Finally getting assessed

[karrier-bag]

Blimey, well I never....went to the doc's about 6 weeks ago and asked about getting checked out for dyspraxia, ok said doctor and I left it at that, a month later I had to go back to get a prescription so asked if anything was happening....."no nothing yet" ummm I thought, this bodes well, the doc doesn't really want to engage about this.

So I went back a week ago with my wife, we saw a different doctor, a really nicde lady who was happy to listen and wanted to help but there was nothing on her gp's website / nhs / info thingy she looked at, nothing!!!

My wife suggested she look at the dyspraxia foundation site which she did there and then, it was there she found out who to contact to get me accessed because she had no idea herself and no experience in this.

Today I got a letter from the 'single point access service' (humber NHS) for an innitial appointment, my wife is coming with me as I can't remember so much stuff, she is my external flash memory (I have post it notes everywhere)

Now I want to know, does this sound right? I got no idea who they are or what they do, will this just be an appointment to work out who I show be assessed by? will this be an assessment itself?

The letter starts with 'for an initial appointment' but then later on says 'don't turn up on drink or drugs as this will affect the accessment' (words to that effect)

I am gonna phone them tomorrow but wondered if anyone had any advice or had also seen this 'single point access service'

[AlleyCat]

Hi. I was curious about the Single Point Access Service, so looked it up and this is what I found:

http://www.humber.nhs.uk/services/singl ... access.htm

As you can see, the focus seems to be on providing co-ordinated services for people with mental health issues, which makes me think that the service is for people with mental illnesses. Dyspraxia is not a mental illness, so I doubt that this is the appropriate service for you. Other people who have been diagnosed with dyspraxia have done so through seeing a psychologist privately, or have been referred through the NHS by a GP to see a neurologist (or occasionally an occupational therapist). If I were you, I would contact my GP again and say that you have been speaking to other people with dyspraxia who have told you that they saw a neurologist through the NHS. I don't know if you've told your GP that you've been depressed or whether you sounded particularly anxious during the appointment, but dyspraxia is still your main issue and you deserve to receive proper assessment for that (ie a neurologist), rather than having someone rush to label you as having a mental health problem.

[kira]

Dyspraxia is not a mental illness

people who have been diagnosed with dyspraxia have done so through seeing a psychologist privately, or have been referred through the NHS by a GP to see a neurologist

i'm confused are neurologists and psycologists also people who deal with mental illness.

all the reaserch i have done says that dyspraxia id a learning difficulty that stems from the cerebellum which would therefore categerise dyspraxia as a mental illnes just like dyslexia and depression and all other learning/behavial dissorders.

am i wrong?

[AlleyCat]

Psychologists might work with people who have mental illnesses- however, I always thought that the person most likely to assess them would be a psychiatrist. I am not sure about neurologists' involvement in assessing mental illness though.

Dyslexia should not be classed as a mental illness- the reason is that it is a neurological condition which has always existed since birth. Conditions such as dyslexia and dyspraxia are definitely not illnesses, they are just different ways of brain functioning and are not something to be 'cured.' Depression, however, is a mental illness as it is something which develops at some point during a person's life, very often due to external factors such as what is going on in someone's life at the time (ie things like bereavement or job loss can cause someone's mental state to become depressed) and can be treated chemically. I don't think that Karrier-bag should be getting referred to what appears to be a mental health team, as dyspraxia isn't a mental illness and should not be viewed as such.

[joy]

I have just been reading about the SPA and it seems that they assess the patient and direct them to the appropriate service to meet their needs,which may be Psychologists Psychiatrists as well as neurologists.Some people with Dyspraxia suffer with depression, stress ,anxiety ,panic attacks and in some cases Agoraphobia so this is why you need to be assessed to get a background of your history and see which is the right road for you to go down.
The reason why they said don't have a drink or take drugs because it will affect your balance and co-ordination and if you are dyspraxic you will already have problems in that area and drinking might give a greater dysfunction than you actually have.I would go and see what happens as this seems to be a starting point of getting a diagnosis which is quite hard once you are adult It cant do any harm and you might get the answers you are looking for.Good luck anyway let us know how you get on.

[joy]

I have just been reading about the SPA and it seems that they assess the patient and direct them to the appropriate service to meet their needs,which may be Psychologists Psychiatrists as well as neurologists.Some people with Dyspraxia suffer with depression, stress ,anxiety ,panic attacks and in some cases Agoraphobia so this is why you need to be assessed to get a background of your history and see which is the right road for you to go down.
The reason why they said don't have a drink or take drugs because it will affect your balance and co-ordination and if you are dyspraxic you will already have problems in that area and drinking might give a greater dysfunction than you actually have.I would go and see what happens as this seems to be a starting point of getting a diagnosis which is quite hard once you are adult It cant do any harm and you might get the answers you are looking for.Good luck anyway let us know how you get on.

[joy]

Sorry its posted twice

[nickye]

I think the difficulty with dyspraxia and depression is that I think it's very easy to get diagnosed with depression, when actually you have other underlying problems. I've been suffering from depression on and off since 1994, but the more I've found out about dyspraxia, the more I feel that often I've been depressed because of the problems I've had with the dyspraxia. My mind often feels confused, and I feel inferior because I struggle with a lot of everyday things.

When I first went to the doctor she seemed to think it was more depression because I did say I was improving a bit since I'd been on anti-depressants. But after I'd seen the lady at the Dyspraxia Foundation, I wrote a list of all the symptoms and issues I had, took them to the doctor, and she was really helpful. Although she didn't know much about dyspraxia (apparently I'm the first adult to go and ask about this and children are normally helped through school she said and the doctors don't get involved), she looked at the information I took from the Dyspraxia Foundation and referred me to a neurologist. To my surprise I got a fairly quick appointment, which is this Monday (at the time only about 6 weeks away). I was very encouraged by this.

I think the difficulty comes because not enough is understood about dyspraxia and people tend to think that anything in the mind/brain is like a mental health issue, and almost it's just mind over matter that you could overcome these problems if you tried a bit harder. But of course the brain is a physical thing, a very complex organ, and it's not surprising that everyone is wired differently and some of us struggle.

Anyway, sorry this is long and rambling. Having said all that, it has helped me to speak to a counsellor in the past. I think a lot of us lose confidence through being bullied and picked on.

I hope this doesn't sound too negative. I'm so happy I'm finally getting some help for this.
I wish everybody luck with their assessments.
Nicky

[kira]

ahh!! thank you joy and allycat for clearing up the confusion?