Life of a Non-Neurotypical HCA and Upcoming Student Paramedic
Hi, I am Hamza. I’m 18 years old and work as a Health Care Assistant. I will be starting my degree in paramedicine very soon.
Life as a Health Care Assistant (HCA) is amazing. It can also be very challenging; especially for a non-neurotypical person.
I started working in September and came straight from college with ZERO healthcare experience. I am immensely lucky to be employed by the NHS full time and can't see myself doing anything better during my gap year. The fact that I started my career in a hospital mid pandemic has not been easy.
My journey into healthcare was rather spontaneous.
As a child, I was brought up in a very orthodox family that wanted nothing else other than for me to become an imaam (Muslim version of a priest). I left the traditional route and enrolled myself in a random course. You wouldn't ever guess what course I did! CHILDCARE. After spending an hour or two in a nursery I knew this was not for me.
I then moved onto a course that I enjoyed: Applied Science. Towards the end of my last year of college, I heard a classmate talking about becoming a paramedic. She ended up doing a completely different course whilst I stuck to it.
What attracted me to Paramedicine was the spontaneity not knowing how the day was going to turn out: one call could be a hoax and the other a life-critical cardiac arrest.
I also like to make the most out of social media, hence why I started a platform to help others like me that are not neurotypical - on Instagram via @hamza.ayub - where I host many guests.
I regularly post content about my experiences as being dyslexic and dyspraxic.
Why do I want to be a paramedic?
In life, we all aim for two things: happiness and meaning.
Being on the frontline means I’ll have a chance to save lives and bring about positive change to a patient's life. Bringing about that positivity will create a sense of happiness within and create a meaningful purpose for myself. Equally, the paramedic role is changing massively there are never-ending opportunities for progression. Being a paramedic isn’t just in an emergency setting, one can progress to work in a GP clinic and even hospital environments.
If you search #NotAllParamedicsWearGreen to see how diverse the roles are.
When was I diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia and how did it effect my time in education?
I was diagnosed with both dyslexia and dyspraxia when I was 16 (a few weeks before I turned 17). Having a learning difficulty affected my education as I felt as though the lessons I was taught from a young age weren’t inclusive. I felt that I wasn’t engaged in any of my classes and felt the need to distract myself from boredom by being ‘funny’ and distracting the entire class. That led to me being punished for most of my time in education. I feel as if I’ve been failed by the education system as the education needs to have a single approach to each pupil rather than a uniform approach for every individual. A uniform approach isn’t appropriate as everyone learns differently.
Neurodiversity & employment
Being non-neurotypical helped me gain a job. The inclusion scheme meant I was guaranteed an interview and the NHS is a great employer for those with learning difficulties. Being employed is not easy, having dyspraxia means that I am very disoriented. This makes me feel like a miss fit at times, not remembering to bring the right things to my tasks is the worst possible feeling.
Over time I’ve gotten used to it. I have to give myself a break - I am new to healthcare and I’ve started at the worst time ever: mid global pandemic. I am proud of myself to be where I am and just need to battle myself through these tough and desperate times. I am very open about my learning difficulties to my employer and colleagues as I feel honesty is the best policy. I have worn the sunflower badge for a short duration but there isn’t enough education on what it means hence why I stopped wearing it.
Advice
Advice to anyone that wants to peruse a career or degree in healthcare.
Honestly go for it.
There are many upsides of being non-neurotypical. One being we are very empathetic and caring these are excellent qualities in healthcare. I have noticed from some non-neurotypicals at work that they can be robotic when patients open up to them. I am the complete opposite when someone opens up to me as if I am experiencing their emotions.
Pursue YOUR dream career.