university, where he got a psychology degree… Alas he couldn't get a job. Demoralised, he decided he had to do something to keep his mind occupied, and ended up deciding to study law full-time! Yet more obstacles appeared. His mum described in In Contact what happened:
"He enlisted the help of the Disablement Officer, who thought he would be eligible for a special grant. To apply he first had to obtain a place at a college. He was already halfway through the first term at a London polytechnic when he learnt that he had been turned down for the grant. He appealed, to no avail. The only reason given was that he could not guarantee that he would have a job at the end of the training.
"By then I had seen for myself the enormous improvement in his morale, and there was no way I could bring myself to say 'we just can't afford for you to do this, you'll have to give it up'. We tightened our belts. Then we discovered a clause in the DHSS rules which said that unemployed disabled people are exempt from the 'limited hours of study' ruling, and may study full-time.
"As a graduate, he could have done a one year postgraduate course, but knowing his physical limitations, he preferred to take the full three years for a first degree LLB. I tightened my belt further and looked on it as his 'occupational therapy'. He missed half a term in both the first two years through illness, not to mention those days when he was not well enough to travel, or to study.
"[He was then very ill] and was in hospital for the whole of the first term of his final year. The College advised him to defer his studies for a year, so did the hospital surgeon and specialists. My son is a very stubborn and determined young man. He got back to his studies, sat the final exam and obtained an Upper Second Class degree."
Besides reading the rest of this chapter, and chapter 31 on employment, look at the Family Fund's free booklet After 16 – What Next? (from the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust). Get the free Just the Job (see Just the Job in Appendix 2) for information about government-funded training and enterprise schemes, etc. Look too at non-disabled publications like Ann Jones' The School-Leaver's Handbook (National Extension College), full of the sort of advice a good friend would give you. Look too at Your Choice at 15+ and Your Choice at 17+ by Michael Smith and Peter March (CRAC/Hobsons Press), the 'School leavers' chapter in Second Chances (see page 244); and the DLF information sheet on Further, Adult and Higher Education. You'll get advice too from people like Careers Officers/Specialist Careers Officers, teachers, DROs, Skill, Young Arthritis Care, and the Lady Hoare Trust.
When weighing up what to do, get up-to-date advice on how studying will affect your benefits from a social worker, welfare rights adviser or Citizens Advice Bureau. The position's complicated, and varies depending on age, disability, and what you're studying.
The best source of information is a friendly, readable non-disabled goldmine of a book: Second Chances – A National Guide to Adult Education and Training Opportunities, published annually by COIC, the Careers and Occupational Information Centre. There's one chapter on disability, but do look at the whole book too. Find it in a library, in a bookshop, or from COIC by post (but p&p's expensive). COIC also publish a cheaper, shorter guide It's Your Chance, chattier than Second Chances, but with far less in the way of specific information. It aims to help you sort out what would be best for you, how best to fit it into your life, and how to tackle any doubts you might have. Second Chances is much more detailed. It's in four parts:
By using Second Chances you can do a lot of research from your armchair or library chair. If you need to search further, then try your local library, CAB, and local education authority guidance service. Try your local polytechnic/university /college library, if there's one nearby. Look at Just the Job (page 243) for information about government-funded training services. Don't forget Skill (page 241) and EGSA (page 241), both wonderfully helpful. A brief, cheap guide focusing on the disability angle is DLF's Further, Adult and Higher Education – Assessment and Training for the Physically Disabled.
If you're studying with a career in mind one or more of the following publications might also help you make sure the studies are going to get you where you want to go:
Basic skills Many adults have never really learnt to read or write or do simple maths (or all three). Maybe you were in manual work until the arthritis appeared on the scene? And now want to brush up on the basics before retraining? There are courses specially for you. More information from the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit or ask at your local library for information. Some YPAs are themselves adult literacy tutors.
GCSEs Don't worry if you didn't get manage to get your GCSEs at school. There's a special GCSE (mature) syllabus, designed for one year courses. They can be studied in various ways – day, evening, full-time, part-time, adult education, correspondence college, or totally on your own (using the 'external' syllabus). For details contact your nearest examinations board (ask the DES for the address).
