I've noticed there seem to be at least a few other members on here from the good old US of A, so who are you and do you have any thoughts or feelins about being Dyspraxic across the sea.
How many of us are there?
How did you stumble on this website?
Do you have any thoughts or resourses to share?
Do you have an official diagnosis or a giant hodgepodge of then that easily add up to dyspraxia, or are you self-diagnosed entirely?
Do you want Dyspraxia/DCD to get more recognition in the US?
Should we have a get together on this side of the pond? (Any visiting UK folks invited) is such a thing even possible in a country this large?
What is unique about our experiance?
Feel free to add anything I've forgotten to mention
Michele (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
USA Member shoutout and resource sharing
Moderator: Moderator Team
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michele
- Getting settled in
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:03 am
- Location: Illinois, USA (UK heritage)
USA Member shoutout and resource sharing
"When none of the offfical paths lead you anywhere good there is a simple solution...forget about roads."
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girlygirl333
- Getting settled in
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:59 pm
- Location: California US
- Contact:
Re: USA Member shoutout and resource sharing
Hiya Michele (and dyspraxic adults everywhere),
I would love to see dyspraxia get more attention here. I am disheartened by the very little bit available, since it can make such a profound difference in the life of someone living undiagnosed with it.
I'm in California and I found this website by sheer luck. I was trying everything I could think of to find a support group and decided to search by looking up dyspraxia under "interests" on a social site. I found a very nice, helpful young woman that gave me the link *smile* I really had never even heard of dyspraxia other than as related to speech. I came across it in that regard while trying to figure out why I seem unable to have a single conversation where I don't mix up words, say something that sounds close to what I meant to say or say something that seems completely unrelated ..yet for whatever reason made sense to me. The thing that really started hitting me was that all of a sudden I started misspelling things. Spelling has always been one thing that I did well (punctuation, not so much) and now I misspell things, transpose letters (or even sounds) ..it was impossible for me not to notice this, I'm still not sure what caused this sudden "shift" with my spelling/memory..etc. There are other things that I will get to that have ...always ...been there.
My son was diagnosed recently with an autism disorder PDD-NOS, I've been researching my little butt off trying to find out what happened. I mean some things he's done for a while..but between 5 and 6 there were very noticeable changes. I guess things that are sensory sensitivity related never seemed "odd" to me like they would to most parents. This is of course because I can't have clocks/timers that 'tick' in my house (or in my presence period), I can't sleep if there is so much as a crumb of anything in my bed...even trapped under the sheet..it feels like something sharp poking me, etc. My perception of what "normal" is, is a little different than most. So, it wasn't until everyone started pointing out that my son's behaviors weren't "normal" that I started realizing... if he has some sort of autism disorder then what must I have???
Well let's see I've been diagnosed with medication resistant ultra rapid cycling bipolar disorder (after 15 yrs I'm starting to think the medication-resistant part might be a clue that we have been barking up the wrong tree)panic/anxiety disorder, ptsd, add, ocd (compulsive hoarding..though my compulsive hoarding is more a matter of buying things that i've forgotten that I already bought, buying things that i know that I already bought but can't remember where they are and/or buying something that seemed ultra important at the moment for whatever reason but then can not remember why I bought it..but can't find the receipt to return it...the hoarding part is more a matter of worrying that I will get rid of something that I really needed because it slipped my mind that there was ever an important reason I had it . Though I must say this is not a fear..this is a reality...it happens to me...ALL the time! It was labled as a MH issue because they feel it is an irrational belief...umm I'm thinking on this site you might believe me when I say ..no it really isn't. I can honestly say after one day browsing this site, I can probably find "dyspraxic" reasoning for nearly all of my plethora of diagnoses. Where were we...bipolar, panic/anxiety, add, ptsd, ocd oh yes I forgot borderline personality disorder...because of my inability to have lasting relationships...etc. I have been on SSDI for the past *gulp* 8 yrs because I couldn't hold a job or complete classes. (always late..even coming back from lunches/breaks,flighty/undependable ie: would forget important meetings/phone calls/etc, inconsistent work, ineffecient, I was always better at my job, more devoted, willing to do more...but it took me longer than everybody else to do even the most mundane tasks, couldn't ever keep track of what I learned or was supposed to be doing from one minute to the next) I was told this was all due to my "mental illness". It took me a while...I fought it..but when my whole world was caving in...I had no choice left...I bought it hook line and sinker. I'm a funny, cute, intelligent, mentally ill, extremely disorganized, clutz with extremely bad luck...that's pretty much what all of my labels have boiled me down to. I kid you not, people will say things like "I always believed there was no such thing as bad luck..we all make our own luck...that was until I met you" "You've got the worst luck of anyone I've ever known" "I'd never leave the house if I was you", "You live upstairs?? seriously??" etc.
