Yes, I used to work with one He had pretty severe Dyslexia, he was told he had Dyspraxia most likely too but only dx with the Dyslexia, his Dyspraxia was so mild compared to the Dyslexia he wouldn't need help with it. He struggled with driving too and fiddly things like buttons but on the whole was much more graceful than me.
I also met a girl with Dyspraxia at a Remploy thing about a month ago, she didn't seem overly clumsy in those few hours but I could tell from her communication she was on the spectrum and she seemed to have organisational problems. The Remploy thing was great - such a range of disabilities and SN and we could all just be ourselves and not try to pretend we're NT. Was awesome!
Dyspraxia - Dx Jan 2010, borderline ASD as well plus strong Dyscalculia overlap.
Fibromyalgia - Dx Jan 2011.
Hypermobility - Dx April 2011
Willis-Ekbom Disease - Dx November 2011
I also have Eczema, Rosacea and Trichitollomania. Oh joy
I have never met a real-life dyspraxic. This may be because I only very recently started talking to other people about my dyspraxia. I hope I will get to meet someone with dyspraxia some day. It would be nice to just feel like I'm not alone.
Until a couple of months ago I'd never met another dyspraxic not knowingly any how, but my new disability support coach at uni is dyspraxic which is really cool, cos I think shes as scatter brained as me .
Actually come to think of it I've met a good few about 20 and I'm sure there are a few more but no one really says "hi I'm Rachel and I'm dyspraxic what about you?" :L
Hi I've just joined today. My name is Lisa. I have a beautiful son who is nearly 10. He was diagnosed at school with dyspraxia 2 years ago. I'm taking him to the doctors next week for further help. I thought we'd just muddle through it as it only affected his school work & he has recieved excellent extra help & understanding from them. He has turned very stroppy & angry (and I mean VERY angry) & he flies off the handle very easily at the smallest thing. I have a feeling that he is depressed. I suffer from depression so I can spot it in most people & sadly I think he's got the one gene I didn't want to give him. I feel like I'm constantly treading on eggshells. He stands out from all his friends as being different & he hasn't really got anyone close to him. He says children have started making up passwords for the groups they are in & won't tell him as an excuse for them not to play with him. His self esteem is on the floor so no wonder he comes home & lashes out at me & his sister. She is 5 & quite often corrects his pronounciation on words which he must find utterly demoralizing. He thrives on praise but sometimes its not enough & accuses me of lying that I'm proud of him. Im having a really confusing time of it. I turn to you guys as adults who were dyspraxic children once to give advise how I can encourage him without patronizing him. I'm clumsy,scatty & dyslexic so maybe there is a bit of dyspraxia in me but my lad just really stands out from the crowd & I'm started to wonder if he has a percentage of autism there too or am I just raising him wrong & not understanding & encouraging him enough. Do you think I have been wrong not to take him to the doctor sooner?? I just didn't ever see it as a big problem. He had help with his school work & was just who he was without a label attached to him. We are who we are in this life & if everyone was the same what a boring world we'd live in. Can any of you advise me?? Sorry I just wrote essay for you all!! xx
Hi Lisa. I feel really sorry for your son, as what the other children are doing to him at school is a form of bullying. Unfortunately, children with dyspraxia often find themselves the targets of bullies because they come across as different or seem less likely to 'stand up' for themselves- this might be due to speech problems or having low muscle tone, which can cause them to appear unassertive. I wonder if you've spoken to the school about him being left out, as the pupils involved need to know that it is not acceptable to do this. I really don't know about your son having some form of autism- problems with anger management and social skills are often named in a list of symptoms of dyspraxia, so I think your son's behaviour is due to his dyspraxia rather than something else. Schools should definitely do more to support children with dyspraxia socially, as it can really affect their long term prospects if they become socially withdrawn as a result of bullying. As a teenager, I was bullied a lot at school and as a result avoided talking to people most of the time- I really feel this affected my ability to socialise as an adult, as all children need to practise their social skills throughout their school lives to prepare them effectively for the 'people skills' they will be expected to demonstrate as an adult in the workplace.
