Dyspraxic Adults

I learned to tie laces ages 9, after much frustrating not being able to do it, one day it just clicked. However, I'm still slow, so I waer slip-on, flat soled shoes from a cheapo shop (I always need to get them replaced every 6-odd months as the heel wears away and I go over my ankle)

Johanna, you are lucky! when I wear shoes! esp. Clarks, then I find the heels wear away within 6-12 weeks.

so I mainly wear Dr. Martins all the time now, as I found that the heels wear down a lot slower!

the last pair of boots cost 3-4 times the amount, and I remember saying to my parents, that they need to last me about 12 months or something, and they actually lasted me about 6 years.

so I don't think I will be wearing shoes again, apart from special occassions.

i learnt to tie my laces really late on. Spent most of primary school trying to learn, but never quite got the hang of it. My dad made me a block to learn on and everything, but i still didnt get it.

I still get mocked occasionaly by my sisters for the fact that i started secondary school with velcro on my shoes because i still couldn't do laces. I kept about a million knots on my p.e trainers so the laces wouldnt come undone and i could just slip them on. lol.

I did however learn before i left secondary. I live in flat slip-on trainers now. And can ruin a pair in a matter of weeks. and i don't actually remember ever wearing heels! The only time i leave my trainers is to wear walking shoes, wet shoes, on flat black shoes for work. I could quite happily only ever wear trainers forever!

My fault is that I have, at any one time, a pair of "favourite" shoes that I'll wear for everything from uni to walking to driving to lawn mowing to farming, they tend to get worn out rather quickly...

i learnt when i was about 12, too latw to get one of those "i can tie my shoes" stickers they gave you in infants "sob"

I was about ten or eleven when I finally learnt. I still wear lace-ups now, because I have quite narrow feet, and need to be firmly strapped in to footwear to stop it flapping around on me. I have a nice chunky pair of kick-arse DMs that I bought in TK Maxx about 4 years ago for £25, still going strong - I wear them all winter - nice and sturdy for my tootsies (and I have a spare pair I got at the same time for when this pair finally kick the dust!). The fact that they have about a dozen eyelets, means they take a while to lace, but once they're done up and double knotted I'm fine!

Well, at 21 years of age, I still cant tie shoe laces!!!! I find that im too thumby for want of a better phrase.

Kirsty

I remember I was in the 5th grade, (US) and I was taking a test, I saw my laces where undone, and bent down to tie them, and for the first time I did, needless to say I was verry exited

used to perma-tied them with a couple knots, I still do, I have to say even my black & white wig tips are permanently tied,

My first headmistress used to give me extra lessons in tying shoe laces! I just stick to velcro these days makes life a lot easier

Tying has always been one of my biggest problems and I still to this day cannot tying anything whether it be shoe laces, aprons, black bags etc, I just can't do them. Trust me, I have practiced for hours but no use, the motion is just not there. But do I let it stop me? No, I just grab a pair of velcro shoes and ask people kindly if I need anything tying.

My laces are always coming undone no matter how many times I tie them up again! I'm used to it now!
Aprons and black bags are also tricky but with black bags then it helps if you buy ones that have handels.

Remus wrote:Tying has always been one of my biggest problems and I still to this day cannot tying anything whether it be shoe laces, aprons, black bags etc, I just can't do them. Trust me, I have practiced for hours but no use, the motion is just not there. But do I let it stop me? No, I just grab a pair of velcro shoes and ask people kindly if I need anything tying.

I'm 21 and I still can't tie laces in the normal way either but when I was about 10 my friend's dad showed me a different way that I can actually manage (just about); you make a loop with each lace and then just tie the loops together - much simpler. I always double knot them cos they come undone pretty quick otherwise, and my bows don't look as pretty as the traditional way but it works for me.

I went out my way to learn how to tie my laces when I was about 5 years old. But I never tie them strong enough as they always un do themselves somehow. If you ask someone else to do it, they tie them so tight you can feel your circulation cutting off!
I tend to stick to nonlacy shoes...or ones with buckles because I get in a right kafuffle with them!

this used to drive me mad - to the point i took my trainers at work home because i was fed up of hearing tie your laces you'll fall every two minuites ! but you can get curly laces they do them in plain black and you dont have to tie them a friend got me a pair and there quite good !

I was just about to mention that i'm getting rather annoyed about this 'all people with dyspracsia cant tie laces' thing.

I didn't think i had a problem tying laces until i thought about it. i have noticed, thinking about it, that i always either sit on something or lift my foot up and rest it higher on something when i am tying my laces. It's possible that this is a way i learnt to cope with giving whichever part/s of my brain enough processing time in order to tie my laces. What i mean is, if i try to bend down and tie my laces whilst standing up, i invariably lose my balance because some parts of my brain which are needed to control my balance are also needed to assess what i am looking at (my laces) and the motability of my hands. it's the three things problem again i think. Left lace, Left hand, Left balance - one will get muddled (and obviously the same for Right lace, Right hand, Right balance).

But, i've also learnt how to tie my laces without looking at them, which helps as i don't have to think about what i'm looking at as well as where both my hands/legs/feet and laces are.

*quick edit.. yeah i have the same problem with them coming undone, and other people tying them too tight, but i've found that twisting them before tying the lace (if they're the flat type lace) and in both cases tying the loops together in another knot above the usual lace knot helps them to stay done up a while longer.