Yanna Hyman - A Nice Girl But Just Not suitable!

My name is Yanna Hyman I am the unpaid co-ordinator of a Adult Dyspraxia group. I set up a self help group for adults with dyspraxia after experiencing medical retirement caused by disability discrimination. For the past 8 years I have empowered other adults living with dyspraxia and related impairments and raise awareness to avoid the same thing hapening to other people living with dyspraxia.


Although I am now confident and successful particularly academically this has not always been the case. I live with dyspraxia and dyslexia and probably Attention Deficit Disorder without hyperactivity which were not identified until I was 33. Because Dyspraxia often overlap with conditions such as dyslexia ADD, Aspergers Syndrome and Tourettes Syndrome people with these conditions choose to call the umbrella term neurodiversity.

The label a person is given is often what they have been diagnosed with first and often the whole picture is overlooked, instead of a holistic assessment. For example dyspraxia is diagnosed by a neurologist, ADHD and Asperger’s syndrome by a psychiatrist and dyslexia by an educational psychologist. It also depends on the speciality of each expert as to whether it is recognised at all. Often the real experts are those who live with ND.

I am now going to confess to the items I leave off my CV although this was not my fault but due to disability discrimination and lack of ND awareness in educational institutions and the workplace. This caused my neurodiverse impairments to become a disability. This caused several disabling barriers because my needs were overlooked and I significantly underachieved and believed I was an unemployable failure and was extremely depressed and disempowered.

At school I failed my 11 plus and found my self in the bottom remedial class and moved up to the average steam in Second year.
I found competitive sports and PE. a nightmare and I was always the last to be chosen for the rounders or netball team. I found it very frustrating that marks were given for copying the teachers’ work neatly off the blackboard and not for original thought it was difficult to write neatly, copy accurately and spell. I was constantly bullied by my peers.

I left secondary school with the types of grades were perfectly acceptable for my school but I realise now that I had significantly underachieved. My career
advisor Mrs Whitely who did not even know me well recommended that because I was "non academic", I should go into catering which proved to be totally unsuitable.

I was sacked from several jobs for not being quick enough and an inability to multi task when working under pressure in a busy kitchen and was told each time that I was ‘a nice girl but just not suitable’.

I worked on an employment scheme as a classroom support worker at a community college with people with learning difficulties and proved to be good at this. I went on to do a course for teaching adults with learning difficulties and passed with flying colours.

I then got a job as a residential Support worker with people with leaning difficulties but due lack of my own and my employer’s awareness of dyspraxia I found this too stressful.

I was redeployed into a daycentre with highly physically dependent service users in spite of disclosing I had co-ordination difficulties. I became very depressed was bullied by my peers and lost my self respect.


After 7 years I was then redeployed into a very busy open plan office which is highly distracting if you live with ND and I was advised not to disclose my disability, I delivered faxes to the wrong room struggled with the photocopier and put people through to the wrong extension number causing utter chaos. I was then transferred to the accounts department where in spite of my numeracy differences on the switchboard I was asked to work on care invoices which involved copying numbers down, so I ended up getting medically suspended on full pay until my employers decided not to discipline or sack me but that I should be medically retired.

I was so outraged about the way I had been treated that I went to the Internet and found out about the Dyspraxia Foundation. For the first time I realised that having poor co-ordination was not the only aspect of being dyspraxic, my other problems were not due to me being careless lazy, and stupid, but were part of my neurological condition. Through out my life assumptions were made about my abilities and hidden impairments. I was labelled as being careless, lazy and scatterbrained because it is not obvious as being a wheel chair user or using a white stick.

Yanna Hyman a Nice girl who’s very suitable

These assumptions have proved to be untrue. I have been awarded the Diploma in Community and Youth Work Studies at Manchester University and have been told by my tutors that my work was of a consistently high standard. I continued my on the final year of the Degree in Community Studies at the University of Bolton. This was followed by a course for disabled graduates where I taught my peers personal development and assertiveness and was given advice on setting up my own dyspraxia awareness business.

I then continued my studies on the PGCE in teaching adults in Further and Higher Education. My placements were teaching community and youth work at the University of Manchester, teaching the Politics of Disability module on my previous BA (Hons) degree and Stress Management for Bolton Association of Drop-ins (BAND) a bottom up led Mental Health charity in Bolton.


With the funding from my Disabled Student’s Allowance I had one to one support with a dyslexia tutor to help structure my assignments. I was given a computer with text help and inspirations assistive software. I never had to resubmit an assignment, only asking for an extension to complete assignments if this is necessary.

I am continuing my Studies on The MA in Special Educationial Needs at Manchester Metropolitian University in September 2008. Then probably a PhD researching either: If it is a myth that more males than females are dyspraxic or possibly the link between dyspraxia and mental health.

Since being diagnosed with dyspraxia, being medically retied and coming to terms with my learning differences, Instead of being ashamed of being dyspraxic and hiding that I am different from other people my life has been transformed from feeling absolutely worthless to being a confident adult.


Although when I first began continuing my education my tutors on the Diploma in Community and Youth Work reassured me that I was capable than doing more than just being a professional dyspraxic, the penny began to drop that I was not unemployable and capable of holding down others jobs besides voluntary work and dyspraxia awareness training, when I coped with the pressure of the full time PGCE. To supplement my income I am now working part time at BAND as a Travel Training Project Co-ordinator and have not once been told that I am a nice girl but just not suitable.


Being labelled ‘dyspraxic’ is no longer a major issue and is only part of who I am. However there are still many thousands of children, young people and adults with all types of Neuro-Diversity who unnecessarily have a very difficult life and as adults face long term unemployment, depression and anxiety, due to lack of awareness of Neuro-Diversity.