I'm wondering if your son has been formally diagnosed by an educational psychologist as having dyspraxia, as this can be useful in getting him the kind of support he might need. Your GP might be able to help, but after having read some of the other posts on this forum, it seems that there can be a lot of variation in a GP's attitude towards the condition (I don't want to seem as if I'm stereotyping anyone, but I suspect it's more likely to be the older GPs who won't know anything about the condition and be dismissive of it).
I think it's important that you try to speak to your 5 year old daughter about how it affects her brother when she corrects his speech- of course you will know how best to approach this with her, but perhaps you could say something like: 'It really upsets X when you tell him how to speak, as he can't help the way he speaks.' I can relate to how upset your son must feel when someone corrects his speech, as I used to have a*seholes (excuse the language) mocking my speech when I was at school and, believe it or not, even when I was at University! I was diagnosed quite late in life, so didn't know at the time that I had dyspraxia, but I felt upset and embarrassed when this happened.
One last thought is that maybe your son would benefit from taking part in some kind of activity to boost his self esteem. The first thing that springs to mind is drama classes, as this is something I feel would have really benefited me as a child (and as an adult). My (non-dyspraxic) sister attended drama class on a Saturday and I think that taking part in acting hugely benefited her confidence and even her career prospects (through doing drama she learned how to speak and 'carry herself' in a way which seems to have impressed employers). If your son does take part in an activity such as drama class, I think it would be beneficial if you could speak to the person taking the class about his dyspraxia, as that would explain to them why he might be initially reluctant to take part and they would then know to give him extra encouragement.
I realise this is a particularly long post, but I strongly feel that your son is at an age where a huge difference could be made to his future prospects if he receives the support he needs. I've often felt that around the age of 10 was a crucial point for me and my life would now be very different if I'd been diagnosed with dyspraxia (and consequently received the right kind of support) back then. As it turned out, the 'way I was' led to particularly cruel bullying (often of a very personal nature) once I reached secondary school, so I want to do anything I can to prevent someone else from going through the same thing.
Thank you so much for your input. He was diagnosed by the head of the special needs department at school but I never took it further as it only had effected his school work. Despite the fact he was different he still had some good little mates that found him rather funny & quirky but he is at an age now where he wants to be taken a little more seriously & the others find him a bit too different from them & kids can be so cruel. I was bullied so badly my Mum had to take me out of one school & into another so I know how miserable he's feeling & I never wish that on anyone let alone my little boy. The school have been made aware of this & they are working on team bonding with him & other children so he can integrate better & they can understand him a little more. Parents evening is coming up so I will be asking for further help as well as my doctor. She's a fantastic doctor & I have every faith she will help or refer me to someone who can. I feel bad I've left it so long but his hormones are coming & he needs more help than I can give him. I never wanted him to feel different but he's not stupid & he's aware now that he is. As for his sister she is just trying to help him but as a victim of a smarty pants younger sister myself I'm aware she is annoying the bejeses out of him I want him to flourish at school. Within the next 2 years he will start secondary school & I would like him to attend a main stream school rather than a school for special needs. The local school has an excellent special needs department I feel he will be a small fish in a big pond & swim through his school life feeling happy & 'normal' There is nothing worse than feeling like you stand out in a crowd as somebody weird & stupid. Which is how I felt at school. He attends 3 different school clubs,Cubs & a Youth Club but I will look into a drama class too. There's a club at school called Rainbow Road which he loves. It focuses on hand writing,art & movement especially designed for children like Dempsey & they make it fun. The clever children wish they could go too so he gets his chance to be a little smug for a change Thank you again for helping me see this from your prospective as it has been a massive insight as to how he's maybe feeling xx
Another idea would maybe be some form of msrtial arts, judo or karate for example. Although the bullying isn't necessarily physical, sometimes knowing you can look after yourself can give you more confidence to be more assertive?
I do agree with the drama idea too actually, anything where he can really express himself and forget about everything is perfect.
He did start kick boxing but he wouldn't concentrate & just pranced around in the outfit doing 'High Yaaa!!!' noises while posing in the mirror & completely ignoring any input from the people running it. I'm a single mum & £45 is a lot to spend watching him do a Bruce Lee impression really badly!! The thing is people would laugh at him & it would just make him do it even more because the other side of his personality is the love of making people laugh. That's the tricky thing about him....if you laugh at the wrong time he throws a massive benny at you!! That's why I need to get to the bottom of it. I've walked on so any eggshells I've powdered them!! But I'm getting very good at ducking from flying objects now.
