not to beleve in all these jobs

[Orangejuicemarathoner]

Supposedly there are thousands and thousands of vacancies, but if you actually look, most are agencies. You don't so much apply for a vacancy as get lured in to sign up for an agency. They might or might not then put your name forward for something, and it might not be suitable if they do.

And most of the jobs that are not actually just imaginary fronts to help an agency get your details on file, require ownership of a vehicle.

AIBU to believe that there are actually far far fewer vacancies than the news headline figures are suggesting.

I would guess 10-20% at most

Dd is in a coffee shop job (taking a couple years off from academia) and it pays the princely sum of £7.50 per hour.

@Bythemillpond

Orangejuicemarathoner

I can vouch for the fact that every child with ADHD and dyslexia has every opportunity to pass GCSEs, however severely affected they are

So what are these opportunities and do they extend to those that the school refuse to refer for a diagnosis.
What happens to those that aren’t diagnosed

"Diagnosis" is completely irrelevant. Support is based on normal way of working, eg dictation, scribing, movement breaks, prompting, readers etc

Whether a child has a "diagnosis" or not simply does not come in to it.

Traditionally richer parents with more time would simply go and buy the diagnosis they wanted anyway, whether it was true for their child or not..

And poorer children, or children with less involved parents didn't get them

and some parents refuse to have their children assessed.

"Diagnosis" is frequently just a measure of how much a PITA the mother is, rather than the needs of a child

There is no reason for your children not to have GCSEs. They are available to everyone up to and including those with mild learning difficulties. Not for those with moderate learning difficulties, but there are other appropriate qualifications.

Your children didn't work, and your attitude indicates that you probably enabled them with this.

There is nothing to stop them getting some basic GCSEs now though. Maths and English GCSE courses remain free for life. There may be a waiting list locally , they should get on it

"Traditionally richer parents with more time would simply go and buy the diagnosis they wanted anyway, whether it was true for their child or not.."

This is bullshit. Richer parents might well pay privately for an Ed psych report because they can afford to circumnavigate the hoops you need to jump through to get an assessment publicly funded, but Ed Psychs are qualified and professionally accountable and don't just hand out dyslexia labels because they are being privately paid to assess some children.

@LimitIsUp

"Traditionally richer parents with more time would simply go and buy the diagnosis they wanted anyway, whether it was true for their child or not.."

This is bullshit. Richer parents might well pay privately for an Ed psych report because they can afford to circumnavigate the hoops you need to jump through to get an assessment publicly funded, but Ed Psychs are qualified and professionally accountable and don't just hand out dyslexia labels because they are being privately paid to assess some children.

don't just hand out diagnosis... yes they do. Not reputable ones, of course, but not difficult to find one that will give you what you pay for. Hence why most schools disregard private assessments

Evidence?

@Orangejuicemarathoner

There is no reason for your children not to have GCSEs. They are available to everyone up to and including those with mild learning difficulties. Not for those with moderate learning difficulties, but there are other appropriate qualifications.

Your children didn't work, and your attitude indicates that you probably enabled them with this.

There is nothing to stop them getting some basic GCSEs now though. Maths and English GCSE courses remain free for life. There may be a waiting list locally , they should get on it

What a stupid, ignorant post. You have no idea. GCSEs are designed so that a designated quota of kids will fail.

Kids with difficulties haven't a hope. Your posts are cruel and disablist.

So every child can pass a GCSE - in spite of their difficulties. And can everyone with a disabiity of difficulty just sort it out if they try hard enough.

One day you will encounter something in your own family whether it be illness, disabiity or disaster - because we all do. And you might realise that not everything can be got over if you "just try" and it's not always possible to "get the right support".

There are thousands of jobs available everywhere at NMW or below if you’re under 25. The problem is, they are just not viable for many people who need regular hours in order to sort out childcare etc.
Care industry is desperate for carers, again all NMW and in social hours, also if you work doing care work for people in their own homes, you need your own car and to be able to afford to run it. NMW does not allow you to be able to do this.
People are very quick to say everyone who is unemployed should do these jobs on NMW, but are not happy to either do these jobs themselves, or have a family member do them.
I’m not sure what the answer is... no one wants to pay more for any services received, yet still expect others to do it.

