Dyspraxic Adults

Hi all,


I'm a university student in the UK and I was wondering if there was any point in going for an assessment. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with Specific Learning Disabilities so I receive a considerable amount of support through that. However, the dyspraxia screening in the educational psychological assessment indicated a very strong possibility that I have dyspraxia

An official diagnosis of dyspraxia would not change who I am but I wonder if it would eventually be helpful in the workplace. The support I receive my my university includes help with organisation, time management, multitasking and so on which I've come to really rely on after a dreadful first year.
However, I have heard that there is very little support for dyspraxia in the UK outside of the schooling system making me question if going for an official assessment is worth the cost?

Hi there Rina

Welcome

The Learning support you get for your Specific Learning Disabilities would likely be the same or similar to what you'd receive for Dyspraxia too, dependent on your needs.

Employers are obliged to make 'reasonable' adjustments as per the Equality Act 2010. The difficulty is that 'reasonable' is very subjective so you have to negotiate with an employer over what you need / what they are prepared to reasonably allow.

Does your university offer support to help leavers find employment? (when it gets to that time.)

Some Employers are better than others at supporting people. Some are Members of the Disability Confident scheme. Scope have some useful info about employment and the Government's Access To Work scheme may also be an option for you. There is more awareness but the difficulty is often where people find themselves in a hostile/toxic working environment because their management don't get it and/or don't care. Appreciate that having had a terrible year and the current 'lockdown' you'll be very much questioning your abilities and how the future will be. You could say that the fact you remained undetected through schooling is testament to your coping/masking abilities. I struggled for many years thinking I was stupid/useless, lazy etc and when I discovered it I was not much keen on being defined by my 'new' label.

Hope this response is a useful start.