Do I have dyspraxia? getting help.

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

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jerkface9000
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Do I have dyspraxia? getting help.

Post by jerkface9000 »

Hello there, I'm not really sure where to begin but here goes.

Throughout my life I have always had very poor motor skills and overtime it is just something I got used to, and wasn't too much of a concern as a teenanger it was what it was but as I entered my adult life it has caused me numerous difficulties once again.

I am now in my late 20s and have worked very little in my life I currently have a decent full time job which I very much enjoy but before this job the best I could do for most of my 20s was just part time work, not nearly enough to support myself and as such I do still live at home.

I have trouble doing very basic things that are a source of embarrassment and anxiety which have caused me to quit a few jobs in the past after complaints and frustrations about me being slow and my ability. Some of those things are but as followed (not limited to just these things but the major ones.)

I cannot tie my shoes or anything really for that matter, I figured out a half assed way I guess with bunny ears but it does not make the item tighter and they will just come loose again.

I cannot fold anything including my clothes this includes wrapping things as well.

I cannot handwrite, there was a time when i was a child that I started to but nobody could read it, I can print but it looks like the printing of a 1st or 2nd grader but my hand will tire out very quickly, when I was in school I was given a laptop to jot down notes in class, I would say my typing is mediocre to average at best.

I love Sports even though I am generally terrible at them, drippling a basketball is a real challenge I don't have much control over the thing as is hitting a baseball, I can ride a bike but I'll be all over the place cannot keep a straight line as such I have never had any ambition to try and get a drivers license.

I was born 4 months premature and generally believe that is the biggest factor for most of my shortcomings in my development and have read that is a very common attribute to people with dyspraxica.

I only recently found out there was a term for this and asked one doctor but he did not seem very knowledgeable on the subject and am looking for something that can help and I can get more info, it is late where I am and I wrote this all very quickly so it may read as a bit of a mess but I would gladly give more info to any specific questions anyone here may have. This is really the first time I've really asked for help about this kind of thing so it is a bit difficult.
Tom fod
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Re: Do I have dyspraxia? getting help.

Post by Tom fod »

jerkface9000 wrote: . . as I entered my adult life it has caused me numerous difficulties once again.

I am now in my late 20s and have worked very little in my life I currently have a decent full time job which I very much enjoy but before this job the best I could do for most of my 20s was just part time work, not nearly enough to support myself and as such I do still live at home.

Hi and welcome and apologies for tardy response

Adult life tends to present a different set of challenges from those we faced at school and a lot of help for those with Dyspraxia (or DCD) ceases once we enter the adult world as it has been wrongly assumed that 'we grow out of it', Yes some of us have become more accomplished at developing coping strategies but sometimes the difficulties catch us out and we can become overwhelmed by them.

My 'coping strategies' mean I'm a 'frustrated perfectionist' and set myself all too often impossibly high standards to live up to so at times my obsession for getting things right can also make me pretty miserable and anxious especially if others stick their oar in and I feel judged. I'm not driving either (though I have a visual impairment I can hide behind). I didn't have the confidence to go and get a place of my own until about five years ago. It's difficult not to compare ourselves to others around us, but it is rarely objective and generally makes us just feel worse about ourselves.

We've got a few other Canadian members here and there doesn't seem to be much awareness and very little, if any, dyspraxia-specific assistance for adults so perhaps unsurprising that the Doctor you spoke to didn't seem to know a great deal.

I too find laces are frequently/always coming undone (bit of a metaphor really). Often, despite my trying to minimise the length of the loose ends by tying a knot on top I often find they've still come undone and the ends are wet and frayed.

You can get folding boards to help with shirts and it may help if you research the techniques (try You Tube) and with a bit of practice you will hopefully conquer this. Same with wrapping presents, take your time and don't rush, give yourself room to work and have all the things you need (wrap, scissors and tape etc) to hand.

Please do feel free to have a trawl of the forum and the topics covered and don't be afraid to ask any questions or add your own thoughts on the many and varied discussions here. I hope we can make you feel less alone and offer you some much-needed mutual support.
Last edited by Tom fod on Sat Sep 02, 2017 8:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: half arsed attempt at perfection
Tom
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With a foot full of bullets I tried to run faster but I just hobbled on to the next disaster.
(from Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Foot Full of Bullets)
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