I'm 20, and nobody would have said or noticed that I had any struggles with school work etc, or at home either. However these are the things I have noticed (and for the most part spent my life trying to compensate for):
- I have good cursive handwriting that I am often complimented on, which doesn't fit the "mould" for bad handwriting. However, it is very irregular (none of the letters are formed the same way twice in a sentence), and also I hold my pen in a very strange way (which is often commented on) - close to the nib, and tighter than it needs to be.
I would be disorganised if I didn't spend half my life trying to be organised - writing lists all the time because I don't remember to do things otherwise; and forcing myself to remember everyday, often essential things by gradually incorporating them into my routine. I am awful at keeping track of time because I get distracted, and because my perception of how much time has passed isn't very good.
As I have just mentioned, I get distracted very easily and can tick most of the symptoms of ADD (though I haven't been officially diagnosed). I also have a tendency to procrastinate, and to avoid doing tasks.
I have never been particularly clumsy, but I am a bit if I'm not concentrating. Also, like many people I have read about, I was bad at P.E. at school, especially things like dance that required co-ordination. I seem to have very little co-ordination and find it difficult to do more than one thing at once.
I have always enjoyed reading, but it has occurred to me lately that for a good deal of my childhood I raced through books and often didn't read them properly. Recently I have realised that this is in part because when I try to read every line on a page my eyes wander elsewhere, and sometimes I can't concentrate on the words. Also I can sometimes read a paragraph over and over without actually understanding it.
I often trip over my words, though I seem to have "articulate days" when my articulation is almost cut-glass. However, I make mistakes a lot of the time when I speak or read aloud - mispronunciation and issues associated with individual words; and also organisation of speech - I tend to expel all of my thoughts at once, and sometimes it doesn't make sense to anyone, even me.
My short term memory is awful, as is my ability to concentrate in any but the most absorbing situations. I get bored really quickly, or try to change the subject when the others aren't finished.
My spatial awareness is also quite terrible.
I have also read about increased sensitivity; the first thing I thought of was my sensitivity to the cold. Sometimes I find that I have to wear a cardigan and dressing-gown inside, or sit all day next to the radiator, when everyone else is fine. However, I could just have inherited poor circulation from my mother.
Thank you in advance! JHVD