Dyspraxic Adults

I was 15 before i lost my stabilisers on my bike... i know it sounds stupid but i could never get the hang of it, but i learned to drive from 1st lesson to passing my test in 10 weeks.

Kirsty

I'm not driving yet, i master the art of holding a knife aswell as a fork a few months ago,

but I;m not to bad with talking, as long as the person Im talking to speaks clearly without any weird accent

I used to work with a lot of foreign people so accents dont bother me so much anymore, and my personal carer at college is from Nigeria. If people speak too many topics too quickly though I do get lost very easily.

Kirsty

was 15 before i lost my stabilisers on my bike... i know it sounds stupid but i could never get the hang of it, but i learned to drive from 1st lesson to passing my test in 10 weeks.

Kirsty

I'm desperately trying to learn to drive and have failed my test 4 times now in an automatic car as well!!!!! Reversing round a corner. Just can't get it. If you have any tips I'd be most grateful.

My cousin taught me to tie my shoe laces so that I wouldn't get into trouble at school. She taught me to cheat by tying 2 loops together but it worked. I can't ride a bike though.

Pussinboots

I learned to ride a bike at the age of 10. I'm still bad at tying my shoes. I started driving on time but it was very rough road (no pun intended) to get there. As far socialization I real haven't had much problem.

at 25, I am unable to ride a bike, let alone drive a car! I have tried, but after left and right got the better of me mid-roundabout and I was pretty dangerous, I haven't ried again...

i tend to be quite quick at picking up simple things and can do them for a couple of days then i totally forget how to do them it took me forever to learn how to tie my shoes. ive managed to learn how to drive but took me ages and i didnt pass untill my 4th test as for riding a bike i can just not well the last time i got on a bike i rode in to a lamp post and fell down in to a stream the we were riding along ive not tried against since but i still dont think ive really masterd the art of using cuttlelry properly apparetnly i eat like a left haned person tho im right handed and my knife always ends up side down some days its just embarasing

Ruth wrote: I have amarvelous hair dresser who has taken on board that I can't do complicated hair things. I have a very good hair cut that I can either blast or leave narural and it works! Hooray for clever hair dressers. I also recently bought some hair straigheners yo do my fringe and I've only burnt myself 4 times/

hey me too but unfortunatly i do have to strighten my hair most days as its way too curly which does invole me burning my self at least 3 times if not more esspecially if im tired in the morning or im just not in the mood to do it oh well what we do to look nice and feel a tiny bit better about our selves

Ruth wrote:I imagine myself holding a pen and I KNOW I writw withmy right hand so the hand I close to grip the imaginary pen is my right works every time./

Ruth, that's how I've always figured out my right from my left as well. :-)

I was the last in my class to learn to write my own name. Of course, it didn't help that at exactly the time that I was learning to write cursive I spent a year in an American school, followed by a few months in a British school, followed by a year in a French school -- all of which required different styles of writing. To be honest with you, to this day there are cursive letters that I wouldn't be able to begin to tell you how to write!

On the other hand, I did manage to learn how to play the drums. It took me about a week of dogged practice to get down a basic four beat, but once I convinced my hands and feet that, yes, I really did want them each to do something different from the others, it got progressively easier. I'll never be a John Bonham, but I'm pretty proud of myself anyway.

The learning curve for dyspraxics, I would say is definitely steeper.

In my case I tend not to retain information - and certainly not gained by inference or just exposure. I tend to need to be instructed in something, so I tend to asks lots of questions to satisfy my intellectual curiosity so I understand something before I can do it.

For instance I didn't understand clutch control on a car until I had it explained to me what the clutch DID.

--------------------------

Tips for reversing round a corner. Trying to articulate left and right in your hands, crossing over, while looking backwards AND operating pedals with your feet AT THE SAME TIME.

Yup, its not wonder us dyspraxics find this hard.

I asked my instructor to paste left and right on the steering wheel, so I had at least a passing idea of when I'd turned the wheel and hence the angle of the wheels.

Blind spot mirrors, so you can observe proximity to the kerb

and lots of practice.

I was always focused on being independent so I managed to some things easily while others I was slow at.

In School I was always good at maths but terrible in English and obsessed with Science. I learned to ride my bike without stabilizers at around 7 years old, tied my shoelaces at 6 years and learned to swim without assistance at 8 years.

I did take driving lessons but I'm no longer allowed to drive because I have a distance/speed perception problem so can't see fast objects coming towards me quick enough. I'll be taking the buses and trains instead .<

re: reversing around the corner, for this it is a lot easier if you take a deep breath!! an look on the bright side the examiner hasn't taken over the driving for you to get roughly 1/2 way through the test.

1 thing you can't fail on, is being stationary when the examiner says move off when ready/in your own time. unless still there for like 10 minutes

i found it best to have my left arm behind the passengers seat, it was how i learned, it allows you to turn your body more, and it turn bring the wheel up with my right arm, which i usually place in about a 5 o'clock position,

listen to what the instructor has taught you, and think back to what he would say

do the obs as usual, and just after checking the blind spot before turning check the passenger mirror to make sure it is time to turn,

then about 1/2 way around the corner check the passenger mirror again, then towards the end of the turn check the mirror, that there isn't like a very slight curve in the road that will send the back-end out when you finish turning.

the reason why to check 3 times minimum is it will tell you whether you are drifting away from or getting to close to the curb. the more you check the mirror the sooner you can correct the steering, but don't neglect the other obs at the appropriate times.

most of all imagine your driving instructor sat next to you telling you all of these things, and telling you what to do. and treat the driving test as a really good lesson. you can talk to yourself during the test, as it shows the examiner that you have observed what you been taught, and that you are thinking of whats around, and that you are aware of things, he can't fail you for talking to yourself, the only thing he can fail you on is getting angry at other drivers

check with the instructor if it is still legal to turn the wheel with one hand while reversing though if you are unsure