Tim Francis

[beansontoast]

Hi all,

I contacted Tim Francis a few months ago with a view to seeking accurate diagnosis of what goes on in my brain.

His response was "I specialise in adult assessment and work with a number of top flight uni's to provide assessments of thier students. I diagnose dyspraxia regularly. I know it when i see it." which I felt was a bit cavalier, and I'm cautious about paying to see someone because I worry that they'll tell me what I "want" to hear because money has changed hands.

I've had a bit of a skim of this forum, and I see a couple of people that have seen him. Is he thorough?

Best wishes

Robin

[Euphena]

Hiya

My dyspraxia was diagnosed by Tim Francis, he is a really nice person with years of experience and research into Dyspraxia. He really knows what he's talking about and government agencies often ask his advice. He's also admired by his peers for his work in dyspraxia.

Tim isn't arrogant, but one thing I have to reveal is that he's ALSO dyspraxic.

Please go and see him, he is one of the best Ed Psychologists in the country.

[beansontoast]

Ah ha!

Thanks Euphena, that explains the "I know it when I see it" comment I think there seems to be a degree of "takes one to know one" with Dyspraxia.

I've booked to see him now, but I feel much better about it.

Best wishes

Robin

[Evasura]

where is he? I jhave been diagnosed, but I must say, not sure I trust the guy who diagnosed me that much

[Euphena]

Hi Evasura

Tim's address is 23 Skipworth Road, Victoria Park, London E9 7JH
Telephone: 01825 766011
Email: childpsych@btinternet.com

I hope this helps

[beansontoast]

Hi there Evasura,

In what way don't you trust the person that you've seen?

Is it the diagnosis you don't trust?

How did your assessment go? What tests were done? What were you then told about the results of your assessment?

I'm asking because £300-odd is a lot of money to fork out for a second opinion, and there might be another way of picking out how best to progress.

Best wishes

Robin

[Euphena]

Hi Evasura

I understand your disappointment, there are a lot of charlatans out there pretending to be disability assessment specialist, that's why there is a code of practice for individuals who do assessments. I recommend that you contact Tim Francis, he is excellent, he'll talk to you on the phone free of charge for any questions you have.

I was lucky my assessment was paid for me by my University disability office.

By the way I also have dyscalculia, which was both diagnosed at University College London (UCL) and I'm currently helping in some research at that Uni looking at adult dyscalculia

Let me know what you decide to do OK.

[nagasaki999]

I had my assessment with this guy at university of portsmouth.

[beansontoast]

Hi there Eva,

That's really interesting.

I'm going for assessment because I was assessed a few years ago, and my assessor also couldn't assess for Dyspraxia, and I was told that I had a "cognitive profile consistent with a specific learning difficulty" but with no problems with literacy, so could be considered atypically dyslexic, but that I "probably was dyspraxic".

I really liked the guy I saw, and he was very clear, but just didn't meet my needs! You didn't see David McLoughlin did you?

Robin

[beansontoast]

Well!

I had my appointment with Tim Francis this morning, and it was pretty interesting.

It was confirmed that I am most definitely NOT dyslexic (which I knew, but it's always nice to be right!) and I AM dyspraxic. My stupidly high scores in some areas of the WAIS-IV counterbalanced some very low scoring bits - so block design (something I "shouldn't" be good at) I was very good at - I love patterns, and making patterns out of things.

I've also improved my working memory somewhat over the last few years. I used to be pretty much incapable of reciting strings of numbers backwards and forwards, now I can remember strings of numbers in both directions up to about 6 digits!

Anyway, my processing speed is still slow - looks like that's the thing I struggle to mitigate for.

So, my verbal IQ came out at 143, my performance IQ was about 100 - which, were all of my scores 100 would be fine, but the discrepancy between VIQ and PIQ are the issue here.

Anywho, that's all by the by. I found Tim an interesting guy, but I wasn't overly impressed with his manner. He was very friendly, and helpful, but I would have appreciated someone that was more detached and neutral - we chatted quite a bit in between different tests, and my brain was struggling at times to deal with switching between chatting and concentrating. And I feel there was the potential for the results to be biased because of some of his comments.

Having said this, I'd not discourage anyone from seeing him, just to be aware that he's quite loud and talkative!

[agsiul]

Can I ask how you worked on your working memory? I can parrot so can repeat the number if but don't acutally remember what I'm saying so can never repeat the numbers backwards.

[beansontoast]

Hi there Agsiul,

I've done a lot of "brain training" type games that work on working memory - mostly visual memory. I've also been learning British Sign Language, and we played a lot of games that needed working memory in class. I found the kinaesthetic / visual teaching of BSL worked really well for me, and makes my brain feel awake. Signing the numbers as they're said and "seeing" them in my mind's eye meant I could hold them in my working memory for long enough to repeat back.

Unfortunately it hasn't really translated into a real world improvement in my functioning, so I don't think it's really worth spending a lot of effort on!

[Euphena]

Hi beansontoast

I read your assessment and yes Tim is extrovert, but I think the reason he was chatting to you between the tests was for two reasons, the first being he wanted to relax you, all who are being assessed are very nervous, and secondly he was testing your conversational ability. Dyspraxics can be nervous when starting and carrying out conversations, we are trying to comprehend in our brains what is said to us ( in tasks and conversation).

Your assessment results show that you are very intelligent. All dyspraxics are!!!

What do you plan to do next?

[beansontoast]

Hi there Euphena,

Well! What to do next is the big question!

I'm working part-time in a job I love, and I'm on my fifth Open University course. I want to get my degree, but I really need to get some decent support around how to mitigate for my shortcomings, and make the most of my strengths. I'm not sure who can provide that support or what form it can take. So finding that out is my next step.

Also, there are areas at work I struggle with - am hoping any study support techniques will be transferable to my working practice.

I plan to go and get my eyes tested for tinted specs again. Did this a few years ago but the shade wasn't quite right - was lovely and calmed my brain, but was too dark so I lost a lot of contrast and wouldn't wear them.

It's nice to have confirmation. I feel more secure now saying "I am dyspraxic" (and I am, I don't like "I have dyspraxia", because dyspraxia is woven through my cognition and is inseperable from my Self - my cognition IS me, if that makes sense)

So yes. I'll pass the info on to my GP, because I think they should know. And that's that!

[Carla]

Hi, can anyone tell me when then they contacted Tim Francis, how long did it take to get a reply?

I sent an email on 23rd June to this email address: edpsych@hotmail.com and got no response and then followed it up by sending to another email address on 29th June to edpsychuk@hotmail.co.uk and still have not received a response.

Am I just being impatient or is there a standard time to get a response? Or should I use a different email address altogether.

I literally just want to find out the process for getting an assessment etc.

Thanks!