Developmental Questionnaire.

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

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blackbroom
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by blackbroom »

Thanks, LJ, for taking the time to explain this and for such a helpful and supportive reply.

The questionnaire is very helpful, and I wasn't complaining about it at all when I said I was "confused".

I think, though, that what I was getting at is that (like, I imagine, a lot of people who, having read about dyspraxia are wondering if they might have it, as it would explain a lot about problems they've had their whole life, but have never actually been professionally assessed for it), I'm worried about being here under false pretences. I'm very wary about saying "I'm dyspraxic", as I don't want to use a condition I may not even have as an excuse for problems which may not have anything to do with it. Someone on another thread was saying that they hope that the Daniel Radcliffe doesn't make dyspraxia "trendy" and we don't get a load of people pretending they're dyspraxic now who're not because it's the next big thing - I'd hate to be one of those people. Does this make sense?
Lithium_joe
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

Well I hope I set your mind a bit more at ease.

Hmm I wasn't aware that Daniel Radcliffe had been diagnosed with dyspraxia. Good for him! I mean for giving the interview. Being crap at almost everything at school is an experience I think most people on this board could identify with!

I doubt there would be a celebrity 'bounce' for faking dyspraxia, most often when people who ware well known to the public come forward with a disorder or disability the health professionals are confronted by people who say 'I do that too!' or 'that happens to me!' It's often a good way to get the public health message out which all the pamphlets in Dr's surgeries ad NHS wards are never going to touch. Not so much for fakery but just reaching people who didn't know where to go but recognise themselves in the descriptions of the condition.

In general dyspraxia lags behind in public understanding of for example dyslexia by about a decade. So Radcliffe's revelation I can only conclude is an unalloyed good thing.

I'm wary of using the diagnosis for the reason that very few people understand it. I might as well say I come from Mars.

I did make up a definition of my own which I find helps:

Dyspraxia is a neurological condition resulting in a sequencing disorder which affect the ability to effectively co-ordinate physical and cognitive tasks.

This I think captures better the confused state I find myself in which has nothing whatsoever to do with my balance of my fine motor control but just a more pervasive mental discombobulation which the limited remit of "affecting movement" doesn't touch.

Your worries do make sense, but again let me reassure you, that if you have difficulties then these will be manifest, it's not a case of trying to be dyspraxic: we just are. Just as you can't be autistic and then behave like x, y, z. someone's behaviour and social mannerisms are autistic or they're not and again there are typified behaviours common to the condition but neurological conditions affect you from the ground-up, as it were, because they are ultimately rooted in how our brains function.

I'd always entertain someone who thought they might be dyspraxic, because there are ways of coping but these are alterations to behaviour, something additional which tries to mitigate the difficulty. But by default how we are is what makes us dyspraxic, so if someone was trying to fake it it wouldn't carry off becasue I'm dyspraxic 24/7. Do you see what I mean?
"You don't get anything worth getting by pretending to know things you don't know."
~ Sam Harris.
gomababe
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by gomababe »

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the interview will help a lot of people who do genuinely have a problem, even if it turns out not to be dyspraxia but some other condition. I was only voicing my concerns about how it mght become viewed by the online comminity when the condition becomes better known amongst the general public. It is unfortunate that there are a lot of pople out there who just want an excuse for either being lazy or because they might just not be suited to certain kinds of work {both academically and in certain lines of work} annd the public most often see these people rather than the ones with genuine problems {mostly because we don't want to use our disability as an excuse for anything}.

I guess it's just because I've seen the online backlash against people with genuine problems lke Asperger''s Syndrome and Dyslexia becuase the people who use it as an excuse for poor social skills and spelling and grammar mistakes shout about it far louder than those that actually do have those same problems but choose not to make an issue out of it. {until they choose to disclose that information and are then told that they don't really have a problem at all because those are problems everyone has, or that they're just making up excuses for their shortcomings in life}.

I don't mean to discourage anyone from asking if they might possibly have Dyspraxia, I'm just concerned about any possible backlash that could result from those just looking to use dyspraxia as an excuse for everything, as I've seen it happen too many times with other Specific Learning Disorders.
Cynamon

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Cynamon »

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy:



Complications at or after birth:

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, and Speaking.

Infections:

I remember having Tonsillitis a fair few times when I was younger, but I don’t know if it was more than usual or not.

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips:
I used to, and still do have trouble with buttons and zips.

Tying shoe laces, ties:
I have problems with laces. I can tie them, but I find it hard and they often come undone.
I was supposed to wear a tie in secondary school, but never wore it because I couldn’t tie it.

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy:
I can use scissors, as long as I only need to cut a basic shape. I can’t cut out complicated shapes, and I have trouble cutting round shapes. I can't trace very well, I like to draw, but I'm not very good at it.

Holding pencil with conventional grip:
I’ve been told I hold my pens and pencils wrong, but I can’t tell how. I find it hard to write with a normal pen. I have to hold it very hard. It makes my hand hurt which makes writing painful.

Learning to write letters and numbers:

Differentiating left and right:
I have trouble with left and right. I’m okay if someone physically points me in the right direction. But if something interrupts me, I’ll forget all over again.

Colliding with people and objects:
I rarely walk through a door without walking into a frame. I find it hard to avoid people walking towards me and have to really think about how to avoid them. Lately I’ve tended to just keep walking straight and hope they’ll avoid me.

Hopping, skipping, and jumping:
I can’t do any of them very well.

Using apparatus in P.E:
I never managed to walk across the balance beam or climb the ropes. I didn’t do P.E very often because I was too embarrassed to try in the end so I’m not sure what other equipment I would have had trouble with.

Playing throw / catch:
I can play catch if it’s with a large ball, like a beach ball. I can’t play with something smaller, like a tennis ball.

Keeping time to a musical beat:
I can keep a beat for a little bit, but then I will gradually go out of time.

Managing Stairs and escalators:
I can use stairs if I’m careful. I come down them one step at a time rather than each foot on the next step down. I don’t use escalators at all. I find it hard to get on and off them, and I feel very uneasy when I’m on them and moving. If I’m in a shopping centre where the only way up or down is to use one, I won’t go to the different level and will find a shop on the level I’m on that sells similar products.

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects:
I fiddle constantly. If I’m sat still I have to be fiddling with something. I can’t sit in one place for a long time.

Liked / dislike fast rides:
I don’t like fast rides.

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom:
I’m easily distracted by the smallest thing.

Dislike waiting in line:
I find it very hard to wait in a line and become restless if it takes too long.

Took longer to complete work:
It always took me a long time to finish my work in school. One time that really stands out is in junior school when I was about 10. We had a substitute teacher for that day and the work she set us was to write about what we’d done in our summer holiday. We had the whole day to do it. By the end of the day I’d only managed to write three sentences.

Upset by failure:
I get very upset if I fail at something to the point where I won’t attempt to try the activity again and I will remain upset to for a week or so after.


As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle:

I didn’t start riding a bike without stabilizers until I was about 12 though I still fell off a lot and found it hard to ride in a straight line.

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises:
Yes, I was always falling over or bumping into things. I was always covered in bruises.

Car sickness:
Yes. Very travel sick.

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks:
I have to think about how to avoid people if they’re walking towards me. When I tie shoe laces or something just as simple, I can’t just do it I have to think about each step 1 by 1.

Organising approach to tasks:
If things aren’t organised for me right down to the last detail I find it very hard to do things. I find it very hard to organize things for myself.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations:
I find it very hard to adapt to something new. I don’t cope well to change at all.

Remembering information:
I have a very short memory. Often I’ll get up to go and do something, and by the time I get to the front room from my bedroom I’ll have forgotten what I wanted to do.


Is it worth printing this off and taking it with me to my doctor?
Following instructions in the right order:
I find following instructions hard if they’re not written down. If they’ve been given to me verbally I’ll forget them, or get them muddled up and do them in the wrong order.

Developing mature and efficient handwriting:
I’ve been told I have very childish handwriting.

Copying from blackboard:
I always found copying from the blackboard hard. Often it would be wiped off before I’d finish copying so I’d have incomplete notes.

Completing work on time:
I don’t think I ever managed to complete any work on time while in school.

Low self-esteem:
I have very low self esteem.

Articulation deficits:
I can speak, but I sometimes have trouble saying words, or knowing what the right word is, so I say “umm....” a lot. Sometimes my words will just get totally jumbled up and I have to stop and start again. Also, I don’t know if this is the right place, but I seem to have trouble controlling how loudly I speak, or my tone of voice. I get shouted a lot by my mum for snapping and speaking to her horribly when I honestly don’t realise I am. To me it sounds like I’m speaking normally.

Did you ever have a psychological assessment?
I think so. I think I saw a child psychologist when I was younger, but I don’t know what came of it.

