Disabled Students Allowance and RSI

lookey7

Hello, I'm an MA student in the process of applying for DSA. I found out during term 1 of my course that the RSI I've been sort of ignoring for the past 7 years or so is, unsurprisingly, bad enough now to be classed as a disability. That realisation plus various other aspects of my life at present (in theory I'm supposed to start CBT in February) has made me feel kind of isolated, so I figured now was probably a good time to sign up to this site.

I'm a bit of an anxious person, which is not helped by the fact that everything I read about RSI makes it sound like my career is going to be over before it even begins. I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with the inevitable life after uni job hunt when I'm not sure what I'm capable of anymore (I'm a music student and was considering going into software development). The DSA process so far has been pretty straightforward, but my condition fluctuates and previous volunteering has made me well aware of the faults in the assessment system. I'm waiting on a response to my application and the anticipatory nerves are annoying. I just want to keep my chin up and get through this year. Any advice on how to do that is very welcome!

Zaracat4

Hi there. It is hard when health issues effect the direction of our lives and plans.
I studied with uni and my life changed dramatically and there is very little out there in adapting and finding your way these obstacles which make everything so much harder. 
The best way I found is by speaking to others who have adapted over the years who know the answers to the system assessments and benefits.
i did volunteering for a couple of years and even a parish councillor as I have always worked full time in the past. 
After 8 years I am still adjusting. They say it's life long learning....

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @lookey7, and a warm welcome to the community!

Thanks for sharing this with us, and I'm sorry to hear things are tough at the moment. You're among friends here, so do feel free to get involved and have a chat. 

Fingers crossed for the DSA outcome you're hoping for. I'm moving this post into our lovely disabled student advisor Melanie's category, in case there's anything she can add!