Communicating Your LENS to your School
Your LENS report
During your needs assessment, your Disability Officer will explain the different levels of disability disclosure and raise your awareness of the importance of sensitive data. The Trinity Consent to Disclose and Share Disability Information will be explained and all students are required upon applying for reasonable accommodation to complete this form.
For example, if you are provided with examination accommodations the Exams Office and academic staff teaching on your degree programme will be aware of your exam accommodations, so complete anonymity is not possible.
All students applying for support with the Trinity Disability Service have a Learning Educational Needs Summary (LENS). The information in the LENS report is made available to the relevant staff within the University (i.e. teaching staff, Disability Service personnel, your Tutor) to help them also provide assistance.
Your LENS is your disability passport.
You may, of course, choose not to disclose a disability to Trinity staff, although we would always advise students to do so.
LENS reports include the following information:
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Disability Sensitive Information and Confidentiality
Information about disability is classed as sensitive personal data and will be processed by the University in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (as amended) and the University's Data Protection Policy.
The University cannot pass on personal or sensitive information without the student's written permission. When the student registers with the Disability Service (DS), they are asked to sign the Staff Consent to Disclose and Share Disability Information Form.docx (81.0 KB) allowing the DS to forward any relevant information regarding their disability and/or support needs. This allows the DS to forward the LENS report via the student record in SITS. General background details of the student's specific disability may be included in the LENS if the student wants to share this information and confirms consent to disclose this information. A student is not obliged to reveal detailed information to the School about their disability. In some instances, it may be useful for the School to know, but in many cases, it may not be relevant to the Reasonable Accommodation support. A discussion about disability disclosure usually takes place between the DS Disability Officer and the student, with the student deciding what information may be passed on when the LENS is approved by the student.