Are there other members of your family with similar problems?
I don’t know




As an Adult

Do you find any of the above areas still difficult:

Yes. All of them.

Posture sitting/ standing:
I have very bad posture.

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels:
Anything I wear has to feel soft. It can’t be scratchy at all. If the label isn’t the really soft, smooth satin kind I have to cut it out. If it’s the slightest bit scratchy I can’t wear it.

Time management or prioritising:
I’m not very good with either of them. If I have to be somewhere 9 times out of 10 I’ll be late, because I never know what time I need to leave to get there on time. I never know what things should be a higher priority than others.

Cluttered work / study area:
Everything around me is constantly cluttered or messy. Even when I manage to tidy up and get things organized again, within an hour or so it will be almost as bad as it was before.

When it is messy, it will take me a long time to tidy up because I just forget to do it, even though it’s all around me and I’m climbing over things on my floor to get to what I want.

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand:
I’m not organised at all, I don’t know how to organise myself.

Taking notes is hard for me. I can write down things when someone is talking to me, but when I read back the notes they won’t make any sense to me.

If I’m doing something that requires me to have a certain amount of things with me, I will usually have to get up 3 or 4 times to get things that I’ve forgotten.

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy:
I can type on my computer very well. I don’t know how many words per minute I can type. But I do make mistakes in my typing a lot that I have to go back and fix.

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving:
When I read the words will often blur or seem like it’s moved, but I can still read it. I like to read.

Find fluorescent lighting irritating and unpleasant:
I find it irritating and it can hurt my eyes, but I don’t find it unbearable.

Computer monitors irritating and unpleasant:
Computer monitors often make my eyes feel strained and tired, even with my glasses on.


Any additional info:
I find it very hard to act ‘grown up’. I’ve been told that I have a low mental age; most people seem to think it ranges from about 10 – 14, but I’ve never had any official test to tell me what might cause it.


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness:


A serious injury including head injuries:
I’ve had bad sprains, a broken nose, cracked cheekbone, cracked wrist and a broken toe, but I’m not sure if they’re considered serious or not.

Surgery:
I had my gall bladder removed a few years ago.

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy:
I used to get very bad fits when I was younger and still get petite mals now.

Cerebral Palsy:
I’ve never been diagnosed with it.

Muscular dystrophy:
No.

Polio:
No

Stroke:
No.

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression:
Yes. I take medication for depression and anxiety, and was told verbally by a psychiatrist that I was being treated for Borderline Personality Disorder, but I never got told anything else about it.

Any other conditions / diagnosis:
Policystic Ovary syndrome, asthma.

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia?

No. It was mentioned in school, but never followed up.

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome:
No.

Dyslexia:
It was mentioned a few times in school, but I don’t know if I was ever diagnosed with it.

ADHD:
No.

ADD:
It was mentioned in school, but I don’t know if I was diagnosed or not.

Asperger’s syndrome:
Again, it was mentioned.

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder):
Mentioned in school.

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities:
I always had problems in school and was assessed when I was there. My mum was told that my needs were special, but not special enough to get help.
Lithium_joe
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Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:45 pm
Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

Is it worth printing this off and taking it with me to my doctor?

Some context then I'll answer. This questionnaire was administered to me when I submitted my claim to the disability unit at Sheffield Hallam University for support as part of the post-16 diagnosis I was asked to undergo to specify my needs, and generate a learning contract.

As such, it one of a number of tests I went through including motor control, figure recognition and copying skills + interview with an occupational therapist.

Therefore this questionnaire alone does not result in a diagnosis for any one condition one way or another.

What it does do, however, is allow you to collect and examine instances in your life where specific learning disorders can be influential. It will be useful for professionals to see how a possible learning disorder has affected you in the past. It is useful information that forms part of the opinion.

Now my answer:

You can certainly try, with the caveats I've set out above, and if you introduce it in the context of: this is a Developmental Survey taken from a dyspraxia forum by someone (me) where it formed part of my successful diagnosis for dyspraxia, and you've filled it in and want to discuss the results. I hope it will be of some use to you. It's principal purpose however, is to demonstrate a history of problems (of which you may not even have been aware) which are indicative of an ongoing and undiagnosed problem.

Good luck.

LJ.
"You don't get anything worth getting by pretending to know things you don't know."
~ Sam Harris.
kellibear
New member - welcome them!
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:22 am

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by kellibear »

Im really sorry everyone i didn't see this before i posted a new topic. I guess i wasnt paying enough attention.

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy: I was breech



Complications at or after birth:

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking. - Not that i know of

Infections - Kawesakee syndrome (SP)

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips - No

Tying shoe laces, ties -No

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy - Yes but it was always attributed to me being left handed

Holding pencil with conventional grip - ^

Learning to write letters and numbers - Yes

Differentiating left and right -Yes, still do when put on the spot.

Colliding with people and objects -All the time

Hopping, skipping, jumping - yes

Using apparatus in P.E -??

Playing throw / catch - Yes i got hit in the face alot

Keeping time to a musical beat - Yes

Managing Stairs and escaltors -yes

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects - i was antsy

Liked / disliked fast rides - Liked

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom -The opposte , i find silence unbearable

Disliked waiting in line - no

Took longer to complete work - yes

Upset by failure. -Very



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle -Not that i can remember

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises -Yes

Car sickness -Yes

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks.-Yes

Organising approach to tasks -Yes, i would tell myself in my head how it would need to go.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations -Yes

Remembering information -Yes

Following instructions in the right order -Yes

Developing mature and efficient handwriting -Ha i still dont have that

Copying from blackboard-cant do it

Completing work on time -No i would just half ass

Low self-esteem -Yes

Articulation deficits -Yes

Did you ever have a psychological assessment - i dont know

Are there other members of your family with similar problems




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult - yes

Posture sitting/ standing - i hunch

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels - The feeling of somethings makes me feel like im going to throw up

Time management or prioritising -No

Cluttered work / study area -Cluttered everything

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand -yes

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy -Yes

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving -yes

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent -Yes but im used to it.

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent -yes


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness

A serious injury including head inuries - Ive had concussions a few times.

Surgery

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy

Cerebral Palsy

Muscular dystrophy

Polio

Stroke

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression - Bipolor disorder

Any other conditons / diagnosis

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia?

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome

Dyslexia

ADHD

ADD

Asperger’s syndrome

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder)

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities - I was way behind in math all my life.
babooshka2002
Regular Poster
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:17 pm

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by babooshka2002 »

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:

Complications during Pregnancy: All I'm aware of is that my mum had some bleeding at some point.

Complications at or after birth: I was a c-section baby, due to being breech and also (according to my dad) my mum's pelvic girdle was too small for my head to fit through.

Milestones: I'm told I took a lot longer to do everything than normal babies, although my mum was not aware of this at first due to me being her first baby. She tells me that the first person who noticed something wrong was the paediatrician Dr Harran at the Child Development Centre at York Hospital. I'm told that Harran sat me up and I immediately fell over, which was apparently not right, because at that age (I don't know when that was) I should have been able to sit, and support my own head. I was very floppy as a baby. Apparently I didn't walk until I was 2 (I don't know about crawling) and when I did walk, my balance was extremely poor, and I would crash into walls and stuff. Furthermore, when I crashed into walls or fell over, I would not make any defensive moves to protect my head. I'm told that I was never concerned by this in the slightest and didn't really start to cry after hurting myself until I went to nursery. The concern for my brain was so great that the orthotics department at York made me a helmet to protect me when I fell. My mother says that by the time it had been made, I wasn't considered enough of a danger to need it - what she means by this I'm not sure, perhaps I had learned to protect my head with my hands by that stage. I know that my balance was extremely bad up until late Junior school. At infant school (age 4, 5 and 6) I fell over without fail every single day, several times a day. Early Junior school was definitely the same, age 7 and 8. By the end of junior school (11) I think I was falling over less, only a few times a week. My falling lessened throughout secondary, from once a week to maybe a couple of times a month and by the end of secondary I was only falling very rarely. These days I trip over things and bump into things a lot, but I don't tend to fall. I am left with quite a bit of scarring on my knees due to the amount of falling I did.

Infections: I suffered with glue ear a lot as a child. I had grommets put in... maybe three times or twice... not sure. I also had my adenoids removed. Mostly I was very healthy, physically speaking. I was given an excellent diet by my parents and I would eat anything and everything, this probably helped.

