Hi, Can I get checked for possible dyslexia dysparaxia before I enrol on a postgraduate course?

filifou

Hi there
Can I get checked for possible dyslexia dysparaxia before I enrol to a postgraduate course 
I am told you can’t get diagnosed on NHS how does it work if you can’t afford private assessment ? 

Thanks a lot 🙏🏾

L_Volunteer

Hi @filifou. A warm welcome to Scope's forum from me. 

It might be worth reaching out to the university you are about to study at, sometimes universities have funds for diagnostic assessments.

Otherwise, some resources you might find helpful are:

• The British Dyslexia Association - Diagnosis
• Dyspraxia in Adults - NHS

Please note, the best first point of contact with dyspraxia is your GP. Your GP can then refer you to more targeted services (e.g., physiotherapist/occupational therapist).

Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else we can do to support you. We are all here for you and listening to you 

filifou

Thank you L,

I have contacted the GP but it was a flat no, as in they were the ones telling me NHS doesnt cover the diagnosis. And as per the university I assumed it would be after one is enrolled. Which I am not at the moment.
Thank you for the links I keep missing the opening hours for the helpline - I'll try again this week.

Cher_Alumni

Hello @flifou and a warm welcome from me. How's your Sunday going?

I can see @L_Volunteer has given you some great advice already. I'd second the suggestion to speak with your particular university. Having a suspected learning difficulty shouldn't be a barrier to enrolment, and I'd speak with the Disability Services department at your institution about how it would work in terms of you getting the support you need to do your coursework and access to any diagnostic testing. 

In my experience, Disability Services in academia are very supportive, and I hope your experience is the same.

Please let us know how you get on. And, just to advise - I've tweaked the title of your thread and moved it to our Education category to help others spot it.

Take care.

filifou

thank you for the support. I will speak to the university. I actually am now diagnosed with FND too not sure if that will qualify as a disability in itself.

Alex_Alumni

Hi @filifou and thanks for the update, let us know how things go with speaking to uni  

Under the equality act (2010) disability is defined as "a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities."

In this case, an impairment is something which makes daily tasks harder, or means they'll take longer to do. Long-term means something that is likely to last, or lasts 12 months or longer. Does that make sense? 

You don't have to define yourself or your condition based on this definition. Many disabled people do, or at least they think about their impairment in similar ways.