BTEC (Business and Technician Education Council) qualifications These include business and finance, computing and information systems, public administration, plus some pre-vocational and continuing education courses. They can be studied at further education colleges, polys, and some by distance learning. Get the free booklet Opportunities for Adults, available from BTEC (from SCOTVEC for Scotland).
RSA (Royal Society of Arts) qualifications These cover office, secretarial, and business studies, computers and information technology, counselling, languages, and general training for work. Also the Certificate of Continuing Education, for adults with little academic background who want to increase their confidence before returning to work or going on to further education. More details from RSA.
City and Guilds certificates Cover over 400 subjects, mainly industrial and commercial. For a free publications list write to City and Guilds of London Institute.
Teaching qualifications Mainly studied at HE colleges. Mature entrants are welcomed. For A Career in Teaching and more information contact the Teaching as a Career Unit (TASC) at the DES in London, or the Scottish Education Department, or Department of Education for Northern Ireland.
Second Chances has excellent chapters on qualifications and subjects to study, which include where to find out more about those I've mentioned, plus many others. The National Extension College (NEC) publishes a range of books to help people brush up on their academic study skills, eg How to Study Effectively, How to Write Essays, Clear Thinking and Answer the Question. Get a full list from NEC.
FE colleges have various names (eg College of Technology, Tertiary College), and are run by local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales, Regional or Islands Councils in Scotland, and Education and Library Boards in Northern Ireland. They offer a wide range of courses, usually below degree level, to anyone over 16 who's left school. Courses may be full- or part-time, day or evening, or day release. Specially interesting for us are their open learning courses, their courses for updating basic skills, and their special arrangements for mature students. Some courses help you start studying again after a break, or prepare for a return to work; some have specially helpful hours (eg 10 till 3, once a week; with child care facilities). Many colleges run 'access courses' (or higher education preparatory courses), alternatives to school exams as an entry qualification for some degree courses (Second Chances has a list).
Open learning courses may also be called 'Flexistudy', 'Learning by Appointment', 'distance learning'. You do your studying at times to suit yourself. The courses often use correspondence materials and new technology (computers, audio-visual aids) but you also get help and support from a tutor. Subjects include GCSEs and A levels, BTEC courses, or vocational studies for a specific job. Your local library or jobcentre should have a copy of the Open Learning Directory, with more information. More information in Second Chances, too, and from the Open College. Ask the National Extension College (NEC) for a list of centres running NEC 'Flexistudy' courses. In your library you should find the CRAC Directory of Further Education, which lists all FE (and HE) colleges, polys, with full course information.
Once you've chosen a likely sounding college, send for its prospectus. Then write asking for an interview with a college adviser to discuss the course which interests you, your special needs, and how any difficulties might be overcome (eg access, avoiding having to queue in person to register). Some colleges have a Coordinator for Disabled Students. If the college seems unhelpful, contact Skill for advice.
Some FE colleges are residential, and specially for students (all ages) with physical disabilities, eg Hereward College, Coventry. Though it's run by Coventry Education Authority, students come from all parts of Britain, sponsored by their own LEA.
Adult education opens up a vast world of learning for pleasure. Topics range from arts and crafts, family tree researching, flower-arranging, cookery, to languages and creative writing. No exams to pass, it's a good way of meeting other people, and an excellent way of distracting your mind from the arthritis. Evening classes are the best-known form of AE, but if evenings don't suit, look instead at daytime classes, or one-off all-day classes on a Saturday, or short residential weekend or summer courses (some are for the whole family).
Jenny's just one example of what you can get up to. As an active young mum she was shocked to find she had RA. But encouraged by her family she asked about lace-making classes at her local AE centre. She'd been worried about being different from the other class members and slowing down their progress, but found that everyone worked at their own pace on their own project with lots of individual help. Her tutor advised her to work on Torchon lace (a coarser variety than others), to avoid difficulties manipulating smaller bobbins. Jenny said her self-esteem had increased enormously, and to her children she was again "the mum who can, rather than the mum who can't" (Replan Newsletter).