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips: To be honest, I find it difficult to remember anything too specific from back then. Though actually, I'm getting a recollection now of having a blouse where my mum cut the buttons off, replaced the fastenings with Velcro and sewed the buttons on again for show. It wasn't a great success, it came undone far too easily. I always struggled to get ready for anything, whatever that might be. So, I would take ages to change for PE at school. Whether that was because of a difficulty with the buttons of more of a difficulty with distractions (which I also had a problem with), I'm not sure. I did struggle with buttons, but I think zips were OK. At secondary school I do remember having a problem with my school shirt and the buttons on that. I have a problem now with hook and eye fastenings, I find them infuriating. A row of hook and eye fastenings can keep me occupied for ages, because I get one, then try the next and the first one promptly pops open. Getting changed for going swimming was a huge issue, as was changing into costumes at my drama group. The first show I did with them I had a full costume change during the production. This was a nightmare, although we worked round it. To try to solve the problem at secondary school, when I had PE after assembly I was told to miss it and go directly to the changing rooms, to give me more time. This only happened once and failed miserably due to other factors.

Tying shoe laces, ties: Definitely used to have a problem with shoelaces. I would take a long time to do them because my hands just seemed clumsy and awkward. Even now I take longer than others to do laces. I used to snap laces sometimes, I don't know why. Ties I don't remember anything about. I imagine that I was slower than normal, but that I was successful in the end. I wore a tie every day of secondary school and never wore a clip-on tie. I was 11 by then, I suspect that had I been younger there would have been much more of a difficulty. The shoe thing used to drive my mum crackers, I would always be told off for holding people up, though again, that would have been a combination of struggling with the laces and keeping my attention on what I was doing.

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy: It took me a long time to be able to wield scissors effectively. Things improved considerably when I used right-handed scissors. I write with my left hand, so assumed I was left handed and it did not occur to me to try right-handed at school, and the teachers always gave me left handed scissors. I don't think I was too bad at drawing and tracing accurately, a bigger problem with tracing was to keep the tracing paper in one place. These memories are from secondary school - my memory before that is quite poor, although I remember that at infant school my drawings were rubbish, whereas the other childrens' drawings were quite good. I was still drawing sausage people a long time after other people had got the hang of drawing people.

Holding pencil with conventional grip: I saw Dorothy Penso, the Occupational Therapist at the Child Development Centre, a few times. She said that my pen grip wasn't good and tried to help me find a new one, but I couldn't really manage it in normal life - I could do it for short periods in her office but I would always go back to the old grip afterwards, because I could never remember what I was supposed to do. These days, I avoid using a pen as much as I can and use a keyboard all the time. When I do use a pen, I feel more awkward than ever, so clumsy and my writing is shocking if I have no lines to write on, and pretty bad when I do. Also, it makes my hand ache very quickly. I wish I had been able to use a computer keyboard in school, but I don't think that was allowed.

Learning to write letters and numbers: This was so long ago I don't remember anything at all about it.

Differentiating left and right: Sometimes I say the wrong one. I know what it is in my head but the wrong word comes out. I have no idea how it was as a child. There's another thing with left and right as well. I use different hands for different things. I don't have a totally dominant hand. So, here's a list, in the left-handed way I: write, eat with a spoon, grate cheese, stir things in a pan, pour from a kettle and wipe my bum. In the right-handed way I: eat with a knife and fork, use scissors, use a tin opener, arrange my keyboard and mouse, carry a bag (on the right shoulder), and use my stick. [I have a walking stick sometimes I use for my joint problems, I have experimented using it in the left hand and I cannot co-ordinate myself to do it that way]. When I do an activity I haven't done for ages, like play pool, I have to try it with each hand to try and figure out which hand is dominant in that activity, because I forget, if it's something I rarely do. However, I don't think my dominant hand ever changes for a given activity, it never has to my knowledge.

Colliding with people and objects: Can't remember but I'm certain that this was a major problem as a child. It certainly is now. I'm always knocking things over and sometimes it seems as if doorposts move just for me - I aim for the door but bounce off the door-frame. I also seem to lose my balance a lot and reel around drunkenly trying to get it back. I tend to move around very slowly now (the stick gives me a great excuse, normally people won't yell at a disabled person) so I can try and stay aware of all my surroundings and keep an eye out so I don't hit anyone. I'm always knocking my mouse and keyboard off my desk, and also destroying keyboards by getting liquid in them.

Hopping, skipping, jumping: Definitely a problem. This was very frustrating and upsetting for me, because I was unable to join playground games like jump rope and hopscotch.

Using apparatus in P.E: I loathed PE with every fibre of my being at secondary school and I would skive off wherever possible. I don't remember being unhappy at junior school. I think I was bullied far less then and I was much less self-conscious and ashamed, so my physical difficulties didn't upset me much. It could just be that I'm not remembering it well, though. I was very bad at using any PE equipment at junior school, but I don't recall it distressing me. Hated PE in secondary school. I could write reams on why and how much. In short, I was crap at absolutely everything and could never improve in anything no matter how hard I tried - and I really did try very hard with most things. PE was a big thunderous cloud that hung over my week. I also think female PE teachers of a certain age are innately evil.

Playing throw / catch: Always terrible. I'd be OK with a large ball over a short distance. Catching a very carefully thrown tennis ball over a short distance wasn't possible, as far as I remember, certainly not at infant or junior school. I was better at throwing than catching, although that had a lot to do with the skill of the person who was trying to catch it! I could throw a ball in the right direction, just about.

Keeping time to a musical beat: Never a problem at all. My parents are both very musical and my brother and I have ability in that area too. My dad's a drummer, so she was always having us tap out rhythms from a very early age. My brother is now a drummer as well.

Managing Stairs and escalators: I recall that in the family home, I went up the stairs on all fours well into adolescence. Not because I was incapable of walking up them normally, but because I felt much safer and stable doing it that way. Slightly tricky to explain... I didn't crawl. I wasn't on my knees. I used my hands and my feet, and I put my hands on the stairs as I went. I could go up very quickly that way. I don't remember anything about escalators. I probably found them endless fun and got firmly yelled at for running up the down escalator.

These days, escalators fine, stairs I can do but I still feel insecure and unsteady when going down. I have to hold onto something, and I feel stressed and anxious if there is no handrail. I don't allow myself to get into a situation where both my hands are occupied going down stairs. I have managed to go up stairs safely while holding things in both hands, but I feel so wobbly, like I might fall at any moment. It's pretty scary.

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects: I'm a terrible fiddler, I always have been. I'm also incredibly nosy, so these days I do things like wander round my parents' houses investigating things. It drives my mum insane because I'm into everything. Dad doesn't seem to mind, possibly because she's exactly the same. I would fiddle all the time as a kid, and I would keep breaking things or damaging things. I didn't mean to, but I'd fiddle and break the thing I was fiddling with due to over-investigating (hey, what happens if you do this? *SNAP* damn), or I'd doodle on things I shouldn't, and I even had a terrible habit of tearing bits off the pages of books and chewing them, and then flicking the bits everywhere, which I did into my teenage years. Same with my hair, I'd pull bits out and eat them, or chew them and then throw them. I only stopped doing this last year. I also talked incessantly from the age of about three, babbling all the time and constantly interrupting people. Normal for a three year old, but I only learned how to keep my chattering under control and not butt in all the time when I was 16/17. I still get it wrong sometimes, but the difference now is that I'm aware I'm doing it and make a conscious effort not to. I was never disruptive in school though, saved all my bad behaviour for my parents.

These days I can sit still, but I'd rather not if I'm not doing anything. I can be at my computer and sitting still but looking at hugely fascinating things on the internet, and that's OK. I try to take a book with me wherever I go. If I'm alone in a place and I have no book, I fiddle with a menu, or shred a beermat, or wander round randomly (even though it's painful to do this due to my joint problems) and investigate things. If there really is nothing I can do and I hurt too much to go wandering, I'll just go blank. This rarely happens, most of the time there are things to fiddle with.

Liked / disliked fast rides
Don't remember anything relevant as a child - we went to Disneyland Paris when I was about 8 or 9 and I went on Big Thunder Mountain without a problem. I cannot deal with fast rides now though, due to what I call dizziness or "funny feelings" which I had a child but not on fast rides, though I would never have gone on anything that took me upside down or spun me very fast. It has got worse as I've got older.

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom: I don't recall ever having a problem with this. Movement within the classroom, yes, but not outside it. I wouldn't have even been aware of movement outside the classroom. Things in the classroom and things in my own head are the things that would cause me to be very easily distracted. I am thinking of junior school here.

Disliked waiting in line: Not at all from 11.

Took longer to complete work: Hugely. Even starting in the first place was hard. I'm not sure why, but getting any work done didn't happen much in junior school unless I had very strict supervision. I recall that at the age of 10, I was still on a very early book for Maths. People at my intelligence level were on book 6 or starting book 7, I believe I was on either book 1 or book 0. My parents were horrified to find this out, so they borrowed the books from the school and I did supervised Maths (supervised by my parents and my grandmother) at home every day during the summer holiday. During those six weeks I easily caught up and returned to school on book 7. I loved Maths, and I was good at it. I still don't understand why I didn't do the work in school, because I was fully capable of it. This sort of thing continued all the way through secondary school and made college impossible, because at college they don't expect to have to stand over you.