Diagnosis" is completely irrelevant. Support is based on normal way of working, eg dictation, scribing, movement breaks, prompting, readers etc

Whether a child has a "diagnosis" or not simply does not come in to it

Actually in GCSEs you have to have a diagnosis in order to access all these things otherwise every pupil would request these things wouldn’t they

Traditionally richer parents with more time would simply go and buy the diagnosis they wanted anyway, whether it was true for their child or not

And poorer children, or children with less involved parents didn't get them

and some parents refuse to have their children assessed

You can’t just go and buy a diagnosis. You have to be referred even if you go privately. Might have changed in the last 15 years when I first approached the schools.

Diagnosis" is frequently just a measure of how much a PITA the mother is, rather than the needs of a child

Well obviously I wasn’t such a PITA as I couldn’t get my children diagnosed when they were in school. They had to wait till they were adults to go through the NHS.

There is no reason for your children not to have GCSEs. They are available to everyone up to and including those with mild learning difficulties. Not for those with moderate learning difficulties, but there are other appropriate qualifications

As my children’s learning difficulties are definitely not mild what are these qualifications that you could have taken
They certainly were never available.

I did request that Ds took functional English when he did his level 2 trade course but I was told it was the GCSE or nothing.
He couldn’t progress to Level 3 because he didn’t pass his English GCSE. This is despite being top of his class with a 97.5% average score on all tests and assessments in his trade course
In fact no one from his course was allowed to do level 3 because they lacked GCSEs in English. And the government wonder why plumbers, electricians, bricklayers etc are in short supply

Your children didn't work, and your attitude indicates that you probably enabled them with this

You mean my disability enabled them. I too have ADHD and dyslexia and no qualifications.
Even without a disability have you tried to access SEN assessments for your children
It is like beating your head against a brick wall

There is nothing to stop them getting some basic GCSEs now though. Maths and English GCSE courses remain free for life. There may be a waiting list locally , they should get on it

Why would they. They are back up and running there businesses and because of the type of work they do wouldn’t be able to commit to a weekly course at a certain day and time every week.

They are doing quite well without the need for GCSEs. The pandemic just confirmed in their minds that the system is f**ked especially if you are disabled or have a learning difficulty where you are intelligent but writing things down to pass an exam is beyond you and you have people telling you that you wouldn’t be disabled if you just tried a little harder.

It makes me laugh that there is a shortage of van drivers but when I apply the answer is no.

Fwiw Dd in one of her freelance works is manager to people older than her who have spent the best part of £50,000 on a university degree to get the job she picked up at 18.

Ds this year alone has taught himself Spanish (He fancied going to live in Spain and put in swimming pools for a while) He also learned everything you could possibly know about building a swimming pool.

Stock trading. He did quite well and has that going on in the background.

He has bought, renovated and sold furniture, and cars (he can’t drive) and was even looking at caravans but we hadn’t the space and it was against the covenants on the house.

He is currently mining Bit Coin and has a new business venture in computing that he is starting up.

Why would he get a GCSE that enabled him to get a minimum wage job.

@Bythemillpond

TweetyPieBird

Plenty of people with dyslexia and ADHD (varying degrees of severity) are perfectly able to complete their GCSEs. These people are determined and hard working and don’t let their SEN prevent them from achieving

Maybe because they were diagnosed and either had meds to help them concentrate or lessons to help them over come their dyslexia

Have you tried to get even one child tested for dyslexia or ADHD even if you aren’t hampered by the fact that it turns out you have ADHD and dyslexia as well.

Unfortunately, your DC didn’t put in the effort

Do you think this of other disabled people. They can’t walk because they are just not putting the effort in.

Unless your DC are in their mid-50s or older or under the age of 7, I highly doubt that their “severe” dyslexia and ADHD will have gone unnoticed by teachers.

