Hi, my name is Charlotte. I'm 23 years old, I studied Law at University and I recently passed my Solicitors Qualifying Exams. I'm a Youth Champion for the Access and Assistance Campaign.

I was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dyspraxia when I was six years old.

Due to my learning disorders I process information slowly, I do not retain a lot of information from what I read, my short term memory is very poor, my ability to carry out physical tasks such as riding a bicycle or using a pen is impaired and I have difficulty with spelling.

While I was in primary school I attended occupational therapy and I was provided with physical accommodations like adaptive grip pens, scissors and extra time in exams. This support did not continue during my time at high school and sixth form. I was told that I did not need support, I was achieving well academically and there were people who needed help more than I did. It wasnt until I completed my own research about my learning difficulties that I became aware of all the different things that could help me.

At University I recieved a variety of different pieces of assistive technology. through the DSA. Using assistive technology changed my whole perspective about what I could really achieve when I was facing deadlines. I felt like I could finally keep up with evertone else.

I used software that would check my spelling and grammar, read text out loud for me and allow me to highlight. I also relied on talk to type software to help me to accurately reflect my thoughts onto the page. Having my lectures recorded so that I could play them back with closed captions was another useful accommodation my University offered for all students. Assistive technology massively reduces the time it takes me to complete a task.

As a Youth Champion for the AAA I am hopeful that we will be able to achieve our goal of making Further Education Colleges more accessible and that more and more students will be able to access materials that are accessible by design.