Upset by failure: At junior school I was almost never upset by my physical limitations or the fact that I kept not doing any work and I was rubbish at finishing stuff. It didn't bother me in the slightest, which I'm sure was utterly mind-boggling to my parents because I came across as completely uncaring and cold, with no conscience. Breaking stuff didn't upset me either. It's really strange when I remember it, because all this stuff started to hurt me and devastate me and destroy my soul when I went to secondary school, but it didn't before then. But, as I've said a few times, my memory is bad from then. Perhaps it upset me more than I think it did.



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle: Yes, massively. I managed it, but I was clumsy and my feet were always slipping off the pedals and I tended to have bruises on my legs a lot. I enjoyed cycling. I could safely go on bike rides with my mum and brother, which we did a lot. On cycle tracks, never on roads. These days, I don't cycle. It's far too dangerous for me on the roads because I have trouble perceiving things and my brain seems to work very slowly. I also do crazy stuff without realising, like cycle the wrong way down a one-way street and be completely oblivious to the oncoming cars (Twice. On the same street. That I have known well for years. In the same week.), or cycle on the wrong side of a road despite having always known which side one cycles on and not realising until I was nearly run down by a cyclist who was on the correct side (and even then there were a few seconds where I thought 'what the heck is that woman doing cycling on the wrong side?' before the Awful Realisation moment).

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises: It was very rare for me not to have at least one scab and/or a wound on my knees/hands/elbows. In fact I don't think this ever started happening until secondary school.

Car sickness: My parents didn't have a car, but there has never been a problem with travel sickness. In fact, I went to France with my family as a child, and the ferry back was extremely rough. Most people were throwing up including my brother and my mum, whereas I was demanding food and bugging my dad to let me go investigating. I feel nauseous after a while if I try to read in a car, which I imagine is quite normal.

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks:
I'm not too sure I understand this question. I know that if I want to do something physically I do tend to think about it, yes. For example, my brother can put his hand on a wall and leap over it with his feet together. A lot of people seem to be able to do that. I can't, but when I think about it, I do think about what limbs would have to go where in order to do it, whereas it doesn't look as if other people have to do that. I guess I don't just do a new movement automatically and I do have to think about it, but isn't that kind of... normal? Doesn't everybody have to learn to do something at first? By the way I have never tried to jump over a wall like that. Judging distances appears to be something else I have an issue with. I think I would damage myself. I don't even like getting over a wall by sitting on it and easing myself off - I tend to get it wrong and don't bend my knees at the right time and so I jar my spine.

Organising approach to tasks: Organising, what's that? Nothing about me is organised at all, I am a living embodiment of chaos. You can possibly see it in the way I've been writing this, you can see in in my non-organisation of my computer files, you can see it everywhere. My flat looks like a male student hovel most of the time. I blame genetics. My dad also lives in an extreme mess. Her mother also lived in an extreme mess. Plus, my mother kept my Dad's mess pretty restricted when we all lived together and I never saw my grandma because she lived in Canada, so it's not as if I was raised in a messy house, apart from my own bedroom, which was always messy.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations: Don't recall a problem with this.

Remembering information: I can see a nature program once, and then possibly be able to recall the fascinating mating habits of the lesser spotted sea cucumber several months later. I can recite large chunks of Shakespeare that I heard during rehearsals and shows for A Midsummer Night's Dream when I was about 9. (I played a fairy, but it didn't stop me picking up other lines) I can recite large parts of Tom Lehrer's Elements Song and Yakko's Nations of the World. I tend to remember things I was taught using an acronym. However, I really had a problem with my memory at school. I could not remember which lesson I had at what time, I couldn't remember what I needed for lessons, what I needed for different days. I struggled to remember that I was supposed to be writing my homework down and if I didn't write it down I would be highly unlikely to remember it. I lost things all the time, left them in classrooms, at home, on the bus. It was often said of me that I would lose/forget my head if it wasn't attached.

These days, I can't remember the order in which to install things after a complete reinstall of my operating system even after having been told at least ten times (I have it written down now and I've read it quite a few times but I STILL can't remember it without the paper, which I tend to lose, so I craftily wrote it on the CD sleeve for my Windows XP CD), I can't remember what my mum told me last week (and she often tells me things more than once and it still doesn't seem to stick), I struggle to remember to take regular medication and I have no idea where I put my glasses.

Following instructions in the right order: At school, I did what the person sitting next to me did, and I would constantly ask them what to do next. My friends were very patient with me. So, because I remember doing this, I guess that I can't have been very good at following verbal instructions.

Developing mature and efficient handwriting: Already talked about this - hate handwriting now and my handwriting was always very bad. I remember it was quite large. My letters were quite big and clumsy. I don't remember too much about when I was younger, although I do remember that I tended to write S and the 5 the wrong way round. I also had an issue with muddling b/d and p/q/y/g. I frequently crossed my ls and forgot to cross my ts. I had a problem with writing on lines, my writing hovered above the lines or went through the lines. As I got older, I stopped mixing my letters up as much. I don't know if I still do it, because I don't write enough to tell. I filled in an Extra Information section on a benefit form recently. It was embarrassing. It came out so messy, the writing was big, there were no lines so it wasn't straight, and I crossed out a lot. My hand hurt afterwards.

Copying from blackboard: Major problems. Hated blackboards and whiteboards. I could never write everything down and everybody else could. I was just too slow, even if I was concentrating really hard and writing as fast as I could. The teacher would always rub the writing off before I had been able to copy it. I protested a few times at this, and I was told that I should just copy from my neighbour, or that I should leave it blank and borrow a friend's exercise book. Of course, this was ridiculous, as my neighbour with tiny writing had already gone onto the next page of her book and would have to turn it back for me to see. And as for borrowing a book, nobody in their right mind would have lent me their book, because I would have lost it. I thought that copying from the board was so pointless. I suppose they think you'll absorb the information, but I was writing so hard and concentrating so much on the actual handwriting that I had no idea what I was writing. Nor did I care about the information - I only wanted to get it down fast enough. There were always huge gaps in my exercise books.

Completing work on time: If this is about homework, I was incredibly bad at doing it. I was easily bored, and if we were supposed to be copying a chapter from a textbook about the heart, I'd already read it, found it fascinating, and found copying to be a dead bore, so I was reading the chapter on the spectrum of light, or I was drawing pictures in my exercise book, or staring into space blankly in one of my "time-lapse" episodes, or picking the dead bits off my parents' spider plant. There were plenty of times when I enjoyed the work we were given, like in French, but I still found it hard to stay focused. Plus, I might not have written the homework down, and if I had not I would be unlikely to know what it was. In addition to this, there were times when I knew I had homework and told my parents I didn't have any because I wanted to read a book.

If, on the other hand, this question is about classwork, I mostly did not finish on time due to writing very slowly and struggling to stay focused.

Low self-esteem: At secondary school, very much so. I was bullied a fair bit and I always knew I was different and felt so useless for not knowing what it was. Now, the same. I don't recall a problem when I was a very young child.

Articulation deficits: This is not a major problem. It is possibly a small problem. Most of the time I have no problem at all with my parents or my brother, but other people keep asking me to repeat myself and I don't understand why because I always thought I was very articulate. Sometimes I have a definite problem with speech and it comes out wrong and I have to start again. My words seem to feel clumsy a lot. Even if they sound OK, they just feel a little strange in my mouth. I feel a lot more awkward when I'm talking to people I don't know so well. Not random people, but for example my brother's housemates, because I don't want to look like an ass in front of them, so my speech feels wrong when I talk to them. I sometimes say a wrong word. I think the right word but the wrong word just comes out, although this is a much bigger problem when typing - I'll be typing and either a word appears that doesn't belong in there or I spell one word like another word. This happens every day because I type a lot every day. If I was talking to people a lot every day, I suspect the speech would become more of a problem.

Did you ever have a psychological assessment: Sort of. I never had a full assessment by a psychologist that resulted in them saying "This child has dyspraxia/dyslexia/ADHD/whatever". I have two reports from educational psychologists. One of them states that I have a learning difficulty, but gives no clue to what it is, which is why I have been badgering GPs for some answers, which is how I got referred to you. I also saw a psychologist at Limetrees but that was not an assessment, it was an act of desperation by my parents wanting to understand why I was so uncontrollable in my behaviour.

