what about dyspraxia should be researched??

[robyn]

the massive increase in incidence in the uk is far more likely explain by greater knowlegde and recognition of dyspraxia and related conditions, and a greater willingness of professionals to assess and accomedate it

[mina]

I would like to see some research intosleep problems associated with dyspraxia.
and probably also research into depression affecting dyspraxics

[square peg]

the massive increase in incidence in the uk is far more likely explain by greater knowlegde and recognition of dyspraxia and related conditions, and a greater willingness of professionals to assess and accomedate it

I disagree - where are all the adults with developmental disorders? Do 1 in 58 middle aged or elderly adults show signs of autism even when you look for them, for example? 1 in 58 children of this generation do. In adults it's much lower. The schools my mum works in often have several five to six year olds per Year with moderate to severe autism (symptoms that you'd never miss, even 80 years ago, and even the other children notice). Each Year the number the dinnerladies notice as 'odd' seems to rise, despite the fact that many children with severe cases go undiagnosed (several reasons - some think the scale is being swept under the rug for financial purposes). More than several per class show signs of severe ADHD. These things certainly existed before but as this generation is getting older it's becoming obvious that people rarely 'grow out of' these things as they age, as previously guessed, so where did all the 50 and 60 year olds with them go? The kind of debilitating symptoms that would have resulted in someone being unable to care for themselves were reported much less, which I find hard to believe is because people didn't notice.

I don't know how this compares to dyspraxia as there is much less research about it in general, but when I've volunteered in my old Junior school I've been shocked at how many more children show undeniable signs of it than I remember from just roughly a decade ago. When I was there, the only children who needed the kind of help these kids do with writing, P.E. etc. were those with (what appeared to be) very low IQs, so probably not dyspraxia.

Some stuff I was able to dig up quickly:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1774 - What this doesn't mention is that the heavy metals in vaccines thought to trigger autism in some children are some of the same ones now in our regular food supply, e.g. inorganic fish.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2984519.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2497133.stm

http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/Lnotmilk5.htm

http://www.specialneedsnutrition.com/42607.html

[NickC]

I think there are many area's of research that need to be looked into, but of course it all comes down to cost and kudos. Drug companies won't invest in research for an ailment that is untreatable, they require profit in order to do so. And living with dyspraxia while is inconvenient to to say the least does not impact on society enough for the government to invest.

Personally, I would like research in to the mental health aspects of dyspraxia, i feel these are the most distressing issues for me. A way to improve the feeling of self worth, an end to the cycle of depression, at the end of the day I (and I believe others) just want a normal life.

Also research into social interaction, i find i have few friends, and struggle to make more. So help on this matter would be useful.

[robyn]

the figures are massively higher than 1 in 58

many people of older gerenartions have compensated due to struggling so long without acknowledgement or support, hense the reason there are now so many adults recognising that they also have these conditions once their children are diagnosed. many of their generqation who had severe problems would have been locked up as it was v common for autism to be misdiagnosed as mental health problems and then their needs ignored due to peoples ignorance and prejudice, many milder will have been depressed and medicated for this without looking at where their problems come from and Iv no doubt many have dropped out or died, accientally or not. many problems are more apparent now because the system no longer hide them like they used to, an older type of class with standard times for lessons and set tables and a predicatble routine would have made it far easier for a dyspraxic child to cope and their problems not be so obvious. your noticing more kids with dyspraxic sysmptoms has far more to do with your increased knowledge, after all when you seek out something you normally find it, hence the reason most experiments proove their hypothisis. the increase that is not due to greater awareness is more likely due to the more prem babies surviving than in previous generaytions, as birth truama is the most common reason for dyspraxia.