AE classes are run by all sorts of institutes, eg AE colleges, FE colleges, the WEA, Women's Institutes, Townswomen's Guilds, National Housewives' Register. Many universities, polys and other colleges run special courses, 'extramural studies', for adult 'outsiders'. You don't usually need any previous academic knowledge.
The OU too has lots of short non-degree courses and study packs for home-based use, ranging from Looking at Paintings, to The Handicapped Person in the Community, or courses for parents like The Pre-School child, Childhood 5-10. Look too at the section on 'Distance Education', on page 247, for other mainly home-based courses.
AE prospectuses are available in libraries, by post, and advertised in the local press. Some mention 'special provision for disabled students', though you'd still need to check out whether your own special needs could be met. Ask about special arrangements for registration, to avoid mad queueing scrambles. Worth asking too whether they can suggest ways of overcoming any difficulties you might have in actually getting to the classes. Or try your social worker or OT or DIAL, or maybe someone else in the class could give you a lift? Transport to her evening class was the big obstacle for YPA and writer Pamela LaFane. She contacted her LEA, who said it was 'something they hadn't come across before', but they'd see what they could do. Amazingly, they solved the problem!
Where to find out more about adult education
'Distance learning' means study by correspondence, plus, sometimes, radio and TV programmes and face-to-face tuition. Best-known of the distance learning providers is the Open University (OU), and several of us have benefited from its flexibility. If the idea appeals, why not find out from other Young Arthritis Care members how they got on? One wrote to me "they are so helpful to people with disabilities. The sense of achievement is so important for one's self-esteem – and the hard work keeps your mind off your aches and pains (most of the time)". Besides degree courses, the OU also has a range of shorter, non-degree courses: write for Open Opportunities. Distance learning is available through other bodies, too.
Drawbacks of study for OU degree courses are that it's hard-going and you need to be able to study on your own with little feedback from other people. You'd probably need at least 12 hours a week for study, maybe as much as 20, and you'd need to be sure you could fit in with other commitments to family, work, or whatever. Because it's 'part-time' you can't get an LEA grant. However if finance is a problem, the OU might be able to help (see page 251). On the other hand, the OU encouragingly points out that the only qualifications are that you should be 18 or over, live in the UK, have a determination to improve your life and are prepared to work hard in order to earn a degree.
OU degrees are 'modular'; you choose your own combination of subjects. There's a choice of over 130, from science and technology to the arts, from maths to social sciences. They can be taken a section at a time over a longer period than a normal degree course. Each section you successfully complete earns you a full or a half credit. Six credits make an ordinary degree, eight an honours degree. Credit exemptions may be awarded for any relevant qualification you already have.
Study's by four different methods: (1) correspondence materials sent at regular intervals; (2) broadcasts; (3) personal contact with tutors, counsellors, study centres; (4) summer schools – one-week residential courses, usually at a university – a chance to meet and work (hard!) with other students and staff.
The OU year starts in February, so you'd need to apply the previous year, no later than October, but the earlier the better as it's first come, first served. Write to the OU Admissions Office for the Guide for Applicants for BA Degrees. For specialist information, contact the OU Adviser for Disabled Students. The Adviser may for instance be able to help with financial problems, specialist equipment (eg computer/word processor on loan), etc. Sometimes a helper can be provided for the summer school if you need help and there's no one to go with you.
Here are some personal experiences of studying with the OU, first from YPA Carol J:
"My husband suggested I try the OU to give me some interest. At first I was reluctant as I had left school at 16 and had no higher education and I felt I wouldn't be able to cope with academic study at university level. After preliminary enquiries in which the OU were very helpful, I was accepted and I began my studies… Initially studying was difficult, particularly the essay writing as that had always been a weak point at school. Self-discipline and organisation are key factors when studying at home alone and these I had together with a determination to do my best, pass or fail. The mental challenge was a great stimulus and just what I needed and I began to feel that I had found something worthwhile to aim for. Since the early days with the OU I have gained enormous self-confidence… I certainly think positively now, my maxim being accept what you can't do and do to the full that which you can do!"
