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UCAS Application adhd + dyslexia

Hi my dad has adhd (diagnosed as an adult) and I've come to realise I experience all of the same issues he does associated with ADHD, like I don't want to specify too much because personal/deep.
UCAS asks for learning disabilities and I experience dyslexia too along with most my family on my dads side too (trouble reading and spelling/order of words or repetition of them).

My main issues are my SENCO at my school doesn't care and I know won't bother testing me for dyslexia for official diagnosis and I don't trust them at all. Also side note in primary school I had a learning support teacher because of extreme difficulty I used to experience spelling when i was younger.

With ADHD I'm too embarrassed to go doctor to get confirmed or denied whether I actually have it as I'm not trying to self diagnose.

But since I have essentially all symptoms since I can remember and theres a genetic higher risk and I have always gave myself multiple giant deep scars on my thighs for years (if u know what I mean 😑 ) it kind of make sense if I had.

And I would prefer to let uni applications know if I officially have these learning disabilities or if it's just my brain busted/slow.
What do I do? I'm so stuck.
How do I get official diagnosis or debunking of either ADHD/Dyslexia? I just want to be sure.

Thank you so much
- you are allowed to put down your difficulties on a UCAS application without a clinical diagnosis. There should be a box where you can explain things more

-your university can also support with getting assessed for spLD

- If your SENCO is being unhelpful, your best bet is going to the GP. Wishing to seek an assessment would be the exact opposite of "self diagnosing", perhaps you can ask to do it over the phone or you can just write down what you want to say to make things easier? :smile: You can also ask to see another GP if the first is unhelpful. https://aadduk.org/faq/

There are also some services that are have contracts with the NHS to do diagnosis such as these and you can apply for funding from the NHS to do your assessment there privately. Speak to the service directly/on their website for support on this.

-although, I believe that if you request with your school to see an educational psychologist , they have to let you see one at some point. even if it isn't in the budget at the current moment. :yy:

or go privately
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by Obolinda
- you are allowed to put down your difficulties on a UCAS application without a clinical diagnosis. There should be a box where you can explain things more

-your university can also support with getting assessed for spLD

- If your SENCO is being unhelpful, your best bet is going to the GP. Wishing to seek an assessment would be the exact opposite of "self diagnosing", perhaps you can ask to do it over the phone or you can just write down what you want to say to make things easier? :smile: You can also ask to see another GP if the first is unhelpful. https://aadduk.org/faq/

There are also some services that are have contracts with the NHS to do diagnosis such as these and you can apply for funding from the NHS to do your assessment there privately. Speak to the service directly/on their website for support on this.

-although, I believe that if you request with your school to see an educational psychologist , they have to let you see one at some point. even if it isn't in the budget at the current moment. :yy:

or go privately

thank you, I was wondering do you know if my school is able to see that part of my application? Because i don't want them to know about that stuff, providing i was diagnosed. If don't know never mind, either way thank you for this information.
Original post by Anonymous
thank you, I was wondering do you know if my school is able to see that part of my application? Because i don't want them to know about that stuff, providing i was diagnosed. If don't know never mind, either way thank you for this information.

yes they can. although you can leave it off and contact ucas for it to be added once your application is sent off.

or you can just speak to the disability service once you start uni
Reply 5
Original post by Obolinda
yes they can. although you can leave it off and contact ucas for it to be added once your application is sent off.

or you can just speak to the disability service once you start uni

ok thank you so much.
Reply 6
Original post by Anonymous #1
Hi my dad has adhd (diagnosed as an adult) and I've come to realise I experience all of the same issues he does associated with ADHD, like I don't want to specify too much because personal/deep.
UCAS asks for learning disabilities and I experience dyslexia too along with most my family on my dads side too (trouble reading and spelling/order of words or repetition of them).

My main issues are my SENCO at my school doesn't care and I know won't bother testing me for dyslexia for official diagnosis and I don't trust them at all. Also side note in primary school I had a learning support teacher because of extreme difficulty I used to experience spelling when i was younger.

With ADHD I'm too embarrassed to go doctor to get confirmed or denied whether I actually have it as I'm not trying to self diagnose.

But since I have essentially all symptoms since I can remember and theres a genetic higher risk and I have always gave myself multiple giant deep scars on my thighs for years (if u know what I mean 😑 ) it kind of make sense if I had.

And I would prefer to let uni applications know if I officially have these learning disabilities or if it's just my brain busted/slow.
What do I do? I'm so stuck.
How do I get official diagnosis or debunking of either ADHD/Dyslexia? I just want to be sure.

Thank you so much

Please note Dyslexia is not an issue GPs can get you tested for. Unfortunately we do not have access to educational psychologists this can only be done through your school. Having a child with dyslexia I realise they were lucky that we could afford to have an assessment done, as in your case school wasn't concerned or interested. There are support and advice links via the British Dyslexia Association website. As for the ADHD symptoms can overlap with Dyslexia as there is often dysfunction with short term memory and processing of information as well as difficulties committing knowledge to paper and organisation ,which may make the affected person appear to be inattentive.

As my 8 year old said

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