[square peg]

I can't prove that wrong, robyn, I just find my hypothesis more likely with the things I've read. Especially as I hadn't heard of dyspraxia before I noticed all the kids with symptoms and was probably less aware of the characteristics of the children around me than when I was a pupil. But we'll have to agree to disagree about that. At least until someone somewhere decides to do actually do some research. (If you're reading mister nice scientist sir, anything, any bone you can throw us at all would be good. )

[gherkin001]

There needs to be more awareness of dyspraxia because like other conditions it is attached to a stigma. Im a bit stuffed in that area as epilepsy has a major stigma attached to it and ive always been labelled stupid for my dyscalculia.

Kirsty

[strabright]

Here's my list:

does dyspraxia have a specific develomental impact on women during menopause?

As people grow older? or do we more 'normalise' with age as the neurotypicals get 'dyspraxic' with age?

Do people with dyspraxia have a higher incidence of: muscular-skeletal disorders/problems? allergies and environmental sensitivies?

levels of tiredness and lethargy in people with dyspraxia? patterns of? if significant. why?

[djgard27]

I just think there needs to be a lot more awareness of it in adulthood i have only found out i had it in the last year im 28 i kind of suspected it before but visiting my doctor put me off the scent they didnt seem to really know what it was and were putting it down to other things then when i went to see a ot they couldnt believe it hadnt been picked up when i was earlier after running some tests i also feel research has to be done into things that help people with developmental dyspraxia. I also feel research needs to be done into the pyschological effect it has on people causing anxiety and depression. I also wonder if research has been done into food allergies having links to it i have brung this up with the ot and other people but they know nothing about it recently i have came accross people with dyslexia and dyscalculia who also have food intolerances there must be some link there.

[maria]

Like the previous poster, I think it would help to have a lot more AWARENESS of it. I mean, I tried explaining in work once why I couldn't do something as "simple" (well, to non-dyspraxic people) as making boxes by saying "I'm dyspraxic." Nobody was very bothered as (fortunately) it wasn't a very important part of our job but they were curious to know what I meant. I began with, in retrospect, the wrong opening line "Well, it means I have trouble doing things that require manual dexterity because I'm neither completly right-handed nor completely left-handed..."

My three colleagues are lovely people but they fell about laughing and said that was impossible, people are either left or right handed, you can't be both. (Um...can someone satisfactorily explain to me why ANYBODY has to be one or t'other? ) As I diagnosed myself over the internet too, they thought I had to be wrong about my diagnosis! As I am the one who has spent my whole life not being able to tie shoelaces, getting confused when trying to cook, having no sense of direction, bumping into things etc I think I should know.

Almost everybody these days knows what is meant by dyslexia, depression, anorexia nervosa etc. There are leaflets in chemist's and doctor's. I wish there could be leaflets about dyspraxia in chemist's, doctor's, the workplace etc beginning "What is Dyspraxia? Dyspraxia varies from person to person and is..."

[cpr02]

i agree with you there should be more awareness this would also help when telling people you have dyspraxia as so far some of the responses i've had is oh your trying to tell me you have dyslexia aren't you ! there 2 seperate conditions but sometimes i feel people see them as the same which isnt fair on either someone who has dyslexia or dyspraxia if there was more awareness it would make this easier

i would be interested in research in
1. the brain - how dyspraxia effects the brain and with aquired dyspraxia is there a difference there as it will have started in later years ?? - probably a daft question !

2social situations / relationships - sometimes in social situations etc i just feel distanced and apart from other people and find them difficult i would like to know why this happens ?? what causes it??

3. management strategies - I think it would be interesting to research how people manage there dyspraxia - and if there is a link between age and developing better coping strategies

4. The link between dyspraxia and other mental health conditions - are people with dyspraxia more prone to developing a mental health condition is there anything that can be put in place earlier to prevent this ? and why ?

5. stigma -how people were treated in the past - when did people first start to diagnose ? research the condition ? who was the first person to discover the condition ??

6. Diagnosis what is the criteria for diagnosis has this changed over the years ?

7. research in general into manual dexterity , co ordination and what causes this

if anyone knows the answers to my lots of questions can you let me know cause now im interested !!!

[gandalf72]

CPR02 fantastic questions I too would like answers to your questions.