Medical Issue - Anyone passed with Dyspraxia, Phonological Disorder or Speech Probs?

[HoneyandTimmy]

Hi there,

 

I'm quite new on here but have been reading and learning a lot on here over the last couple of weeks. I was up until 3am this morning reading about the discrimination some poor people on here have suffered due to having disabilities. We are at the stage where we are about to submit for a 176 SS visa but have just realised that my son's medical condition could mean that he fails the medical. He has been diagnosed as having a significant expressive language and speech disorder or phonological disorder. His speech therapist mentioned that he has an aspect of Dyspraxia but I just called the hospital and they said that they wouldn't give him that label, it's not in any reports (as far as I know) so there's no need to put that on any forms. He is 4 years old, very bright and has no other problems except for his speech, which is improving all the time due to Speech Therapy and all the work we do with him at home.

 

I have to say that I am really gutted at the thought that this dream could be all over for us and am not really sure what to next. Do we get a medical done for him now to find out if he will pass before wasting time, money etc on the visa (have already spent on agent and Vetassess fees) or do we just give up?? We were going to try and get a job offer then go this year on a 457 visa, but what's the point if we will have to come back after 4 years?

 

I'd be really grateful of any advice.

[Guest hrimmer3011]

Hi there, My 13 year old son was born with Dyspraxia and has had speech therepy for some years, he has no other medical issues, just the speech and language difficulties, he is in mainstream school and doing well. This should have no bearing at all on your visa application, we mention my son when started applying and as it is NOT a medical condition that requires hospital/medication etc then it is not a problem at all. So don't worry about it, they only look at the meds if you are likely to be a burden on their health care system over years and having a speech/language problem really is not an issue with them. Good luck with it and hope I have reassurred you a little. helen

[HoneyandTimmy]

Hi Helen,

Thank you very much for your reply, it has made me feel a bit more positive. That's good that your son is doing well in a mainstream school. The problem is we are in the process of trying to get him a Statement of Special Educational Needs so that he can get into a school with a special speech unit. In the reports that have been done (by a senior speech therapist & paediatrician) it says that he preferably needs to go to a school with a speech unit, so therefore I am worried that they will see him as an expensive child to school. We started all this visa process last August but he only got this diagnosis last December, and even then I naively didn't think it would be a problem until reading certain things on here.

[HoneyandTimmy]

Has anyone else passed the medical with these problems?

[Guest Taylor72]

Has anyone else passed the medical with these problems?

.

Hi

My son has dyslexia and was also in speech therapy when young and it was mentiomed at his assessment he had slight dyspraxia tendencies. He is 12 now and we have passed our medicals and have visa granted.

To be honest he is in main school and has support in place from the governments special educational needs funding, although this has lessoned now he is in high school. We did make them aware put it posed no problem as he was in main stream school, and the medical was a very physical medical and looking for long term Medical condition. But you could always get some written evidence from the therapist if needed , and to state it would not pose a weight on their health service like a long term medical condition.

Good luck x

Annette

[HoneyandTimmy]

Hi Annette, thank you very much for your reply. That's great that your son passed the medical. That gives me some hope!

 

Sarah x

[Quoll]

Chances are he will be OK, there is not a good provision for kids with speech language disorders here and generally they arent in special schools although if he were in a UK special school then they may see that as a disadvantage. Dont expect much from education by way of support, especially if he just has an expressive language disorder (some states require significant deficits in expressive and receptive language in order to access disability support). Generally dyslexia and dyspraxia are not considered disabilities from the point of view of additional educational provision

 

You may find that you have to fork out for private speech pathology sessions as the state lists can be very long and there is a move away from individual clinical sessions to more group work or home programs.

[janice1uk]

Hi there, My 13 year old son was born with Dyspraxia and has had speech therepy for some years, he has no other medical issues, just the speech and language difficulties, he is in mainstream school and doing well. This should have no bearing at all on your visa application, we mention my son when started applying and as it is NOT a medical condition that requires hospital/medication etc then it is not a problem at all. So don't worry about it, they only look at the meds if you are likely to be a burden on their health care system over years and having a speech/language problem really is not an issue with them. Good luck with it and hope I have reassurred you a little. helen

Some have failed due to Dyspraxia but as you son has not been diagnosed with this condition i would not even mention it. When it comes to the medicals take all reports you can from school and other parties involved to show he is doing well and you should be fine. Good luck.

[HoneyandTimmy]

Thank you for your replies Quoll and Janice.

 

I realise that there isn't much help available in Australia for my son as I've done some research. Ideally I would prefer to go after his speech has improved after having help here, but unfortunately that isn't an option as it's our last chance to apply due to my husband's age and the change in July means we would no longer have enough points. We would pay for a speech pathologist in Australia but in the meantime he has speech therapy here almost weekly and we do a lot of homework with him too. He's keen to do it and is making progress, so maybe by the time he needs medicals he could be much better. We are yet to submit a 176, so I'm guessing medicals are a long way off anyway.

[Jules37]

Hi

Our son has learning difficulties and is going through the system for a statement and for a diagnosis for dyspraxia I told the doctor this when we went for our medicals one of the questions on the form asked if he had a learning disability. The doctor said that he thought it would be fine but we had to get a report from the headmaster to say that he was sociable and what his difficulties were and that they thought he would be able to hold down a job when he left school. We also had to get a report from his educational psychologist. We got these done and got our visa a couple of weeks later, hope this helps to put you mind at rest.

Jules

[HoneyandTimmy]

Hi

Our son has learning difficulties and is going through the system for a statement and for a diagnosis for dyspraxia I told the doctor this when we went for our medicals one of the questions on the form asked if he had a learning disability. The doctor said that he thought it would be fine but we had to get a report from the headmaster to say that he was sociable and what his difficulties were and that they thought he would be able to hold down a job when he left school. We also had to get a report from his educational psychologist. We got these done and got our visa a couple of weeks later, hope this helps to put you mind at rest.

Jules

 

Hi Jules,

Thanks for your reply - that's brillliant - just what I wanted to read! Can I ask how old you son is or was at the time of the medical?

Sarah x