Until about 2 days ago, I was convinced that I must have some undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder as well. Although that wouldn't explain my putting cereal in the fridge and milk in the cabinet, breaking my ankle by tripping on a pile of laundry in my hallway, why I took typing three times and failed it everytime, failed swimming lessons, had to take my driving tests written/behind the wheel 3 x each before passing..etc. It would take me a lifetime to list all of the things that suddenly make sense ...since learning the term developmental dyspraxia and what it means. Of course I have no formal diagnosis and since I'm on medicare (at the age of 36
) I may not be able to get one.
Oh, btw...I am incapable of summing things up. I probably should have started with that
~Niki
I would love to see dyspraxia get more attention here. I am disheartened by the very little bit available, since it can make such a profound difference in the life of someone living undiagnosed with it.
I'm in California and I found this website by sheer luck. I was trying everything I could think of to find a support group and decided to search by looking up dyspraxia under "interests" on a social site. I found a very nice, helpful young woman that gave me the link *smile* I really had never even heard of dyspraxia other than as related to speech. I came across it in that regard while trying to figure out why I seem unable to have a single conversation where I don't mix up words, say something that sounds close to what I meant to say or say something that seems completely unrelated ..yet for whatever reason made sense to me. The thing that really started hitting me was that all of a sudden I started misspelling things. Spelling has always been one thing that I did well (punctuation, not so much) and now I misspell things, transpose letters (or even sounds) ..it was impossible for me not to notice this, I'm still not sure what caused this sudden "shift" with my spelling/memory..etc. There are other things that I will get to that have ...always ...been there.
My son was diagnosed recently with an autism disorder PDD-NOS, I've been researching my little butt off trying to find out what happened. I mean some things he's done for a while..but between 5 and 6 there were very noticeable changes. I guess things that are sensory sensitivity related never seemed "odd" to me like they would to most parents. This is of course because I can't have clocks/timers that 'tick' in my house (or in my presence period), I can't sleep if there is so much as a crumb of anything in my bed...even trapped under the sheet..it feels like something sharp poking me, etc. My perception of what "normal" is, is a little different than most. So, it wasn't until everyone started pointing out that my son's behaviors weren't "normal" that I started realizing... if he has some sort of autism disorder then what must I have???
Well let's see I've been diagnosed with medication resistant ultra rapid cycling bipolar disorder (after 15 yrs I'm starting to think the medication-resistant part might be a clue that we have been barking up the wrong tree)panic/anxiety disorder, ptsd, add, ocd (compulsive hoarding..though my compulsive hoarding is more a matter of buying things that i've forgotten that I already bought, buying things that i know that I already bought but can't remember where they are and/or buying something that seemed ultra important at the moment for whatever reason but then can not remember why I bought it..but can't find the receipt to return it...the hoarding part is more a matter of worrying that I will get rid of something that I really needed because it slipped my mind that there was ever an important reason I had it . Though I must say this is not a fear..this is a reality...it happens to me...ALL the time! It was labled as a MH issue because they feel it is an irrational belief...umm I'm thinking on this site you might believe me when I say ..no it really isn't. I can honestly say after one day browsing this site, I can probably find "dyspraxic" reasoning for nearly all of my plethora of diagnoses. Where were we...bipolar, panic/anxiety, add, ptsd, ocd oh yes I forgot borderline personality disorder...because of my inability to have lasting relationships...etc. I have been on SSDI for the past *gulp* 8 yrs because I couldn't hold a job or complete classes. (always late..even coming back from lunches/breaks,flighty/undependable ie: would forget important meetings/phone calls/etc, inconsistent work, ineffecient, I was always better at my job, more devoted, willing to do more...but it took me longer than everybody else to do even the most mundane tasks, couldn't ever keep track of what I learned or was supposed to be doing from one minute to the next) I was told this was all due to my "mental illness". It took me a while...I fought it..but when my whole world was caving in...I had no choice left...I bought it hook line and sinker. I'm a funny, cute, intelligent, mentally ill, extremely disorganized, clutz with extremely bad luck...that's pretty much what all of my labels have boiled me down to. I kid you not, people will say things like "I always believed there was no such thing as bad luck..we all make our own luck...that was until I met you" "You've got the worst luck of anyone I've ever known" "I'd never leave the house if I was you", "You live upstairs?? seriously??" etc.
Until about 2 days ago, I was convinced that I must have some undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder as well. Although that wouldn't explain my putting cereal in the fridge and milk in the cabinet, breaking my ankle by tripping on a pile of laundry in my hallway, why I took typing three times and failed it everytime, failed swimming lessons, had to take my driving tests written/behind the wheel 3 x each before passing..etc. It would take me a lifetime to list all of the things that suddenly make sense ...since learning the term developmental dyspraxia and what it means. Of course I have no formal diagnosis and since I'm on medicare (at the age of 36
) I may not be able to get one. Oh, btw...I am incapable of summing things up. I probably should have started with that
~Niki
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The Lurker
- Power poster
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:57 pm
- Location: Scotland
Re: USA Member shoutout and resource sharing
Welcome girlygirl333 
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girlygirl333
- Getting settled in
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:59 pm
- Location: California US
- Contact:
Re: USA Member shoutout and resource sharing
Thanks *smile*The Lurker wrote:Welcome girlygirl333