Hi and welcome to the Forumjosephus14 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 22, 2024 2:51 pm I am 72 years old and retired. It only began to dawn on me about 5 years ago that I had dyspraxia. The symptoms that were most noticeable on the surface was my lifelong struggle with left and right and my clumsiness with tying my shoes. When someone was giving me directions, they insisted on saying turn right or left, which left me scrambling in my brain to remember which way right or left was. I would quickly try to reason it out but would sometimes guess wrong. I can tie my shoes, but with a method that looks ridiculous to most people. Mainly my children. When at work I would often be asked to tie someone's apron. I would in my clumsy way. I'd usually see them retying it later on.
When I began to read about dyspraxia, suddenly a whole laundry list of things that I had problems with throughout my life began to make sense. Potty training was a struggle. Running was impossible. I did a thudding trot which resulted in my being famous in the 1st grade as the slowest runner ever. Swimming was out too. My interest in sports was low simply because I sucked at it. Yeah, I was that guy who was picked last when choosing up teams. I gave up trying, at least when I had a choice. Gym teachers were perplexed. Looking back, I know that I should have tried exercising more on my own. Doing some things that I could do. Lifting weights. Taking fast walks. But when I was young, there wasn't as many resources to help me get on track with those things. Luckily, I learned to ride a bike pretty well. That gave me some exercise. Killer thighs, but the rest of me didn't match.
So, stemming from that my self-esteem was super low. Social anxiety was epic. As I've aged, I've learned to cope. Some medications have helped me with a good bit of it. The emotional scars are still there though.
The emotional impact of living with dyspraxia too often doesn't get the attention it merits. The whole you just need to try harder can do a lot of damage.