Are there other members of your family with similar problems: My Dad seems to have some similar problems. I have already stated that she appears to be unable to organise her environment, there are papers all over her house, books piled higgledy-piggledy on bookshelves, plus teetering towers of books and papers. Since coming out as transgendered, she has taken rather the same approach as me to obtaining things, which is to say "buy an absolute shedload". The house is covered in jewellery, makeup, shoes and handbags. The desktop on her Mac is covered with unsorted icons. She doesn't organise her file directories. She never gets round to things - she's been promising my brother a new computer for 3 years and me a shower for longer than that. She is probably the stereotypical eccentric professor. She has told me that when she was 18 (in 1974), she had a talk with her father, a consultant psychiatrist, who said that she had probably been a hyperactive child. She never sat still, or shut up, and she thinks that she would have been royally screwed had she (a) not had an all-consuming passion from the age of 8 (electronics) and (b) hadn't gone to boarding school at a young age. She thinks that boarding school helped her a lot in terms of discipline. She often doesn't hear what is said to her, like me (and she has very good hearing), and has a bad short-term memory but a phenomenal long-term memory. However, she is not physically clumsy. My father's mother appeared to be unable to organise her environment also. I have been told that her house was covered in stuff all the time, including food waste and bird droppings. When I saw her in 2005, her house was filled with all sorts of odds and sods and was very messy, though it had had a serious cleanup by my aunty at that time. She was also regarded as highly eccentric. I have never been told that she was physically clumsy. I have been recently told that my dad's father and one of my dad's sisters has a problem with bumping into door-frames and knocking things over. My brother. on the other hand, seems to be pretty extraordinary in the opposite way, can organise himself very well and is incredibly agile.




As an Adult

Do you find any of the above areas still difficult: I would find most of them still difficult. Thankfully there are things I don't have to do any more, but I still struggle so much with many things.

Posture sitting/ standing: My posture was always terrible. I put this down to the fact that I was falling over constantly, so I think I started to watch the ground to try and stop falling, which I doubt worked. Also, I have lax joints and always had poor muscle tone, so I slumped a lot. Furthermore, when I went to secondary school I was being bullied and belittled at both school and home, which I think caused me to hunch. These days, I have a spinal curve (kyphosis) which developed as I grew, is fixed and cannot be straightened. I asked my physiotherapist if it was due to hunching. She said that I had probably already had the predisposition to it, and she says that if it was solely a postural kyphosis, it would be able to be straightened, whereas mine cannot be due to the tendons being short. My posture sitting is not good either, my shoulders are rounded (presumably due to the same thing as the spine) and they ache a lot. Sitting up straight, or as straight as I can. causes pain in my lumbar spine. Sitting hunched over causes pain in my shoulders and my thoracic spine. My poor balance means that when I stand, I like to hold onto something or lean on something, it feels safer and more secure.

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels: No problem whatsoever.

Time management or prioritising: Not good. I don't seem to have much of a sense of time. This is why I love microwaves and timers. I was never able to do the prioritising thing either. Hey, I just typed that without looking at the keyboard!

Cluttered work / study area: This was always bad, though my mum tried to help me by removing from the table all the stuff I wasn't using and putting it on a chair out of sight, so that I would not be distracted. It may have helped but my work was still very very difficult. Surrounding me at the moment I have: blank DVD-Rs, backup DVD-Rs (over two 50-disc spindles full, mostly unlabelled), three film DVDs, a PS1 game, a napkin, a Cadbury's Mini-Roll wrapper, a used plaster, a ribbon, a badge, 2 pound coins, a hair claw, a couple of Royal Mail "Sorry you were out" cards, which I may or may not have dealt with, a very sticky glass, a mug, some computer discs, a repeat prescription sheet and a spoon. And that's just what is right in front of me on the desk my computer monitor sits on. There is also a table next to me - there's all manner of things on there.

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand: Dreadful. Taking notes is awful, I can't write fast enough to do it when someone is talking. I think I am better at having the correct items to hand than I used to be, which wouldn't be hard - I used to be diabolical.

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy : I make mistakes a lot when I'm typing. I tend to drop words in that don't belong, it's very peculiar. I don't think I type fast.

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving: No, nothing like this. I adore reading, always have.

Find fluorescent lighting irritating and unpleasant: I haven't been around it enough to tell.

Computer monitors irritating and unpleasant: Considering I'm at the computer most of the time, I don't think so. Not enough to notice.


Any additional info:

Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness: No. Worst thing I've had apart from the joint problems is glandular fever, which I had in 2005 when I was 21. Felt awful for two weeks and then not great for two or three months.

A serious injury including head injuries: I don't think so. I bashed myself about a lot when I was a kid, when I was falling into everything, but there was never a specifically bad incident.

Surgery: I've been under anesthetic a few times - had something adjusted in my eye when I was a baby due to a severe squint, had grommets due to repeated ear infections/glue ear, either had the grommet operation two or three times, also had my adenoids removed at some point, not sure if that was during one of the ear ops or not. Finally, I had an operation on my left foot, which repositioned the heel bone and lengthened the Achilles tendon.

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy: I've had my funny feelings. The closest I can describe it is dizziness, but somehow that's not quite right. I am told that when I was a baby a reaction could be provoked by turning me upside down - apparently I'd hold my breath and go rigid. I'm told I had tests for epilepsy but nothing was found. I have no idea if it is the same thing which I experience now, but I wouldn't be surprised. For as long as I remember there was a major problem with having my hair cut, when I had to put my head forward. I would have this terrible sort-of dizzy feeling. I never lost consciousness. It's almost painful but not. It's not like anything else so I can't compare it to anything. As a child I used to say it was a problem with going upside down, because it would happen if anyone picked me up in a fireman's carry. However, it did not always happen when I turned myself upside down. Sometimes it did, sometimes not. Over time, this has got worse. It used to just be having hair cut and fireman's carries, and then possibly about the age of 12 I started to have a problem with swings in the park - the forward-and-down movement triggered it but not the backswing. It happens in more situations now and these days I believe it is definitely triggered by certain movements rather than going upside down. It can happen when I roll over in bed, or I lie down in bed. It tends to happen if I lean over from a chair to pick something up from the floor. It can also happen when I am trying to type on my computer keyboard, or when I am trying to eat and looking down at my food. It doesn't always happen in these situations - it's not happening right now, for example. It happens a few times in a day now and is extremely annoying. My mum has told me recently that her brother has epilepsy. She says he used to have funny feelings too - that's how he described it. She doesn't remember him ever having fits. Unfortunately she will not let me talk to him, she says he is too proud, so I don't know if our feelings are similar. The only time I seemed to notice a lessening of the symptoms was in the summer of 2008 when I was on anti-depressants for a time. I noticed it seemed to be happening a lot less and I was going for days without it happening at all. When I stopped taking them, it came back just as bad as before. I think it's some sort of vertigo.

Cerebral Palsy: No.

Muscular dystrophy: No.

Polio: No.

Stroke: No.

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression: Yes. I have been on anti-depressants three times. I only stayed on them long enough to see a change the third time, as I am not good at regular medication. The results were very bad. I started self-harming and needed to go to hospital twice for stitches. I get depressed a fair bit. This condition that I have has something to do with it. This is why a diagnosis is is important to me - my physical conditions depressed me less when I had answers. My father has also suffered depression, as did her mother.

Any other conditions / diagnosis:
Tarsal coalition in the left foot
Bilateral flat feet
Thoracic kyphosis
Possibly a mild skeletal dysplasia
Lax-joint syndrome (I was so floppy as a baby that a nurse/doctor put me down once in a sitting position and my legs shot out to the sides in a box splits position and then out behind me and I fell forwards. Clearly I had no tightness in my hips at all. Recently, my physiotherapist said I was only lax now in my fingers, wrists and mildly in my elbows)
Fine and gross motor difficulties
Wandering concentration
The surgeon who performed my foot operation thought I suffered from truncal ataxia - I don't know where he got that from though, it was the first I had heard of it. Having said that, his letter was also the first I had heard of the kyphosis.

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia?: Not that I am aware.

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome: Not that I am aware.

Dyslexia: Not that I am aware.

ADHD: Not that I am aware.

ADD: Not that I am aware.

Asperger’s syndrome: Not that I am aware.

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder): Not that I am aware. My foster mother thought I might be autistic, as I seemed so unable to interact with people and because I was so disorganised and she said I smelled bad all the time because I struggled with personal hygiene. She may have had a point. I struggle to get round to doing anything, whether that's eating, washing or going to the toilet.

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities: When I had an assessment with an educational psychologist at secondary school, she stated in her report that I had a specific learning difficulty. Ironically, she didn't specify what it was. *snerk*
dorypanda
New member - welcome them!
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 10:32 am

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by dorypanda »

This is very useful, as others have done this publicly, I will too. :)


Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:

Complications during Pregnancy: No, but my Mum smoked all the way through


Complications at or after birth: None that I'm aware of

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking. - I think I did all those at the expected times, although I didn't ever crawl, I hotched on my bum.

