Search found 24 matches

by JohanMidas
Sat Feb 22, 2014 2:35 pm
Forum: Dyspraxia Chat
Topic: Does any one forget this and how do u rember it?
Replies: 4
Views: 2172

Re: Does any one forget this and how do u rember it?

It's happened to me many times. I feel utterly hopeless and futile whenever it happens and it can take weeks to replace what was lost. I still have a wallet in an airport in Germany as the cost of retrieval was more than the value of what was inside. It's good to 'know the drill': how to contact the...
by JohanMidas
Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:18 pm
Forum: Relationships
Topic: Dyspraxia vs. Aspergers
Replies: 31
Views: 36136

Re: Dyspraxia vs. Aspergers

I think it's possible for dyslexia+dyspraxia to lead to autism-like deficits in social interaction but for different reasons. For someone with some kind of autism, picking up social subtexts/gists can be difficult: The information is heard/processed correctly but interpreted incorrectly. For someone...
by JohanMidas
Sun Jan 26, 2014 2:00 pm
Forum: Work
Topic: Any one know of Gadgets and software
Replies: 11
Views: 5966

Re: Any one know of Gadgets and software

A second monitor is a must. It should be for anyone working in an office, but especially good if you have any problems with working memory & organisation, as it allows reference material to be displayed on one monitor and whatever you're working on to be on the other monitor. No more frequent fl...
by JohanMidas
Wed Jan 15, 2014 8:29 pm
Forum: The Lounge
Topic: Kindles
Replies: 5
Views: 3733

Re: Kindles

I don't, but use the app. I'd highly recommended, even though I thought I'd have more resistance to reading that way. In most ways it's a lot more convenient: no need to go hunting for books, no losing your place, variable text size (useful for bleary eyed mornings), and takes a fraction of the spac...
by JohanMidas
Wed Jan 15, 2014 8:24 pm
Forum: Work
Topic: Dyspraxic peoples talents?
Replies: 13
Views: 8601

Re: Dyspraxic peoples talents?

OK, that sounds like maybe a fourth kind of 'positive', most closely related to the first: clumsiness/'klutziness' can be endearing! In some ways that just feels like the flipside of bullying: other people are still treating people with dyspraxia differently as a result of the symptoms. It's still n...
by JohanMidas
Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:29 pm
Forum: The Lounge
Topic: Is anyone else ambidextrous?
Replies: 15
Views: 13677

Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

I just found this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15513093

Weak hand preference is a predictor of DCD (dyspraxia).

I think it just means we have more balanced brains (as well as less balanced bodies).
by JohanMidas
Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:26 pm
Forum: Getting help & assessment
Topic: Half-baked idea: strength and clumsiness
Replies: 8
Views: 6958

Re: Half-baked idea: strength and clumsiness

I ordered the book on Kindle. I don't like it, but it does seem to show that strength training is an under-researched as an avenue for treating dyspraxia. However the research there has been has been positive. I get concerned & fascinated by positive feedback loops, and the way they could turn s...
by JohanMidas
Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:01 am
Forum: Getting help & assessment
Topic: Half-baked idea: strength and clumsiness
Replies: 8
Views: 6958

Re: Half-baked idea: strength and clumsiness

I think I've just found that there's some pretty good academic research supporting the idea that strength training substantially reduces dyspraxic symptoms. Geoff Platt's PhD was on the subject. He ran a trial with 500 school age children with positive results, which replicated an Australian study, ...
by JohanMidas
Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:10 pm
Forum: Studying
Topic: Uni assignments and my What I Call Mental block :)
Replies: 5
Views: 6242

Re: Uni assignments and my What I Call Mental block :)

I scraped by in my undergrad. My diagnosis only came when I referred myself due to poor sleep in the first year of the PhD. After trying to use the diagnosis (the dyslexia part) to get prescribed ritalin or similar on the NHS for a couple of months, I realised (1) that's not the approach we use in t...
by JohanMidas
Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:48 pm
Forum: Work
Topic: Dyspraxic peoples talents?
Replies: 13
Views: 8601

Re: Dyspraxic peoples talents?

I've been thinking about this kind of issue a lot recently, though mainly my focus has been on dyslexia instead. I think there are (at least) three ways of looking for and arguing for 'dyspraxic talents': 1) Dyspraxia causes suffering and additional challenges, and this hardship leads to additional ...
by JohanMidas
Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:10 pm
Forum: Transport
Topic: Learning to not drive
Replies: 18
Views: 11460

Re: Learning to not drive

Hi, (1) The 'choice' to give up was one I already made, hence the gap of about seven years between lessons. I went so far as to send the provisional driving licence back in order to avoid paying the renewal fee, which wasn't easy as almost noone does this, so there's no standard protocol. However it...
by JohanMidas
Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:15 pm
Forum: Transport
Topic: Learning to not drive
Replies: 18
Views: 11460

Re: Learning to not drive

Happy to try to. I think it's worth working out why this has become heated, so long as doing that doesn't heat things up further. What I object to is a suggestion that, if learning a skill is difficult then it's not worth pursuing. It's almost as if determination and perseverance is being demonised....
by JohanMidas
Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:26 am
Forum: Transport
Topic: Learning to not drive
Replies: 18
Views: 11460

Re: Learning to not drive

The operative idea here is choice. If I do not pass a test but say I do not want to drive then I'll simply be demonstrating sour grapes style cognitive dissonance, or at least be unable to convincingly argue against that interpretation of my stated preferences. Only once I pass the standard tests wh...
by JohanMidas
Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:24 pm
Forum: Transport
Topic: Learning to not drive
Replies: 18
Views: 11460

Re: Learning to not drive

Hi Jim, A prisoner can't choose to stay in prison as they don't have the option of not being in prison. Likewise, I can't choose to not drive until and unless I've passed a driving test. My reasons are as simple, fundamental and bloody-minded as that. I came close to passing on two occasions, and so...
by JohanMidas
Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:19 pm
Forum: Transport
Topic: Learning to not drive
Replies: 18
Views: 11460

Re: Learning to not drive

Thanks all. Happy new year! I'm going to look at an automatic, and a different instructor. One of the most frustrating things about the most recent driving instructor has been the advice about making progress while spotting and responding in adequate time to hazards. In the first lesson he was sayin...