Hi lisa I to am a mum who has Dyspraxia as does my son .The Ideal place to go is The child development centre to get your son assesed properly which usually takes over several weeks and then a assesement by a pschc to see whether medication is required you will have to go and see your GP for that.
My son went through a similar situation to your son in school and it was a constant battle to fight for him both educationally and medically, and a constant battle with bullies as he became a easy target. I tried to get my son into drama but he wouldnt go because of his low self esteem, yet in school when they would act out a play at Christmas he would know everybodys lines and seemed to have a new found confidence when acting. He often acted out as the class clown and with his ADD would lack concentration and found it hard to finish his work.So althrough he had only small parts in the school play he would have been better with more lines to remember which would have given him something to focus on.I do think for anybody who has Dyspraxia is a good thing to try and get involved in drama after all it didnt do Danielle Radcliffe any harm as he has Dyspraxia and can increase confidence and self esteem,but its getting him to go there can be the hardest part.
How great to hear from you. It's difficult isn't it?? Sometimes I wonder if I'm being harsh when I tell him off for things & wonder afterwards if it's his dyspraxia. On the other hand I fear I'm pandering to him & he's playing on it. I've never told him he's dispraxic. I told him he was just him & I love everything about him & wouldn't change him. But he hates himself. He wants to be somebody else. He gets obsessed with material things because I think that maybe he think he'll be cool with these things & popular with his piers. Such a difficult age at the best of times let alone with the issues he has. He has landed a small part in the school play at Dec from Ant & Dec & he's really looking forward to it & I'm looking forward to watching it. Maybe it will give him the confidence to start at drama classes. He went to cubs for the first time since xmas tonight & he was in a really good mood when he got in. He's an early to bed early to rise child so late nights are a no no with him & he hates loud music or noises. Does any of this sound familiar to you?? So nice to hear from you & all of you on here. Funny you should mention Daniel Radcliffe. He can't tie his shoe laces either hehehee xx
My son was in the beavers as well ,when he was old enough to join the cubs he wouldnt go because some of the bullies went there so he just refused to go.He likes to stay up late although he used to go to bed early when he was at school and I wouldnt allow him to have a tv in his room otherwise he would have stayed up all night .He was diagnosed with ADD so he was quite lively, he didnt like games very much but we took him to cricket with one of his friends twice a week after school which he seemed to enjoy .
Does your son have any eye problems. You say he gets angry thats probably gets frustrated with how he copes with things, All dyspraxics have eye problems whether they know it or not whether its a strambismus ,stigmatism,nystagmus,of eyes not yolking together or any other eye disorders,It will also affect how tolerant we are , my son can go on the xbox for several hours on a fast pace game and be alright but me if I tried the same game after about half hour I would become more stressed and snappy because my tolerence level is much lower,and my eye tracking poorer
The same reason why many Dyspraxics can suffer with anxiety and panic attacks when in there teens. When you are expected to do more work in senior school the pressure is on to learn ,write ,and revise more , because many already struggle can become overbearing and stressful. Since we all have deficits within the Central nervous system the sensory overload can be seen in anxiety and panic attacks in many cases.
He had pretty severe Dyslexia, he was told he had Dyspraxia most likely too but only dx with the Dyslexia, his Dyspraxia was so mild compared to the Dyslexia he wouldn't need help with it. He struggled with driving too and fiddly things like buttons but on the whole was much more graceful than me. 
Sorry I just wrote essay for you all!! 
xx
I want him to flourish at school. Within the next 2 years he will start secondary school & I would like him to attend a main stream school rather than a school for special needs. The local school has an excellent special needs department I feel he will be a small fish in a big pond & swim through his school life feeling happy & 'normal' There is nothing worse than feeling like you stand out in a crowd as somebody weird & stupid. Which is how I felt at school. He attends 3 different school clubs,Cubs & a Youth Club but I will look into a drama class too. There's a club at school called Rainbow Road which he loves. It focuses on hand writing,art & movement especially designed for children like Dempsey & they make it fun. The clever children wish they could go too so he gets his chance to be a little smug for a change 
Thank you again for helping me see this from your prospective as it has been a massive insight as to how he's maybe feeling xx