Infections - none that I'm aware of

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips - Oh yes, I had problems with all of those things (still do sometimes)

Tying shoe laces, ties -Yes and I still do (I tend to wear velcro or pull-on shoes now)

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy - Scissors have mostly been a problem, the rest's not been so bad.

Holding pencil with conventional grip - I don't think that was a problem, but holding pens and pencils does hurt sometimes and did when I was younger too.

Learning to write letters and numbers - Letters no, numbers yes

Differentiating left and right - Yes, I still have that problem now ("Dory please turn left...............no, I mean your other left" - Quote by my driving instructor and several teachers)

Colliding with people and objects - I used to do that, but I don't so much now (unless I've been drinking)

Hopping, skipping, jumping - I had a problem with skipping

Using apparatus in P.E - I used to fall off most of it

Playing throw / catch - I used to drop the ball regularly, I'm really good at throwing and catching now though, but I reckon that's through practice

Keeping time to a musical beat - Not when dancing, but yes when playing an instrument

Managing Stairs and escaltors - Yes, I tend to fall over my feet or the step

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects: Yes and yes still fiddle or fidget a lot

Liked / disliked fast rides - Disliked

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom - Yes

Disliked waiting in line - Only if it's a big line

Took longer to complete work - Yes, I sometimes ended up working through lunch times

Upset by failure. - No


As an older child were there problems¦.

Learning to ride a bicycle - I think so

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises -Yes (falling over invisible objects too)

Car sickness -Yes (still get that now, but not if I'm driving)

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks.- Sometimes

Organising approach to tasks - Never

Adapting to new or unexpected situations -Yes, but it would depend on the situation, I've always preferred what's familiar though

Remembering information -Yes, that's always been a problem (I'm having difficulty even filling this in)

Following instructions in the right order - Yes, but only if there's more than three instructions at once

Developing mature and efficient handwriting - It's legible, but I've always had a problem with it

Copying from blackboard- Yes, there's been a few problems with that, by the time I looked at the paper, I'd forgotten what was on the board.

Completing work on time - Yes (Not so much of a problem now though)

Low self-esteem - When I was at Junior and Senior school yes (not now though)

Articulation deficits - .................what does that mean?..............If it's to do with talking, then I can talk ok.

Did you ever have a psychological assessment - Yes

Are there other members of your family with similar problems: My nephew has ADD and hypermobility and something else, but I can't remember


As an Adult

Did you find any of the above areas still difficult - Yes, as I've mentioned on them

Posture sitting/ standing - I try to make a concious effort to stand and sit straight, but my shoulders like to lean forward

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels - Some things make me feel weird if I touch them, like some fur type fabric

Time management or prioritising - Yes (I should be out by now actually)

Cluttered work / study area - Yes, mostly, but it's organised clutter. ;)

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand - Yes, usually

Using a keyboard speed and accuracy - I'm an RSA qualified typist, so I'm good at that (spelling's a problem sometimes though)

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving - I don't generally read, but when I do I can only do it for a short time, I get kind of dyslexic after 8pm too.

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent - I used to find it a strain on my eyes, but not any more

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent - Only if there are two screens in front of me at once


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness - Not as such, but I did almost die after having my son

A serious injury including head inuries - No serious ones, but I have knocked myself out a couple of times

Surgery - No

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy - No

Cerebral Palsy - No

Muscular dystrophy - No

Polio -No

Stroke -No

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression - Bipolor disorder - I had post-natal depression for a couple of years

Any other conditons / diagnosis - arthritis, sciatica

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? Yes

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome - Not officially, but that's what my Mum said I'd got

Dyslexia - No

ADHD - No (there's nothing hyper about me)

ADD - Yes

Aspergers syndrome - No

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder) - No

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities - Dyscalculia (number dyslexia)
cazzzzy
Getting settled in
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 2:03 pm

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by cazzzzy »

Report this postReply with quoteDevelopmental Questionnaire.
by Lithium_joe » Tue May 01, 2007 11:21 pm

I was sent this questionnaire as preparation for the assessment for dyspraxia I have next week.

Since a fair amount of time is spent of these boards by new arrivals and old hands discussing that perennial question of 'Am I dyspraxic?' / What is dyspraxia? and oft followed by chants of 'I do that too' I thought I'd present this questionnaire here in it's blank form - so you can fill it in for yourselves.

I should probably add, this *is not* definitive, but it may be a good guide for reasonable indicators of dyspraxia.

Here it is:


Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy: no



Complications at or after birth: no

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking. speach stuttering,walking always falling over

Infections scarlet fever

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips ...yes

Tying shoe laces, ties

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy ...yes

Holding pencil with conventional grip ..yes

Learning to write letters and numbers yes

Differentiating left and righ...t yes

Colliding with people and objects ...yes

Hopping, skipping, jumping ....yes

Using apparatus in P.E ...yes

Playing throw / catch ....yes

Keeping time to a musical beat ...just cant

Managing Stairs and escaltors ..scare me to death,fall up and down them

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects ...yes

Liked / disliked fast rides ...yes

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom ....yes

Disliked waiting in line ...yes

Took longer to complete work ...yes

Upset by failure. ....yes



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle ...yes always falling off

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises ..all the time

Car sickness ..no

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks. yes

Organising approach to tasks

Adapting to new or unexpected situations ..this was very stressgull

Remembering information ...always

Following instructions in the right order ..yes

Developing mature and efficient handwriting

Copying from blackboard ....nightmare

Completing work on time ..never did

Low self-esteem ...always

Articulation deficits

Did you ever have a psychological assessment ...no

Are there other members of your family with similar problems ...look like my nephew has dyspraxia




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult ..yeah most of them

Posture sitting/ standing ...standing

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels ..tight clothes and wool

Time management or prioritising ..getting bette have to use lists and reminder on my mob

Cluttered work / study area

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand some timmes

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy ..not great but cope

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving most of time

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent ...yes

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent ..i now have a green back screen


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness ..no

A serious injury including head inuries no

Surgery ..no

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy ..no

Cerebral Palsy ...no

Muscular dystrophy ..no

Polio ..no

Stroke ...no

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression
...yes
Any other conditons / diagnosis

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? ...yes

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome

Dyslexia ...yes

ADHD

ADD

Asperger’s syndrome

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder)

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities





LJ Lithium_joe
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sandy
Getting settled in
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 9:46 am

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by sandy »

Complications during Pregnancy:
I was born a month early.


Complications at or after birth: Born with the help of forceps and a long labour

Milestones: Crawling, Never Crawled Walking, Started walking at age 2 Speaking. age 6 before I could pronounce basic words. had speech therapy until i was 12. i also had a stammer

Infections

Dressing for P.E Big Problems. I would put my clothes on wrong way around, managing small buttons Big problem I always did them wrong, fastening zips Could not do it until i was 8

Tying shoe laces, ties Could not do them still can't,

Cutting with scissors, I am okay but can't cut in a staright line. drawing Can't draw, tracing with precision and accuracy
Not good at all
Holding pencil with conventional grip Always had problems as I feel They are not wide enough

Learning to write letters and numbers Age 7

Differentiating left and right Still have problems

Colliding with people and objects I used to bump into lots of stuff

Hopping, skipping, jumping Could not do would fall over

Using apparatus in P.E I was not allowed to as they said it would be dangerous

Playing throw / catch I can throw but not all the time catch

Keeping time to a musical beat Can't do it.

Managing Stairs and escaltors Found them hard

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects All the time

Liked / disliked fast rides Still dislike them

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom most of the time.

Disliked waiting in line My back would hurt

Took longer to complete work Would take longer and I would get into bother

Upset by failure. I hated letting my parents down



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle Still can't ride a bike

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises Lots of times.

Car sickness Still do

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks. I always have to plan

Organising approach to tasks I have to have a plan written out so that I can follow it

Adapting to new or unexpected situations I am very slow to adapt to new tasks.

Remembering information I have very poor memory

Following instructions in the right order usually get it wrong

Developing mature and efficient handwriting My hand writting could not write joined up

Copying from blackboard hard work as I got confused easily

Completing work on time never did it and was always in detition

Low self-esteem very low even self harmed as a teenager

Articulation deficits

Did you ever have a psychological assessment Yes when I was 7 and they said clumsy child syndrome

Are there other members of your family with similar problems no




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult . Yes still can't ride bike, Read alot, my writting is still off.

