Page 2 | Any one got diagnosed with a learning disability as a adult?

Samsamspanner10 · 2025-07-30T16:37:52+00:00

Hi has any one ever been diagnosed or know anyone diagnosed with a learning disability as a adult? My parents didn't want me labelled with learning disabilities so I have struggled all my life. The GP is refusing to put me in for learning disabilities. He says they don't do it for my age bracket. Does anyone know how I can be assessed?

I’m a registered learning disability nurse (hello other RNLDs). It’s a field of nursing just like adult, child and mental health but people don’t tend to know about or understand what a “learning disability” is and, as others have pointed out, it is not helped by the different terminology used in Education. Lots of people are able to get through life without a formal diagnosis, particularly where there is a spouse and family around to help navigate it. Learning disability is recognised in legislation and there is a lot of research about health inequalities so it is important we identify people who might need extra help and support.

If it is a learning disability diagnosis you are after, OP, I would be interested because of all the diagnoses people are seeking currently this is the one most people would avoid - there is enormous (completely unjustified) stigma still about this characteristic. Your first port of call might be your GP and you might want to think about the things you struggled with as a child e.g. did you attend a special school, did you attain any qualifications, what sorts of things do you need help with? If it is a dyslexia/dyspraxia assessment you are after then you will need to do that privately so give it a Google for a local service. At the very least you’ve created an opportunity for us to raise awareness about learning disability, so thank you!

If anybody is interested in learning disability nursing as a career here is a link to more info (shamelessly plugging): https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/nursing/roles-nursing/learning-disability-nurse