In the Open University's booklet 005, Occupational Information – a Supplement for Students with Disabilities (1985), disabled graduates explained what studying with the OU meant to them. For instance, a tutor, aged 51, with arthritis:
"…thanks to my degree, I can and do coach eighteen children (in groups of four) for their Common Entrance examinations. One of the reasons for needing such coaching may be that the child missed quite a lot of school because of some illness or other…"
Someone else, aged 43, described as chronically sick:
"Since I have not even got O grade examination passes, I was often turned down when I applied for things. Apart therefore from changing me as a person (I am more self-reliant now), studying with the OU has opened doors that previously were firmly shut. I am now employed as an unqualified nurse tutor and plan to attend a full-time university in October and complete an MSc degree."
A housewife, aged 30, with arthritis:
"I am currently a housewife and have also done a little tutoring. But I would like to become an audiovisual librarian in a university. Since I only obtained one A level at school (and failed three times to get more A levels!) I was not able to be a librarian as this requires two A levels. The OU was an ideal opportunity to get started again…"
For many people, what they found out about themselves was at least as important, if not more so, than their increased academic knowledge. Studying was a morale-booster, and pleasure in itself.
Other distance learning courses
OU degree courses may be too tough-going or too advanced for many people, but luckily other schemes offer education by post, too. One YPA, for instance, did a 'Software Technical Authorship Course' at home, funded through her DRO, using a computer and printer on loan. That was for the City and Guilds (Technical dissertation) exam.
For other ideas send for free prospectuses from the Open College (founded 1987), and the Open College of the Arts (founded 1988), and write for the National Extension College (NEC)'s free Guide to Courses. NEC offers home-study courses for adults in subjects including maths, computing, economics, business studies, English, history, languages and science, at introductory, GCSE and A level, plus professional and leisure courses, eg playwriting, playgroups, religions, child development. NEC's a non-profit-making college, governed by an educational trust.
A multitude of other correspondence colleges offer a multitude of courses. Some are more reputable than others, so be wary. There are adverts all over the place. Get prospectuses and compare them, but don't part with any money unless you're sure the college is reputable, and promises value for money. Check with the Council for the Accreditation of Correspondence Colleges (CACC) to see if it's accredited by them. CACC operates with the approval of the DES. Second Chances includes a CACC list.
Finally, you can also study for University of London external degrees by correspondence. The courses are cheaper than the OU, but you usually need to have A levels, and the courses aren't modular. For First Degrees and Diplomas for External Students: General Information, write to The Secretary for External Students, University of London. Waring Bowen, founder of what's now called Arthritis Care, gained an external degree in history and an LLB from the University of London before going on to become a solicitor. He had AS and had to do much of his studying while lying flat on his back in a spinal jacket (quite the opposite of present day treatment).
See also Second Chances for more about distance and open learning.
The OU's done wonders in making higher education accessible to people with a disability, but many of us still prefer the idea of immersion in a full-time (or part-time) course at an 'ordinary' centre of higher education. Many universities, polys, and HE colleges now make a special effort to be helpful, for instance through special parking and access arrangements, campus residence, extra time to write exams. Some universities, eg Southampton, York, Sussex and Oxford, provide residential housing for students with disabilities, where 'continuous care' is available if necessary. Polys offer courses similar to university courses, though usually with a stronger bias to training for jobs. Many run part-time courses, and have nursery facilities.
Some HE colleges are flexible about entry requirements, which may be lower than those for universities. For instance, all places offering CNAA degrees have the automatic right to admit unqualified mature students. You might be asked to do an HE preparatory exam, or the college's own entry exam, instead of GCSEs and A levels. Alternatively, work experience or evidence of recent study and an interview might do instead.
Some CNAA degrees are now available in modular form, like OU degrees, where you get credits for individual course modules (eg at Oxford Poly). Hatfield Poly, where YPA Martin E did asocial sciences degree course as a mature student, looks sympathetically at any non-standard qualifications or experience, and also runs a wide range of non-standard 'just for interest/pleasure' courses in their continuing education programme and helpfully runs shortened day courses from 10 am to 3 pm.
Some HE colleges offer DipHEs (not in Scotland). Entry requirements are the same as for degree courses, but it takes only two years, qualifies for a mandatory grant, and can be used as credit towards professional bodies' courses or for transfer to a degree course.
