Think I might be dyspraxic but not sure who to talk to or where to go from here?

Getting assessed for your dyspraxia, getting help, disability allowance etc.

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confusedhuman
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Think I might be dyspraxic but not sure who to talk to or where to go from here?

Post by confusedhuman »

I am a 22 year old female and have recently come to the realisation that I might have dyspraxia. My reasons are listed below. I am looking for some advice and would be really grateful for any ideas or direction as I don't really know where to go from here.

When I was younger I had difficulty establishing correct pencil grip and tying shoe laces - still do not tie shoes or hold pencil "correctly"

Have always had problems with memory:
- Was never able to learn times tables by memorising them. "Cheated" by secretly mentally calculating the answers whenever we had a test.
- Difficulty remembering names and numbers. Cannot remember dates of birthdays of my closest family and friends. Despite celebrating them every year.
- Struggle with working memory. Need to have instructions repeated.
- Take ages to learn new information, meaning I really struggle at university.
- Have always struggled memorising stuff for exams. Have always done better in coursework focused subjects. I am not by any means stupid but since most exams focus on memory recall I have increasingly struggled at school as the further I have progressed, the more I have been required to memorise.
- Able to watch films and read books several times over and not remember what happened.

Have always had difficulties with balance. Could not learn to skate despite trying several times. Could not manage to ride a bike without holding the handle bars. Still have difficulty when trying to 'indicate' using my arms.

Had difficulty learning to drive. Initially could not drive in a straight line.

Have very poor spatial awareness. Always walking into things. Will walk into the same object constantly even if I have already injured myself on it several times e.g. Glass coffee table in my dad's house or corner of the bed in my boyfriends room. Very clumsy. Frequently trip over my own feet. Walk into people. Smash things.

Terrible sense of direction. Despite living in Leeds for several years I still struggle to navigate around the city and cannot remember where different parts of the city relate to one another. Could never direct people to my house when I was younger when they were giving me a lift. Can not remember the way to places even after having gone there hundreds of times.

I am absolutely terrible with organisation. I am always forgetting to do important things. Always losing things. Leaving things behind.

I also struggle with speech and find myself getting lost mid sentence and forgetting what I want to say, or forgetting the correct words to use.

When I was younger I had trouble with writing, my mind would 'run away with itself' before I had time to get the words down on the page meaning that I would often skip chunks of a sentence and the stuff I wrote wouldn't make sense. Also sometimes mix up words when writing - e.g. often write 'ing' instead of 'ed' ('baking' when I mean to write 'baked').

Cannot stand certain textures e.g. Wooden spoons and polystyrene. Very sensitive to light. Cannot stand to sit in a lecture theatre and look at the bright screen. Hate bright artificial light and sometimes daylight.

All of these impairments make me feel really inadequate and stupid at times. They also cause me to act in ways that appear odd to others and lead me to feeling strange and isolated. In the past I have suffered from debilitating anxiety and depression and have come very close to killing myself. I still suffer from both but less severely. I'm just looking for answers. If it did turn out that I was dyspraxic it would explain an awful lot and would really help me to be able to accept myself. I don't know much about dyspraxia so if anyone could direct me to a comprehensive source of info that would also be really helpful. Thanks for your time :) xx
YarkovskyEffect
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Re: Think I might be dyspraxic but not sure who to talk to or where to go from here?

Post by YarkovskyEffect »

New here but am moved by this post.

My daughter was in a "similar but different" situation not so long ago. It made SUCH a difference to her to understand _why_ her experiences were affecting her. She is no longer so anxious / depressed and is much better able to cope with day to day and new situations.

This might be a good starting point for exploring.

http://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/wp-co ... gnosis.pdf

Good luck ;)
Tom fod
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Re: Think I might be dyspraxic but not sure who to talk to or where to go from here?

Post by Tom fod »

Hi Confusedhuman and a very warm welcome. Glad you've found us.

It would be probably speaking to your university's welfare/disabilities support team as they should be in a position to offer help and advice and hopefully also help you with your associated anxiety.

Just because you do things slightly differently so that they work for you and enable you to reach the correct conclusion, does not make you wrong. Times tables were never easy for me and I would also need to 'cheat' in a similar manner for some tables.

The Dyspraxia Foundation have a website and helpline and this week is Dyspraxia Awareness Week and formal diagnosis or not you're welcome to ask questions/post here and read others' posts.
Tom
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With a foot full of bullets I tried to run faster but I just hobbled on to the next disaster.
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Ditsy
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Re: Think I might be dyspraxic but not sure who to talk to or where to go from here?

Post by Ditsy »

Hi Confused human,

I am glad you have reached out here it is hard to do that sometimes. I think you are very brave at a young age to reach out and seek answers, anxiety is very hard to deal with . I have battled with it my whole life and I believe the Dyspraxia to be a big contributing factor.
I do hope you let us know how you get on and that you come back here to talk or ask questions when you need too! :)

Best Ditsy
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