Living with dyspraxia

[Michh]

Hi all,

Just venting really.

Work is a big hassle, I am in a career which requires me to deal with multiple tasks at once, and try as I might to plan out when projects start, finish, and the milestones within it, I can’t help feeling stressed all the time. Other than writing out to do lists and gantt charts, how does everyone else deal with this?

At home is an issue as well. I constantly feel like I am constantly on edge, worrying I have forgotten something. For example, if I forget to do something, or get the order wrong, which is causing friction with my wife. As a father, it worries me, as with a baby, there are lots of things to remember, a constant stream of teeth cleaning, pottying, changing nappies, packing equipment, food, etc. It's tough for most people, but especially so for me. I am really worried about letting my daughter down.

Just generally, throughout my life I have struggled to really bond with people, in relationships and with my parents. I have had issues with depression from a young age. I have bee on anti-depressents. Essentially, I am struggling with all the relationships in my life, my partner, my parents, my sister has cut off from me completely.

I have social anxiety, which means that I get really stressed at the thought of meeting people, and afterwards worrying I have said something incorrect. Although, when I am actually there, I am fine. Probably because I am focussing on what to say, rather than worrying about it.

Concentration is a big problem for me, with some pieces of work I am fine. But when asked to so a large task, like an essay in work, I really struggle to stay focussed. I have had this issue all the way through my life, I always used to score higher on tests than coursework.

My short term memory is terrible. I feel that it looks like I am not listening, or that I am even more disorganised. But in reality, it’s just that I really struggle to follow a conversation with a lot of instructions or tasks in it, and often cannot write notes fast enough, or remember the points around the notes.

I also really struggle with grasping ideas, so when something complex is explained to me, I really struggle to follow, without physically writing down who it will look when finished, for example, writing the titles in an essay, or drawing up a table with the colomn and row titles filled out.

Any similar experiences or advice would be useful.

[Tom fod]

Hi Michh and welcome,

Firstly apologies for not responding sooner, I\ve been a bit under the weather,
It's good to vent.

I know what you mean about having multiple spinning plates and the stressfulness of trying to at least appear on top of everything.

I can't advise on being a father, but can't imagine you aren't always trying to do the best you can and if people like your sister can't see that, then that is sad.

I'm guessing you do something Project Management related and appreciate you might have to meet stakeholders, representatives from companies involved in helping to deliver the project etc? Are the company/org you work for aware of your dyspraxia/difficulties? Have you spoken to your management and/or do they have a welfare team you could speak to?

Creating a skeleton of subheadings and or column and row headings for tables sounds an eminently sensible strategy in when trying to break down and make sense of info. sometimes it takes longer but it needs to be correct and I can imagine that like myself, you're very conscientious and the idea of missing details keeps you awake, if your daughter doesn't already.

You're really not alone, see also http://www.dyspraxicadults.org.uk/forum ... f=9&t=6498