Skill may be able to help you negotiate your way through any rules and regulations at your chosen HE institute which don't cater for unconventional education and career patterns. Look at Skill's Applying to Higher Education: Some Notes for Disabled Students, their Parents and Advisers (free to students with a disability). Other sources of general (non-disabled) information about HE courses include the following:
You might find helpful too:
Individual prospectuses will tell you lots more. Some places also have 'alternative prospectuses', produced by the students there, which focus on unofficial but enlightening views. The annual Student Book (£9.99, 1991, Macmillan) looks at courses and facilities in every HE establishment and includes all-important consumers' views, too.
Ask in your library about HE courses available locally. You might come across something as amazingly useful as Bradford and Ilkley Community College of HE's 'Mature Students' Certificate Course', a drop-in group for mothers and toddlers and anyone else who needs to drop in. It can be done just for fun, or as the first step to a DipHE.
The Disabled Graduates' Careers Information Service and The Association of Disabled Professionals both have lots of information and helpful advice culled from actual experiences of people with a disability. More details on pages 260 and 261.
Write to the DES for Loans and Grants to Students: a Brief Guide (or to the Scottish Education Department or Department of Education for Northern Ireland for similar leaflets. Write too to Skill for Financial Assistance for Students with Disabilities (free, but send SAE). The two main grants, applied for through your local education authority, are:
You could also apply for a 'Disabled Students' Allowance', for extra disability-related costs (other than travel). In 1991/92 it allows for up to £4,240 for non-medical helpers, up to £3,180 for major items of specialist equipment, and up to £1,060 for other costs. If you receive a mandatory or a discretionary grant, you can claim DSA, but it's discretionary and not awarded automatically. You don't have to be registered or severely disabled to apply, but do need to be able to convince your LEA the extra expense is necessary (a) because of your impairment/disability and (b) because of the course. Examples of claims reimbursed have been for typewriters, microcomputers, tape-recorders, and paid help, but not for extra travel costs incurred because of disability. If travel costs are 'necessarily incurred' for a course, apply separately to your LEA for assistance.
If you're turned down for a mandatory or a discretionary grant, or think you've got too little, you can appeal, first to the LEA, then to the Department of Education (or equivalent) if you're still unsuccessful. There's no guarantee of success, but it's worth a try. You could also talk to local councillors, especially if they're on the education committee, and your MP.
The Student Loans Scheme aims eventually to account for half a student's income. Normally borrowers have to repay loans in 60 monthly instalments, starting from the April following the end of the course. However, disabled borrowers are allowed to negotiate special conditions, for instance the repayment start date may be deferred if your monthly income is low, or repayment over a longer period may be allowed. Income from disability benefits doesn't count as 'monthly income'. For borrowers under 40 an outstanding loan will be cancelled when they reach 50 or if the loan has been outstanding for 25 years or more. For more information on loans get Loans for Students – a Brief Guide (free from DES). For information specific to disabled students contact Skill or RADAR.
Because OU courses are regarded as part-time, there are no mandatory grants for them. LEA help varies. If your LEA won't help, write and explain your problem to the OU. They may be able to help you from a special fund for unemployed students. (By the way, beware of a nasty trick where if you get an OU degree and then want to do a 'first degree' somewhere else you forfeit your eligibility to a mandatory grant for that course, even if you paid all OU fees yourself.) If financial difficulties put you off doing an NEC correspondence course, see if the NEC's Student Services Adviser can help.
Fees for adult education classes are often waived or reduced for students in special need. Your DRO can tell you about special training opportunities for disabled people, eg financial assistance with part-time or correspondence courses, like the YPA who did the Software Technical Authorship course (page 248), or help to train for a professional career if you're not able to get a grant. Other sources of limited financial help include:
What happens about income support, and other benefits? The position's complicated, and depends on individual circumstances. eg your age, whether the course is full or part-time, whether you're considered 'capable' or 'incapable' of work, your family circumstances, etc. Seek reliable advice, well before you apply for a course, eg from the BEL helpline, CAB, Skill, and sources in chapter 17.