My life

A place to talk about your experience of living with Dyspraxia

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JamesAnthony91
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Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2016 4:43 pm

My life

Post by JamesAnthony91 »

Okay, I thought it's about time I elaborate on my experiences with Dyspraxia a bit. When I was young, my school wrote me off as stupid. I had terrible handwriting, they thought I was a slow learner, I got held back, a whole fiasco of a youth being told I'm DIFFERENT in one way or another. It wasn't until 12 that I actually got a diagnosis, and a few teachers from my infant years actually apologized for the misunderstanding. By secondary school, I was in higher/honours English and other classes. I somehow performed best in scientific subjects, especially Biology, which to this day is something I just intuitively understand(probably because Dyspraxia is related to systems thinking, and I see how that applies to Biology as a whole.) I would say I was bad at sports, but, honestly I wasn't that bad. I was a bit awkward in terms of playing football, unless playing as the goalie, when it was impossible to get a the ball past me: I was that freaking amazing. I remember I also COULD play well in general if I felt like it, which once amazed a group of friends when I was around 10 because I was able to outmanoeuvre them and score goal after goal, simply because I always managed to do things well when putting my mind to the task. I was bullied a bit in school, by teachers for my ineligible written work, and by students who thought I was stupid because of my being held back as an infant and catching glimpses of my messy handwriting. It was just awful, I can't say I remember anyone from that school fondly.

After my horrible experiences as a teenager in school, I became an alcoholic and experimented in drugs. I remember being unemployed for a long while after school, spending most of my money on getting drunk, just to numb myself. Eventually, I got myself out of that cycle, and I started actually doing things in my life, and since then I rediscovered, that actually doing things, as in things that apply to succeeding in the real world and not in school written exams, is something I'm amazing at, I usually do everything right. I can dive, I can shoot a rifle competently, I can drive(though I am saving for a motorcycle, I don't like cars as much and I handle motorcycles better), I can swordfight(not like Olympic Fencing, I mean German Longsword), I can play Rugby(apparently that's a sport popular with Dyspraxics), I'm physically fit, I can code(web design) and I'm an advocate for human enhancement and self improvement(not a transhumanist, though, I do believe in using technology to not only remove difficulties people have, but to also enhance people so that they can be superior to the general population...technology that exists now in the form of brain implants&nootropics, and will become more refined and specific over the next 20 years.)

I can do so many things that I wouldn't have been able to do if I stayed in a self defeating state of mind. Not only have I overcome my Dyspraxia(though I know I still am Dyspraxic), but I also have the positives that come from developing WITH Dyspraxia. I'm a strategic thinker, I'm creative, and I am driven. I can say that I'm glad I have Dyspraxia, it is part of me, and I wouldn't rather be anyone else, because then I wouldn't be a unique and atypical thinker. Different can be GOOD. I've struggled because of my Dyspraxia, struggled for most of my still young life(I'm 24), but the struggles made me the strong person I am, the great man I am, and the great man I will continue to be throughout my life.
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