PSA!! if u have ADHD (or literally any mental/physical health condition) and you're a student in the UK, firstly, massive congrats to you - uni is not easy for us, you're doing great

secondly - if you weren't already aware, there's a whole BUNCH of stuff you're entitled to!!

basically we are entitled to what's called the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) - where we effectively get a load of free stuff from the government to help us with our studies. we DO NOT have to pay this money back - ever!!

each person's allowance is different/tailored to them and what you get is based on what recommendations have been made for you after attending a 90 minute or so assessment where you have a fairly relaxed chat about how your disability affects you and your ability to learn

for example - i also have two SpLDs, these in addition to ADHD entitle me to (i will explain these in detail below)

- 1-1 study support
- 1-1 mentoring
- a printer
- £100 of ink & paper
- text to speech software
- dictation software
- recording device/app
- mindmap app

i can't think of anything else off the top of my head but i may have missed one or two things (ik a lot of people get a whole ass laptop which is awesome - i didnt bc i got a new laptop just before uni)

study support is basically a personal tutor. mine is great, she helps me organise and structure my academic work and without her i'd have probably dropped out already. i think she has ADHD too which makes for some great ADHD moments between us that are v funny for us both

mentoring is a lot more personal and can be kind of moulded to suit whatever you need - i kind of use it instead of therapy and my mentor helps me gain perspective and clarity over issues i'm having. it's also very useful if you need to have a bitch about your flatmates hehehe

printer, paper and ink is pretty self explanatory - basically i spend the money on the ink and paper, send them the receipts via student finance website and they refund me for it

all the other software is GREAT and helps a lot - im not great with massive texts or organising my thoughts so the extra software they provide is so helpful. im always inattentive in lectures and i can record them & highlight the most important parts to listen back to later

DSA is available to all UK students (who are British citizens) who have a condition that can affect learning - this can vary from IBS to ME/CFS to migraines and various mental health conditions

only 40% of those entitled to DSA actually apply, i'd never heard about it during school and only discovered it when i visited my uni student services before my ADHD diagnosis was confirmed - it's free money so i suspect the government dont really want you to know about it

but if you think you may be entitled to DSA, PLEASE drop an email to your student services and they should help you! my uni did pretty much all of my application for me and went over it all with me very thoroughly so i knew exactly what to expect

it's literally free stuff that you get to keep forever - why would you turn that down? the paperwork can be a bit daunting but once it's done it's done - you only have to apply once (i think)

some other cool stuff i've known people to get:
- ubers/taxis to and from uni
- BSL interpreters
- braille software
- specialist note-takers/scribes
- extra time in written exams

it helps us get to get on a level playing field as NT/able students - please consider applying :)