Hiya! 21, at uni and newly diagnosed.

[beckym_92]

Hi

A bit about myself, I'm Becky, 21, in my final year of Durham University studying Psychology and English. And just before my 21st birthday in March, I was diagnosed as dyspraxic and dyslexic.

My first thought was anger - how had I gotten so far through the education system without someone saying - hang on a minute.... and offering some help? I suspect the main reason is that I went to quite a rough school, and kids that were passing were kind of just left to get on with it.

My second thought was confusion - hang on a minute.... how had I actually got so far through the education system?! Most of the people from my secondary school hadn't even gone onto take A-Levels, and literally less than about 10 (from my year of 250) had gone on to university. The assessment must be wrong, I mean, I'm studying English?! I read books extremely quickly (hyperlexia?!) so how can I be dyslexic?!

My third thought was sheer panic - OH MY GOD I'M DISABLED. As the assessment was done through the university (and cost me £350?!) I was automatically registered with the university Disability Service and helped to apply for Disabled Students Allowance. The most common response from my friends was "Do you get a disabled parking badge? Can I borrow it?! Cos, obviously, you can't drive..." The answer is no, no, and I'm bloody well going to start learning now to prove you wrong!! It felt like a massive burden had been placed on my shoulders. I was suddenly very different from other people - I always had been - but now it felt very marked, very strange, as though something was suddenly wrong with me.

My most recent thoughts on the matter are acceptance - it's a learning difference, not a disability, part of who I am, not something that stop me being the real me. Things started to make sense - I can't swim, drive and can *just* about ride a bike. I work in the bar at uni and am CONSTANTLY breaking glasses. But, I can play football, rugby and run pretty decently. I've realized that although I can read very (very) quickly, my spelling can be appalling and I often miss out words, get them in the wrong or write words phonetically similar to the words I'm thinking. I realized that I'd just previously learnt to cope by subconsciously proofreading things multiple times and teachers letting these small mistakes slide because of the "clever" content surrounding them. I get frustrated because my thoughts are faster than my writing and typing and now I finally get extra times in exams so for once I can finish them. My handwriting is kinda legible but I write very slowly and I genuinely don't know how I managed to get all A's in my A-Levels without finishing any of the exams!!! It also explained some other less study related things, why I'd grown up not eating fruit and vegetables as I couldn't bear the texture (don't worry folks I now have smoothies and soups so I don't get ill), why I'm very susceptible to hot/cold, why I don't like clubbing, why I go off on random tangents in conversation, why I can't structure essays or arguments, why I forget things very easily and why I have a propensity to exaggerate/mistell events, blurring the lines between reality, fantasy and my emotions and perception of what occurred. (Please note: I don't mention dragons or anything, just sometimes get confused as to who said what, the tone, what actually happened, what I think happened in social situations.)

The main reason for this post is mainly to say hi, introduce myself but also to ask for help! I'm due to receive some assistive software but not until later in the year - and term starts on Monday! I'm going into my final year and I've literally scraped through the last two, despite putting in a lot more effort than some of my classmates. Does anyone have any hints or tips for studying/university for dyspraxics? Particularly for concentration, revision, structure and memory? I always seem to go into an exam and as soon as I'm there promptly forget everything I've just spent months learning and relearning. Also, I'll be doing my dissertation... which means numbers people. It'll involve doing a psychology experiment and STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. This is all very logical and rigorous and mathematical and very linear , which is not going to be easy because my brain sometimes thinks like an exploding firework.

Thanks loads for reading, and extra thanks for any help,
Becky

[Slinky Siren]

Hi Becky i think you are amazing to b in your final year at Durham. Thats awesome.i cant give you any tips to help you but just wanted to say hi and welcome.

[Jim]

Hi Becky, I can't really offer tips on your uni studies since I never attempted going to university myself. My academic education 'hit the wall' during my A Levels, so you're already well ahead of me on that one which isn't bad considering your recent diagnosis (I've been diagnosed as Dyspraxic and Dyslexic since I were a wee nipper).

I'm sure you'll find that explaining what dyspraxia is, is notoriously difficult because it's yet to be well understood by... well anyone really and the condition is pretty unique to the individual who has it.

I wouldn't worry too much about the semantics, I.e. Is it a learning difficulty, difference or disability? I think the point is that Dyspraxia is relatively so rare that society in general is simply not aware of it's existence, and hence rather inevitably societal structure is geared towards the more commonly found average perception on reality.

That partly is what it boils down to, people who develop one of these conditions (be it dyslexia, dyspraxia, OCD, autism, aspergers etc) are approaching life and reality from a different perspective and quite often it seems the two aren't very compatible

To analogise it, it's a bit like trying to run a computer program written for Microsoft Windows but from Apple operating system... it's not really going to work

But it's not all doom and gloom, as you yourself are proof to. This is no impact on ultimate intelligence. Indeed some of the most revered geniuses in history are considered to have been 'neurotic' in some way. Often the different perspective we approach things from can be an advantage because other people will miss them on account of it bring completely outside their perspective.

The biggest tip I'd have to offer anyone is to work on your insight into your own condition, to observe and analyse your coping mechanisms, strategies and methods because once you understand these things you can tweak them to the environment around you or else seek a environment which best fits your needs.

Welcome to the forum

[Moot]

Welcome to the forum, Becky!

I got diagnosed while at uni and got some software free, but in all honesty didn't use it because of the nature of my course not really calling for it. I can very much understand such things to be more useful on your type of course! When it came to dissertations nothing changed and family mostly helped me with them.