Posture sitting/ standing Yes I often sit wrong and standing for long periods hurt my back

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels I can't wear tight clothes as I feel that I am being suffocated

Time management or prioritising I don't understand the time or how much time is 5 minutes for example

Cluttered work / study area I am always cluttered.

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand I try to keep everything I need toi do written down

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy I can't do speed typing. i usually use one hand typing

Reading: headaches, All the time. eyestrain After concentrating or reading, blurring of print at night it gets worse. or if I look from tele to magazing it gets worse, print moving I get that more in the evening

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent Hurts my eyes and causes me headaches

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent Hurts my eyes


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness yes I have suffered 3x Dvt'd and 3x Pulmonary embolisms, Seizures

A serious injury including head inuries Yes my Ex husband hit my head against the floor 4 times and knocked me clean out.

Surgery none

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy I have seizures

Cerebral Palsy no

Muscular dystrophy no

Polio no

Stroke no

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression Anxiety, panic attacks severe depression

Any other conditons / diagnosis Migraines, Seizures, Diabeties

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? No

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome Yes

Dyslexia no

ADHD no

ADD no

Asperger’s syndrome no

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder) no

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities no
tillydog
Getting settled in
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:53 am

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by tillydog »

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:

Complications during Pregnancy: Not that I'm aware of.

Complications at or after birth: Complications during birth. I was born by forceps and even then they had trouble getting me out! I've been left with 2 very promenant dents (which are noticable by touch) in my head ... 1 either side!!

Milestones: Didnt crawl ever, shuffled along on my bum instead!! Late to walk and didnt start talking until I was 3 yrs old!

Infections - Dreadful tonsilitis! Only stopped by their removal!! Also had gromits put in as dreadful ear infections too!

Dressing for P.E - Dont know how I did tbh!! At high school tho I got a medical certificate to excuse me from PE.

Tying shoe laces -Yes! I still find laces to be a problem! I prefer shoes that can be slipped on easily or shoes with velcro!

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy - Scissors are ok if I take things slowly. Drawing - I can just about draw a straight line!! Tracing used really hurt my hands and wasnt always accurate!

Holding pencil with conventional grip - Had to use a fountain pen at school, found if I had a chunkier pen then the grip wasnt too bad. However my work was always smudged and a mess!! And the ink would find it's way onto my uniform and my hands!!

Learning to write letters and numbers - Capital B and the number 8 caused me problems!

Differentiating left and right - Yes, especially if I'm trying to read a map and street signs at the same time!

Colliding with people and objects - All the time! I'd be rich if someone gave me $$ for everytime I apologise to someone because I've bumped into them!!!

Hopping, skipping, jumping - Yes and still do!!

Using apparatus in P.E - I used to dread having to use PE apparatus!!


Playing throw / catch - I admit to being scared of objects/balls being thrown to me!! In PE/netball at school, my hands tended to come up and I'd duck out the way!!

Keeping time to a musical beat - Dancing is a bit hit and miss but when singing or playing a musical instrument I'm relatively ok!

Managing Stairs and escaltors - Yes, I dont like crowded staircases, this stems from being bullied at school when I'd be pushed down (and up!) the stairs. If I have to use a staircase, I have to grip the handrail and go down .... in my mum's words "Dot and Carry!"

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects: All the time!! Even in bed my legs wont stay still!!

Liked / disliked fast rides - Depends on the ride!

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom - Yes! All the time!

Disliked waiting in line - Yes!

Took longer to complete work - A very big YES!! Most often my work was always incomplete!

Upset by failure. - Yes!


As an older child were there problems¦.

Learning to ride a bicycle - Still cant!

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises -Yes including falling over fresh air!!

Car sickness -Yes all the time when little.

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks.- Most of the time!

Organising approach to tasks - Organisation and I dont see eye to eye!!

Adapting to new or unexpected situations -Yes, but it would depend on the situation, prefer routine and familiarity!

Remembering information -Yes, more so for short term memory, but give me info on things that are of interest or events in my long term memory then I'm ok.

Following instructions in the right order - Yes!

Developing mature and efficient handwriting - My handwriting was worse when I was little but still have messy writing. I prefer to print in block capitals, I found doing joined up writing at school hard.

Copying from blackboard- Yes, major issue throughout my school years.

Completing work on time - Yes!

Low self-esteem - For almost 37 years! Things did improve after my Dyspraxia diagnosis last year.

Articulation deficits - I'm not sure I get this question, but my speech isnt always articulate and I have a problem getting what I want to say across.

Did you ever have a psychological assessment - Education Psychologists assessed me at the end of the Christmas term 1986. They wanted to put me into a Special Ed School, but I proved to be "too bright" .... Ironically, the school they wanted to put me into, now caters for Dyspraxic students! Oh how things change!!

Are there other members of your family with similar problems: My brother has traits that could put him into Asperger's/Autism Spectrum Disorder/High functioning Autism. Never been explored or entered into tho!


As an Adult

Did you find any of the above areas still difficult - Yes!

Posture sitting/ standing - My posture is bad! I cant stand for long and cant sit for long.

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels - Ohhhhh Yess!! All labels have to be removed before I can wear an item of clothing! Prefer soft fabrics like cotton. I love the feel of suede on my hands. I stim alot and actually use a small suede whip and fiddle with the tassles on it and rub my fingers over the texture of the handle. It helps!!

Time management or prioritising - If I have to go anywhere, I hate being later than 30 mins early! Prioritising my time tho has always been a problem.

Cluttered work / study area - I prefer to see it as organised chaos!!

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand - Very rarely had the correct things to hand when at school and college.

Using a keyboard speed and accuracy - 80 wpm with 99% accuracy.

Reading: I love reading!

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent - Fluorescent lighting gives me a migraine and makes me feel sick. As does any bright lighting. Those energy saving globes also have the same effect and I get really nauscious.

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent - Not so much now, but when it was those older monitors and the light was really bright.


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness - Shingles, tonsilitis.

A serious injury including head inuries - I'm including my forceps birth in this as it's left me with 2 life long dents in my head.

Surgery - Tonsilectomy and gromits

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy - No

Cerebral Palsy - No

Muscular dystrophy - No

Polio -No

Stroke -No

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression - Anxiety and depression

Any other conditons / diagnosis - Aged 9 yrs old - Juvinile Arthritis and then as an adult - Osteo-arthritis.

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? Yes

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome - Arent they the old terms for Dyspraxia?

Dyslexia - No

ADHD - No

ADD - No

Aspergers syndrome - No but have the traits

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder) - No but again have traits.

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities - Yes and Dyspraxia.
sarafina
New member - welcome them!
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:55 pm

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by sarafina »

Hmm...Well, I can answer 'yes' to all of the adult questions certainly, most of the others but have only been formally diagnosed with ADHD (twice, NHS) NOT dyspraxia. During this process they screened me out for bi-polar/ AS / Schizophrenia etc but why not Dyspraxia? Why the professional silos I ask myself? i understand there is a 50% dual diagnosis rate. My daughter's learning support at uni is being hijacked by dyslexia help and all her equipment does not take account of ADHD/likely dyspraxia etc.

I have particular problems with sensory processing and distractibility/ discomfort - noise in particular but have problems with lights. My children were diagnosed with SID when young and just put all this down to having sensory integration disorder myself as an adult. Many ADHD people also have hypersensitivities but it is only today I have seen these attributed to dyspraxia when compared with other spLDs.

My ADHD alone is such a hassle for the GP/ NHS - try getting diagnosed for this as an adult on the NHS!!!! I dare not ask for formal diagnosis of auditory processing/ dyspraxia as well but with my children having the same issues... Perhaps it does not matter to have all these separate conditions formally diagnosed and just accept the blur / overlap that exists between them all.

I thought I would write though re the questionnaire - just in case someone thinks they have dyspraxia when in actual fact it is a dual diagnosis or ADHD instead etc.
tinywarrior
Getting settled in
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:44 pm

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by tinywarrior »

here goes my questionnaire :/

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy:
no


Complications at or after birth:
(born a blue baby) no idea

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking.
always had a problem with never being understood, mum complains i spoke unclearly. sister says i had problems walking

Infections
no

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips
managing small buttons- done wrong
fastening zips, broke alot :(

Tying shoe laces, ties
just mastered typing shoe laces aged 20 :)
still problem with ties

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy
changing hands with scissors
accuracy issues

Holding pencil with conventional grip
no

Learning to write letters and numbers
didnt learn alphabet until year 5- bad memory led to too many letters, 3 sets of alphabet letters only upto 'J'

Differentiating left and right
yes

Colliding with people and objects
people used to fly away from me and i never knew why i kept crashing into them

Hopping, skipping, jumping
cant skip on two feet well and jumping consists of slamming back to the floor quickly.. very heavily but on feet

Using apparatus in P.E
very hard. couldnt use climbing frames and very scared of heights

Playing throw / catch
bad at catching especially rounders, got accredited for accidentally catching the ball while not looking :)

Keeping time to a musical beat
impossible

Managing Stairs and escaltors
commonly falling, adapted to jogging so my feet wouldnt 'stop'

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects
no

Liked / disliked fast rides
liked fast rides

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom
very distracted sometimes led to daydreaming and extreme distraction, music drives me mad in a bad way

Disliked waiting in line
yep, still do

Took longer to complete work
miles longer was hated at school

Upset by failure.
very


As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle
yes, several bruises and not being able to change angles.. can now ride it but not pedal well.

