Hello everyone

[lunalovegood]

I just found this website today and it truly feels like a godsend. Here is my story. This may sound very cheesy, but it never occurred to me that I might have dyspraxia until I read a story about Daniel Radcliffe's struggle with the disorder (as you can guess by my handle, I'm a big fan of the series). When I read that he had trouble driving, something clicked. I am nearly 25 and although I have a license, I rarely drive because it's very difficult for me. I can't seem to focus on more than one step at a time, so having multiple stimuli (i.e. watching for cars, pedestrians, and signs) is overwhelming. I went to this website and when I looked at the symptoms list, several of them matched up with my experiences. Ironically, just like DR, I had trouble with shoe tying when I was young and didn't learn how to do it at the same time as my peers. As a school child, I was always terrible at sports and had no sense of direction, but I thought I was just clumsy and stupid. I also struggle with other tasks like cooking, because it's hard for me to keep more than 2 or 3 steps in my head at once. For the same reason, I also have difficulty following conversations IRL. Since I can't seem to concentrate, I end up "spacing out". I got picked on a lot in school, basically up until college. From the earliest age I knew I was "different" from others, but never could figure out what made me different. I became an adventurer of sorts, experimenting with all sorts of new identities, even tried dating girls for a while (because I visited a gay site and it said that if you felt "different", then you might be gay), but nothing really fit or gave me an answer to my question. Now that I understand what set me apart from others, life can become a blessing.

Let's see, other things about me. First, I'm an avid reader. I will read just about anything that has print on it (even toothpaste or shampoo labels if there's no other reading material in the house). I also love music and will listen to just about anything (except hard metal or country). My favorite artists are Depeche Mode and the Dave Mathews Band. As for sports, I'm not very athletic, but I do enjoy biking and swimming. Oddly enough, I was the best swimmer in my class and the dyspraxia never seemed to affect that.

What I hope to gain from visiting this forum is a chance to meet others, of course, and learn how to cope with having the big D as an adult. Thanks for reading!

[Liz944]

Hi

Welcome to the forum!

[Creative]

hI, Welcome to the forum. I'm 25 and was diagnosed with dyspraxia when I was 15. My school didn't support me and I was off school for most of year 11 due to depression caused by bullying. Then I spent 5 years at a special college. I'm ok now and I volunteer at a toyroom in a charity shop, for a dyslexia organisation and at my local library.

[gherkin001]

Hi and welcome to the mad-house!!

Kirsty

[maria]

Hi

I'm Maria, I'm from the UK and I guess I'm probably much older than most, if not ALL of you, as I'm 54. I only realised I was probably mildly dyspraxic (I've never been diagnosed) a few months ago. I was reading a newspaper article about Daniel Radcliffe and when it said he was "mildly dyspraxic and couldn't do things like tie his shoelaces" I was intrigued, as I've always been absolutely hopeless at anything requiring manual dexterity and can't tie shoelaces properly etc. The more I read about dyspraxia on the web, the more I realised so much applied to me.

I HATED cookery, needlework and handicrafts at school because, like I said, I can't do practical stuff. I was average at PE but hated ball games (especially rounders) because I knew I was terrible at catching. I often felt "different" but I also knew, even tho sometimes I'd get confused with things, that I wasn't stupid and at least I was very good at English and had a vivid imagination (another dyspraxic trait, I believe). I was also quite a clumsy kid, always falling over etc. But what really clinched my self-diagnosis for me was the fact I'm fairly ambidexterous. I'm mainly right-handed but over the years people have always asked if I'm left-handed because I do so much left-handed without thinking - and I remember at the age of eight trying to make up my mind whether to be left or right-handed as sometimes I wrote right-handed, sometimes left-handed; I sewed left-handed, knitted left-handed etc

I come from a large family and there are five of us from Mum's second marriage. I think one sister and one brother is dyspraxic and that one brother is mildly dyslexic but definitely not dyspraxic. My youngest sister is totally free of both (she was two months premature, I wonder if dyspraxis develops in the last two months in the womb...?) I think the dyspraxia comes from Mum's side of the family as I think, looking back, she was mildly dyspraxic too.

Wel, have to go shopping and do washing so nice to meet you all,will write again another time.

Maria

[Nanncy]

Hi Maria!