Hi from London

[londoncatlover]

Hello I am new here, as I have just found out that I am dyspraxic. Well, I have always known but thought that my problems were just called dyslexia and that the co-ordination problems have were just down to being dyslexic.
I am 32 years old and was diagnosed when I was 6 years old as dyslexic. I started a college course recently and It wasn't untill I went to the college additional learning support that the ever so nice and patient support worker did some tests and reckoned that I have dyspraxia, I think the way I hold a pen is a bit of a givaway in itself.
My whole world makes sense now. I remember being in playgroup and bursting into tears when the other children could make cut out paper men chains and all I could manage was cut out blob type things,then In primary school I had know idea what the teachers were asking me to do and always ended up writing about a parallel topic. In secondary school I was terrible at sport and rember always being last at running and half way round the track my legs used to feel like jelly and get terrible cramps. I was very good at playing hockey though, I used to play left back and loved taclkng, I think becuase it involved intuition evan though the ball never went in the direction I wanted it to go i used to wack it so hard that it never had a chance of geeting to the goal. Tennis was a diiferent story entirly I was a bit of a cluts at that but I loved swimming and I play badminton now as it is slower and easer to controll and i still swim as I find it so relaxing ( i know my strokes arn't perfect but I will eventualley get round to going to a stroke technique class).
I am not so terrible at everthing, I have a good talent for acting and have great voice control when I apply myself which probarly has come from years of trying to make myself understood. I can fill a huge hall with my voice without a microphone. I never could sing though, despite lots of singing lessons. I just can't seem to repeat a tune.
For years I have been going to dance classes which has led to so much frustration, no matter how much I want to repeat the routine i just can't get it, but if I repeat it often enough and go to the class often enough i will eventually get it.
I get very frustrated when i can't do simple things, like talk to my gp, the dss, remember appointments, deal with the post. I have got into qute a bit of debt from forgetting about direct debits coming out on a particular date, hence, overdraft fees etc. My flat is always a mess but I make a huge consious effort to keep it tidy becuase I feel much better when I know where everything is.
I have suffered from depression for years and was diagnosed by a psyciartrist as having borderline personality disorder(personally i think that thats a load of pish).But the one big skill which therapy for borderline personality disorder has taught me is mindlefullness, it helps me declutter my brain.
I'ts very interesting how they say people with dyspraxia are good with animals I have two cats, who i suspect are dyspraxic aswell( or it might just be my clutter which they are always knocking over).
I am realy glad that I now understand myself and why I am like this, at one point i thought I might have ms because I am always dropping stuff.
So, I am off to the Gp on Tuesday to get an official diagnosis from a physc ed.
It's so nice to know that there are other people out there who are the same as me.i would love to meet you all so please keep me informed of any meet ups in the London area.
best wishes x

[Tim G]

Well first of all hi cat lover from London
It dosent surtprise me that when you were first digignosed they said your dyslexic, this was beceuse verry little was known about dyspraxia.

I am glad you have had time to understand yourself and try to sort things out - that does help and its promising to know that some things can be overcome.
I too suffer from depreshion but I am surprised I havent be digignosed with personality disorder which I dont think is a lode of rubbish. I think that borderline personalitly disorder and dyspraxia is kinda the same thing, its more a case of the phyc not understading the dyspraxia.

I am trying to organise a london meet up at the end of this month if you want to turn up. http://www.dyspraxicadults.org.uk/forum ... f=6&t=2059