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises
bumping into things only but not noticeably

Car sickness
yes

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks.
yes

Organising approach to tasks
huh?

Adapting to new or unexpected situations
dont change my routine or i will not show up :( grrr i started college first day after being 2 hours late, not good impression finally showed up after crying and stressed

Remembering information
used to be bad but now just worse.. interupting work life and college life. now left college

Following instructions in the right order
problems? yep sometimes even skip instructions accidently

Developing mature and efficient handwriting
still messy to others but i think it looks good :)

Copying from blackboard
getting ib and 1b mixed up and chicken to chikken or choice to chace

Completing work on time
very bad at that especially practical very slow.. constantly shouted at

Low self-esteem
very

Articulation deficits
??

Did you ever have a psychological assessment
no

Are there other members of your family with similar problems
yes..sis has dyspraxia, bro has learning difficulties



As an Adult

Did you find any of the above areas still difficult

Posture sitting/ standing
sitting posture poor, sliding when typing or eating

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels
have to wear guys jeans because tight jeans hate them. uncomfortable-
i always have two holes in my t-shirt cos of ripping off tags

Time management or prioritising
time management-downhill
prioritising not so good

Cluttered work / study area
clusttered work yep

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand
organising notes.. cant make sense when reading back to self

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy
ok with that

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving
letters seem like they have color faded sometimes or seem highlighted

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent
yes

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent
got used to

Any additional info:
not serious injury split head open at about 18 months got head glued

Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness

A serious injury including head inuries

Surgery

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy

Cerebral Palsy

Muscular dystrophy

Polio

Stroke

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression
had about 2 years ago

Any other conditons / diagnosis

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia?

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome

Dyslexia
been diagnosed for but not given results

ADHD

ADD

Asperger’s syndrome

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder)
college people thought i had but finally learned emotion at age 20

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities
tinywarrior
Getting settled in
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:44 pm

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by tinywarrior »

one more thing?? any reason why i keep walking normally and then my foot/feet seems to stop again making me look limpy?? its on and off

at one time my leg just kept stopping causing me to fly forwards and trip :/ it s like theres an invisible tile i skidded on or i have like an invisible weight making me walk weird?? am i just strange??
cftxp
New member - welcome them!
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:51 am

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by cftxp »

I guess I'll give this a try and see my reality.


Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy: Apparently my pulse in my mother's womb stopped for a few minutes but through "divine intervention" I was "reborn", or something of the sort.


Complications at or after birth: I was born with a birthmark that caused a noticeable bald spot.

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking. I was apparently late with all of these.

Infections: I had a stomach infection when I was in the 3rd grade.

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips

Tying shoe laces, ties: Couldn't master this until around the 7th or 8th grade, still it takes long for me to tie my shoes. And I can't do anything with a tie at all!

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy: Hate cutting with scissors, talented in drawing, tracing is a pain, and precision and accuracy only exists when I'm working on my art.

Holding pencil with conventional grip: Always held a pencil like I was about to stab every piece of paper I had contact with. But during the 7th grade I suddenly mastered the conventional grip and now I rarely use my stabbing grip unless my hand gets tired of that conventional grip. It's a bit strange.

Learning to write letters and numbers: My hand writing is beyond most people's grasp of legible. ;)

Differentiating left and right: I was always good with directions and can easily find my location at a map, but now I just use my smart phone if I need directions so I got no idea if I still have this sense. :3

Colliding with people and objects: I'm always careful with not bumping into other people but lots of times, I cross unnecessary paths with people and usually when this happens we keep blocking each other until I just walk another direction. And with objects, I habitually bump into these on a daily basis.

Hopping, skipping, jumping: I still do it, sometimes I hop, skip, and jump on my way to a destination I should walk to.

Using apparatus in P.E: Only ones we had were those stair step things, not really a challenge.

Playing throw / catch: My skill in this is almost nonexistent.

Keeping time to a musical beat: I don't quite understand this one....

Managing Stairs and escaltors: Extra careful with stairs and I used to have a fear of escalators so bad that I only took elevators or stairs. Now escalators still make me uneasy but that's because I'm still sort of afraid of heights.

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects

Liked / disliked fast rides: Always disliked, it takes extreme peer pressure for me to go on these.

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom: Definitely.

Disliked waiting in line: It depends, if I'm waiting in line for something stressful, waiting is much more bearable than something like taking a test, but if I'm waiting to get something, wtf, I wanna go ASAP!

Took longer to complete work: Yes. One time, I was threatened by classmates to hurry up with a test and I almost failed it. Their impatience almost made me not graduate on time! o_O

Upset by failure: Terribly so, but I've learned to adopt persistence and that success is when you can get back up after falling ten stories down.



As an older child were there problems? Yeah, academically I was no good at either Math or English Language Arts.

Learning to ride a bicycle: I still can't because my parents said it would damage an area of my body that suffered a hernia. Now, it would be strange to see a man learning to bike. :/

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises: Yes, this is why I hate running and having a heavy backpack!

Car sickness: Some times, but usually this happens when I didn't get enough sleep.

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks: Yep, I find it efficient to think before I act.

Organizing approach to tasks: I plan my day step-by-step but have a hard time following through most of the time.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations: Seems like if I don't, I'm just left behind so I always follow through or try my best.

Remembering information: Seems like my memory works like this - I study, then after the necessary info is tested I forget, then a few weeks or months later, I remember again and it becomes ingrained if it's that memorable.

Following instructions in the right order: Only if it's repeated at least a few times, if not, I make sure to either ask for help or try to fake it through.

Developing mature and efficient handwriting: I type MUCH better and faster than I write.

Copying from blackboard: Speed is always an issue and a lot of times handwriting looks illegible on a blackboard so there's that issue as well.

Low self-esteem: A bit problem of mine. To me, attention is normally unwanted but never getting any at all leaves me insecure.

Articulation deficits: None

Did you ever have a psychological assessment: Never (as of now)

Are there other members of your family with similar problems: My mom seems to have a mild case of bipolar while my dad habitually forgets things.




As an Adult

Did you find any of the above areas still difficult: I just turned of adult age about a year ago so yes.

Posture sitting/ standing: My posture, in general, is less than stellar. I accompany this with my self-esteem issues.

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels: As long as the clothes look good I'll wear it though it would be preferable to have on "designer brands" and be able to buy them once in a while.

Time management or prioritizing: I have a hard time with doing rather than planning.

Cluttered work / study area: My work space is usually full of some kind of clutter though various stimuli cause me to reorganize pretty frequently if time permits.

Organizing, notes, having the correct items to hand: I'm highly disorganized and it takes me almost an hour just to prepare for gathering notes for a regular test.

Using a keyboard, speed and accuracy: I type close to 70 words per minute on average but the longer I have to type the lower my speed becomes though I often catch any mistakes myself when typing.

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving (Yes, but eyestrain and headaches are reduced if I read an e book on my phone.)

Find fluorescent lighting irritating and unpleasant: I prefer daylight over other sources of light.

Computer monitors irritating and unpleasant: Looking at them for too long is unbearable but it takes at least an hour for fatigue to come in.


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness: Never

A serious injury including head injuries: Only mild injuries from bumping my head, but never any bleeding.

Surgery: I had two surgeries: one for a hernia I had when I was a baby and the other to repair my birthmark (to some degree).

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy: No convulsions or epilepsy, but if by "fits" you mean like tantrums I get those at times.

Cerebral Palsy: No history

Muscular dystrophy: Nope

Polio: Too young to have contracted a case.

Stroke: No

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression: Most likely undiagnosed depression and definitely some social anxiety that also remains undiagnosed.

Any other conditons / diagnosis: None psychologically or life-threatening physically.

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? Nope, but I just found out about the possibility close to a week ago.

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome: Nope, but I may have this.

Dyslexia: No problem recognizing or reading.

ADHD or ADD: I had no problem in school with attention deficit.

Aspergers syndrome: I don't have most of these symptoms.

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder): No history.

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities: None whatsoever
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