Age at which you were diagnosed

[jen d]

Just curious as to what age we were when diagnosed or strongly suspect we have dyspraxia. It seems that quite a few people on this forum were diagnosed or supected of having dyspraxia as adults. Personally I was not actually diagnosed until the age of 51 (just over a year ago) which means having struggled for many years not realising why. just wondered if that was the case for others or were you perhaps still a child, teenager or younger adult? i think there is more awareness now so people might be picked up earlier, but would be interested to see results of poll!

Jen

[Philip]

About three or four.

My parents, asked my auntie could there be something wrong with me. I don't remember much of the tests etc.

[Creative]

I was 15.

[maria]

I've never been officially diagnosed and I can't afford to pay for an assessment. Seems a waste of time now that I'm 57 (tho god only knows when women my age group will ever get to retire, this bloody govt seems to hate women born in 1954 and public sector workers on very low pay in particular).

Anyway, two or three years ago I happened to read that Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) couldn't tie shoelaces because of being "mildy dyspraxic". As I've never been able to tie shoelaces properly, I was curious and looked up "dyspraxia" on the internet. Suddenly everything fell into place, the reason I can't do anything that requires hand-eye co-ordinaton, can't hold a pen properly, have no sense of direction, bump into things, can't quite decide if I'm left handed or right handed, can't do maths...

I reckon my dyspraxia is only mild compared to others but it's still a struggle especially when so few non-dyspraxic people seem to understand.

[shisu]

I was diagnosed at 16 just after finishing school, so not really helpful..

I am only very mildly dyspraxic (or so I figure) based on the fact I can play ball games (not very well though) and tie my shoelaces, buttons etc, though probably a bit slower than someone without dyspaxia. In some ways it may have been easier at school if it was more servere because I may have got some help.

My main problems are focus - I get bored of things so easily!, and negativity - I am always thinking I cant do this I wont be any good at it and dont want to make a fool of myself.

[Captain_Ludd]

I was diagnosed at about 3 or 4, my mum and dad had gone to the doctors 2 or 3 times trying get help but were basically fobbed off as imaging a problem, but when I still wasn't walking at 3 and could only drag my self across the floor using my upper body I was finally diagnosed as having diplega and spastic cerebral palsy, this was re classified about five years ago as Dyspraxia.

[immy]

I am 54 I have only recently found out that I am dyspraxic I am trying to get an assessment GP does not really understand why I want one. I want to know what is dyspraxia and what is not. i also want to know if things like bad memory get worse as I get oldr .

[AlleyCat]

Not until I was almost 25. I often think that some of the failures I have experienced could have been prevented, and that I would have been a lot closer to achieving my goals if I'd been diagnosed years earlier. However, I think there is still a long way to go in terms of raising awareness of dyspraxia and researching what causes it.

[Jpowls]

I was very young, 3 or 4 I believe, when my nursery suspected something and my mum took it up with a GP and it went from there. I was the officially statemented when I was 9 but the approach from my schools was just that it was a physical handicap and never dealt with the other aspect to it.

It is only very recently that I've really understood what goes on in my head and the things that I do.

[Ldnfinest]

28

[joy]

NEVER BEEN DIAGNOSED AM NOW SIXTY HAVE BEEN aGORAPHOBIC FOR MOST OF MY LIFE BECAUSE OF MY DYSPRAXIA WITH MORE PROBLEMS WITH THE CERELEBUM WHICH MAINTAINS THE BALANCE AND VESTIBULAR AND GIVES YOU OF WERE YOU ARE PLACED IN SPACE THE MORE PROBLEMS WITH THESE THE MORE ANXIOUS YOU BECOME THAT IS WHY YOU OFTEN HERE OF DYSPRAXICS SUFFERING WITH PANIC ATTACKS OR MORE EXTREME aGORAPHOBIA. ALTHOUGH THATS ONLY A SMALL PART OF IT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO DYSPRAXIA THAN MOST PEOPLE THINK. MY SON WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DYSPRAXIA AND add AT ABOUT NINE YEARS OF AGE AND THAT WAS ONLY i PUSHED FOR A APPOINTMENT DIDNT DO MUCH GOOD WAS PROMISED ALL KINDS GOT NOTHING SO IT SEEMS YOU CAN BE DIAGNOSED BUT GET VERY LITTLE ELSE .i PAID FOR A FULL NEUROLOGICAL EXAMINATION WHICH i WILL WRITE ABOUT IN FULL DETAIL WHEN i HAVE A BIT MORE TIME .i AM CURRENTLY WRITING A BOOK AND HAVE KEPT A DIARY OF MY SON AND MYSELF FOR SEVERAL YEARS ALL THE WHYS AND AND THE REASONS FOR WHY WE STRUGGLE TO MANAGE THE PANIC ATTACKS AND THE ANXIETYS THE STRESS TOLERENCE THE STRUGGLES THE LACK OF CONCENTRATION LOW SELF ESTEEM TO MENTION BUT A FEW dONT SEEM TO DO MUCH NOW SO US OLDIES BACK IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES HAD NO CHANCE AS i DONT THINK DYSPRAXIA WAS EVEN RECOGNISED THEN AND THEY HAVE CHANGED THE NAME AGAIN ITS CALLED SOMETHING COORDINATION DISORDER CAN NEVER REMEMBER THE FIRST PART OF IT POOR MEMORY i LEFT THAT ONE OUT.

[Spinellie]

Hi , I was two years old. Luckily enough my mother discovered my symptoms very early and had me assessed asap, she claims the one that made her made the inital app was when I stopped trying to communicate!! To be honest I remember quite a few of these assessments, especially the continuational ones through out my younger years. I'm glad it was caught very early, as i was able to I guess...understand or at least was taught to understand the disability and the limited resources I'm also glad for that.

[Cephas]

Looks like I may be setting a record here. I was first diagnosed a few months ago and I'll be 76 next month.

[shakey]

I'm in my 40's & haven't had a diagnosis yet but I'm pretty sure. As with Immy - My GP also doesn't understand why I want a diagnosis but I really do want to understand myself, I want to know what is dyspraxia and what it not so that I can understand it and so I can be clear when talking to others about it.

I got on the track of dyspraxia in my 30's but was put off by a psychiatrist who said either that I was too organised (I think that's an indirect result of the dyspraxia - the way I cope is by being really organised and noting everything down! (Doesn't always work! )) or because she thought all people with dyspraxia had speech difficulties! (I now know they don't!)

I'm sure there was a good reason for me not to find out then, I think I had enough on my plate at the time and I'm not sure I would have coped very well with finding out about my dyspraxia and probably shortly afterwards finding out my son had it too! God has a way of keeping these things sometimes till we are more ready to cope with them!

[szz]

I was diagnosed last year. Wish I didn't know as I think about it all the time and I am sure that it is really obvious to other people that I meet that I am dyspraxic.