MANY people with dyslexia and autism work so hard to overcome potential barriers to learning in order to achieve in their studies. They are given extra time in their exams and will have opportunities to meet with teachers/tutors who are trained in SEN learning strategies.

You saying that your DC didn’t get any GCSEs “because of their SEN” is incredibly offensive. SEN students are able to achieve. Your DC just didn’t put in the effort.

What a stupid, ignorant post. You have no idea.
GCSEs are designed so that a designated quota of kids will fail.

Kids with difficulties haven't a hope. Your posts are cruel and disablist.

So every child can pass a GCSE - in spite of their difficulties. And can everyone with a disabiity of difficulty just sort it out if they try hard enough.

One day you will encounter something in your own family whether it be illness, disabiity or disaster - because we all do. And you might realise that not everything can be got over if you "just try" and it's not always possible to "get the right support".

Rubbish!

I am severely dyslexic and dyspraxic, I have 12 GCSEs, 4 A levels and 3 degrees. I did this without official "support"I have taught literally hundreds of children with severe dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, adhd, DAMP,attachment disorder, MLD, GDD. ODD, PDA, at 30+ other conditions. amd even more with tendencies, without a diagnosis.

GCSEs go from 1-9, or previously A-G. Even with moderate learning difficulties E or 3 is possible. I have never known anyone get below an F or 2 and that is very very rare - think MLD and non English speaker, with behaviour problems

GCSEs certainly do not have a quota to fail, they are a measure of achievement at every different level to everybody. The only way to get no GCSEs at all is not to show up to lessons or exams

Actually in GCSEs you have to have a diagnosis in order to access all these things otherwise every pupil would request these things wouldn’t they

no. As I said, diagnosis is irrelevant.

You can’t just go and buy a diagnosis

Unfortunately, many people have done

Unless your DC are in their mid-50s or older or under the age of 7, I highly doubt that their “severe” dyslexia and ADHD will have gone unnoticed by teachers

I had to explain to one teacher that Ds couldn’t do the comprehension homework as he couldn’t read or write

I got back a blank stare and told he had to do it as it was the National curriculum. Obviously he couldn’t do the homework so was kept in at every break time for a week where he was left to stare at a blank piece of paper.
The teacher called me in to tell me they didn’t like his attitude and that he was obstinate for not writing anything.

I reminded her again that he couldn’t read or write anything and was told that was no excuse as the homework needed to be done.
Do you actually think that teacher was thinking about ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia or SENs when she clearly struggled to comprehend the link between Ds not being able to read or write and him not doing the homework.

MANY people with dyslexia and autism work so hard to overcome potential barriers to learning in order to achieve in their studies. They are given extra time in their exams and will have opportunities to meet with teachers/tutors who are trained in SEN learning strategies

I think you are living in a dream world
You actually think schools send pupils for assessments. Maybe some do but the ones I have come across just want to push any form of assessment on to the next school as it costs the school.

If by some fluke there was an assessment where are these professionals who are trained in SEN learning strategies.
Who pays for them as most schools are supposedly struggling.

The most Ds got was no assessment and an unqualified TA who shouted at him when he didn’t know a word.
And even that was taken away when the HT announced that there was no SEN children in his school (probably because no one was ever sent for a diagnosis) so the SEN department was closing. Not that there was much of a SEN department. Just a couple of TAs who listened to children reading.

For those who are going to say that could never happen. It definitely did.
Anyone who had a child who struggled was told that their Ds or Dd would be better off in the local special needs school as they couldn’t cope with mainstream education.

