Navigating university life with dyslexia

Starting university means getting used to new routines and a completely new workload. All of this, combined with the added stress of making new friends, can make the first few weeks a very daunting time.

When you add onto all of this the prospect of having to sort out additional help and adjustments, it can all start to feel overwhelming. For any new students worried about having to deal with the Wellbeing and Disability Services at Warwick, I’m here to tell you about my experiences, to hopefully put your minds at ease.

Once you get to university, you are much more in control of your education. This means that you are also in control of sorting out exam adjustments. Initially, all this involves is getting in contact with the Wellbeing team at Warwick and organising a meeting to talk about any study support you may need. For me, this meeting took place in person and I got to meet the Wellbeing Officer managing my case. However, times have changed, and so an in-person meeting may not be necessary. Getting an initial meeting is very easy, you can simply send them an email.

Your Wellbeing Officer will talk through all of this with you

Most people have to be tested to diagnose any learning difficulties after they turn 18, even if they have been diagnosed as a child. You need to have these tests before the university can offer you any reasonable adjustments, as they need evidence to be able to offer you the appropriate support.

Your Wellbeing Officer will talk through all of this with you. If you do have to be formally assessed, your case manager will give you plenty of information. I was even given a really helpful cheat-sheet with contact information for Educational Psychologists near Warwick that the university has worked with in the past and that they trust. This included psychologists from Leamington, Coventry and Warwick, so you can pick the most convenient for you.

Once you have had your initial meeting, you can contact your case manager from Wellbeing through the Wellbeing Portal. From this portal, you can contact Wellbeing about anything you need to talk about, as well as book and manage meetings.

Getting a formal assessment isn’t as scary as you think

It is important to remember that arranging reasonable adjustments for all university students takes a long time, with individual deadlines for when you need to submit your evidence for reasonable adjustments. Usually, for summer exams, this deadline is around early March. Make sure you get everything sorted as soon as you can to avoid last-minute panic and stress about not having the adjustments that you need for your exams, speaking from personal experience.

Getting a formal assessment isn’t as scary as you think. I simply emailed an Educational Psychologist from the list my case manager gave to me and they replied with a few different appointments to choose from, as well as all their information and rates. Assessments tend to last three hours and cost around £300. However, the university offers grants that you can apply for to help cover this cost. My Educational Psychologist also offered to do an ADHD/ADD assessment at the same time for an additional £75.

It may be simpler and easier for you to be diagnosed if you have previous evidence/diagnoses that you can bring for them to include in their report. The more evidence you have, the stronger your case is, and the more likely the university is to offer you all the adjustments you need.

It is ultimately the university’s decision which accommodations will be made

Throughout secondary school and college, I had used a word processor in my exams so I asked my parents to send me the report I had received from my secondary school, which I could bring to the assessment to build evidence. This helped to show that this is a familiar and beneficial system for me during exams. So, if you are used to having your exam paper printed on yellow paper, for example, make sure you mention this to your Educational Psychologist. Despite all this, try not to worry if you don’t have a pile of evidence as it’s not a necessity and you can still get adjustments without it.

A couple of weeks after my assessment, I was sent a 15-page report from our assessment. To summarise, they diagnosed me with dyslexia, which was a bit of a surprise at the time as my previous school had not given a label in their report. I simply forwarded this onto my case manager at Wellbeing support and they sorted out my reasonable adjustments with my department.

Although the Educational Psychologist can recommend what adjustments should be made, it is ultimately the university’s decision which accommodations will be made. Luckily for me, I got the adjustments I was hoping for which involved 25% extra time, the use of a word processor (without spelling or grammar checks) and the opportunity to take the exam in the reasonable adjustments room. They also offered me further support should I ever need it which was very reassuring.

Wellbeing and my department sort everything out so all I have to do is revise and turn up to the exam 

When exam time does roll around, my department emails me before every exam to let me know the room I will be in (as I am not in the main exam hall) and the start time. The start time for extra time and adjusted exams is always 30 minutes before the start of the regular exam. This is in case there are any mishaps, such as not being able to find your room. If this did happen you can simply go to the main exam room and you wouldn’t miss the exam – again, I’m speaking from personal experience.

After this, I haven’t had to worry about adjustments again. Wellbeing and my department sort everything out so all I have to do is revise and turn up to the exam. My overall experience with the Wellbeing and Disability Services at Warwick has been very positive. They have always been informative and attentive when I’ve needed help and they always do their best to make sure you have the adjustments, materials and environment needed to allow you to do your best work.

When online assessments were announced they made sure to provide detailed information about how my extra time would be incorporated, which put my mind at ease during that very stressful time. They also understand how overwhelming it is for new students to suddenly have to figure all this out along with figuring out your new university life, so they do try to help you to make the transition as easy as possible.