It did result in the following year OFSTED inspectors going into the school and the HT and several teachers leaving and the Outstanding rated school being put into special measures. (I knew one of the teachers socially as she was the mother of one of Dds friends who told me what happened)

You saying that your DC didn’t get any GCSEs “because of their SEN” is incredibly offensive. SEN students are able to achieve. Your DC just didn’t put in the effort

But what if those pupils didn’t know they were autistic or had ADHD or dyslexia. How would they have known how to overcome a barrier they didn’t know was there. They just thought they were lazy or stupid or obstinate.
I had similar screamed at me daily by teachers all through my schooling and did see and hear what the teachers thought of my dc which indicated that nothing had changed much since the 60s and 70s

I found out I had dyslexia and ADHD in my 50s. If you had asked me this time last year if I had ADHD I would have said absolutely not.
I just thought I was incapable of doing stuff other people (even those who had physical disabilities) seemed to do naturally. I just thought as I had been told over and over growing up that I was stupid and lazy that I was obviously just stupid and lazy despite putting in 50 times the effort as everyone else.

Dd managed to get into a specialist private school that was more interested in how well Dd performed in a non academic subject. (Something she has now turned into a business)

Ds was beaten up once by 2 boys from his class because he couldn’t read. When I complained to the HT with another mother who had seen the incident and had to pull the boys off him. Ds was on the ground and one boy was on top of him punching his head and another was kicking him. I hadn’t seen the incident as arrived a minute later.
The HT assured us that the two boys that the other mother pointed out couldn’t possibly have been responsible as they were good boys and went to church every Sunday.
I was also told that they couldn’t see a problem with Ds being verbally abused because he couldn’t read as that wasn’t a lie.

Ds had at 8 years old what I can only describe as a nervous breakdown and I removed him from the school.

I regret leaving him in that school for so long and wished I had pulled him out sooner.
It changed Ds from a happy little boy to one who never mentally recovered from his years schooling at that school.

you are really hung up on diagnosis and assessment, but that is all irrelevant. Its based on normal way of working

Care industry is desperate for carers, again all NMW and in social hours

That doesn't fit our family experience.
Summer break, DD worked in a local CH in 2020 & in a local pub in 2021.
She was paid less at the pub.
She worked shifts 7am-2pm or 7am-7pm at CH.
Pub shifts were either split (3 hour gap) & often until 11:30pm.
She liked pub work better but was paid much better at CH & preferred CH shift times, too.

@Bythemillpond I had to explain to one teacher that Ds couldn’t do the comprehension homework as he couldn’t read or write

People with dyslexia CAN read and write. I have family members who are dyslexic. They just struggle with spelling and read slower than others (due to having to work harder to process words on the page). Your Ds has some other serious neurological condition if he is completely illiterate. Did you encourage reading at home from EYFS age? Did you do extra phonics lessons at home so he could learn to read?

It depends on the severity and type of condition and school and all kinds of things. It is certainly possible. Plenty of bright people leave school early and do well although in general you improve your chances in life if you carry on at school.

So sorry for what your ds went through bythemillpond

TweetyPieBird

I had to explain to one teacher that Ds couldn’t do the comprehension homework as he couldn’t read or write

People with dyslexia CAN read and write
I have family members who are dyslexic. They just struggle with spelling and read slower than others (due to having to work harder to process words on the page). Your Ds has some other serious neurological condition if he is completely illiterate. Did you encourage reading at home from EYFS age? Did you do extra phonics lessons at home so he could learn to read*

Of course some people with dyslexia can read. It took Ds till he was 12 years old to master reading. His writing is still unreadable (dysgraphia) and yes he does have more serious ND issues
And yes I read to him every night. I spent a small fortune on work books, puzzle books, colouring books to help him feel comfortable with a pen. He had tutors and hours and hours of help from all of us to help him master just the basics of reading and maths.
He does most of his work on the computer as I don’t think he will ever have readable handwriting.
He is very bright in different things but the struggle and frustration of living in a world where only the ability to pass exams is considered to open doors to what he might want to do (even if the exams are meaningless when it comes to the actual trade he wants to master) means the cards are stacked against you from the start.

Orangejuicemarathoner

you are really hung up on diagnosis and assessment

So you mean any pupil just has to say they have issues and they will automatically get a scribe. Automatically get extra time in exams etc.
Why doesn’t every pupil do this or is there something in place to stop this happening.

Like having a diagnosis.