Just diagnosed with dysbraxia

[carolinem]

Hi,

I just found out yesterday that I have dysbraxia when I went to see an educational psychologist at university and it is a bit of a shock for me. She also told me that I am hypermobile, which I also didn't know I'm not even sure how from the tests she did with me she came to that conclusion as she said I scored average in most of them and really high in one where I was asked to explain pairs of word...

I'm really confused as I have a lot of the symptoms but then others I don't and how do I know that some things are not just part of my personality (which I always thought they were). Here is the things that I have always had problems with....

I am unorganised, always have been. I used to loose stuff all the time but i'm not that bad now, I'm always the last to pack up my things and I can never get the thoughts straight in my head so i'm always flipping from one thing to another and never know where to start with something which is always quite overwhelming. I'm always late, leave things to the last moment.. I find it hard to read instructions and have to read them a few times when everyone else has got them, I don't always pick things up straight away and I have bad concentration, my eyes hurt with bright lights and I can't concentrate, I do bash into things a lot and drop things but not excessively. My short term memory it bad, I have a bad memory in general and just thought I wasn't very smart. However I got good grades at school except maths and I have always done alright at work. I did found it hard to learn how to drive and can't but i'm fine now except parking! and I do get lost and loose my car in the car park.. I am scared of heights when I have to balance along a steep edge, I've always had quite low self-esteem and trouble sleeping, I sometimes struggle to find the right words or say the wrong word for something... I'm wondering if my back and knee problems are to do with my hypermobility... and my handstrings are really tight even though I've been going to pilates for a year and am flexible everywhere else.

Things that I don't have... I am find picking things up and getting dressed, talking (although i did see a speech therapist when i was younger), I have always had lots of friends. I have good rhythm when dancing but can't follow routines at all! I can ride a bike..

I was just wondering what people thought. Does it sound like I have dysbraxia? Sorry for such a long email. I haven't spoken to anyone else about this yet and I don't know what to say to my family.

Thanks
Caroline xx

[dragontail]

Caroline, so many of your issues--what you have and don't have--sound like mine. I identify as dyspraxic, along with ADD. I've had the ADD diagnosis since I was 19 (I'm now 37), but the word dyspraxia doesn't really seem to be used here in the US, at least not by professionals. I've been told, over the years, that I had mild cerebral palsy, that I didn't have cerebral palsy, that I had a nonverbal learning disability, and that there's nothing wrong with me at all, I'm just a little slow.

Scared of heights, especially on ledges... yep, that's me. Poor balance but able to ride a bike... again, me. I learned to ride a bike when I was around 7 or 8, and I don't remember much of that, but I can do it as well as anyone. Disorganized, losing things, poor concentration, again, yes... but those are also ADD traits, and since I've had the ADD diagnosis for so long, I chalk it up to that.

I don't have problems with picking up objects either, or getting dressed. I can even do some things many dyspraxics on here find impossible, with no trouble: wrap a present, make a bed, cook. I can't sew, though. As for making friends, it's much easier as an adult than it was as a child and adolescent. Having an adult peer group makes all the difference: when you're an adult, your peers include not just people your age, but also people a good deal older or younger than you, and it's more about shared interests and lifestyles and ways of thinking than about being thrust together just because of your age.

What clued me in to dyspraxia was finding my old occupational therapy records. When I started kindergarten (age 5; I'm not sure what the UK equivalent is... infant school? Primary school?) my teacher noticed that I had (in the words of the records) a short attention span and difficulty with ball games, and referred me for testing. I ended up having occupational therapy for nine months. That probably wasn't as much as I needed in the long run, but I never got any real followup with that. No one suggested ADD at the time--but then, only hyperactive boys got diagnosed ADD in the early 80s, not kids with inwardly directed ADD like me, and usually not girls no matter what type of ADD they had.

Anyhow, the details in the therapy records suggested a sensory processing disorder. I started searching online for sensory processing disorder and couldn't relate to most of what I found. Adults who identify as having sensory processing disorder talk about not being able to stand noises and textures, things like that. But I did find that there's a subtype known as dyspraxia--and it fits me for the most part.

[joy]

Hi caroline

Not everyone with Dyspraxia will have all of the symptoms that are listed everyone is different.I also have back problems and really tight hamstrings.My son was told also that if he was involved with sports that he could end up with a very painful hamstring injury,although he is not to bad and works out in the gym several times a week to improve his core strength he has a much better tolerance than I have,it a good job that many Dyspraxics avoid sport because we say we are not very good.

[carolinem]

I guess everyone is different anyhow so have their own differences. Maybe I'll know more when my report comes through, which i think takes about 6 weeks! Maybe I will just have to accept the diagnosis. I'm in denial, lol! I think I just find it hard that the ed psyc could tell I had dysbraxia that easily... ?

That's interesting about your ADD being similar to dysbraxia dragontail. I definitely have problems concentrating!It must have been hard for you over the years to have different diagnoses... How has it affected you in your work/study? I'm trying to study midwifery and finding it so hard to get my work done...

Hi Joy, it's really strange for me to find out that my back problems and tight handstrings are all linked. ...I also go to the gym a lot but i can't do anything too strenuous. I normally do pilates and yoga which I found out helped my knees and back. I have good core strength now so hopefully that will help me in the future. Do you or your son get any help with being hyperflexible? Since I only found out yesterday I'm not sure what help is available. Do you know if there are any long term problems?

xx

[Tim G]

Hi Caroline, welcome to the forum

I know its surprising to think that it was quick for the phyc to give you a diagnosis, i am not a phyc but having met a quite a fue dyspraxic people its relatively easy to tell (especially if your dyspraxic as you can see similarities in the other person)
Its not good to deny it, that will only set you back but it seams like your not really doing it.

The reports are a very interesting read, I was diagnosed when I was 10 but only recently did I read and understand the reports and they make real sense and it shows what things are a issue or could be a issue / difficulty.

From reading your post it does sound like your dyspraxic - there are a lot of dyspraxic trates but there inset a exact dyspraxic mold - no 2 dyspraxic people are exactly alike or have the exact same dyspraxic difficulties.

[nickye]

Hi Caroline
Welcome to the forum - I hope you find this forum as helpful as I do. I think the others are right, no one has all the symptoms or issues. I can relate so much to being disorganised, and finding it difficult to know where to start. I'm always losing stuff (even though now I'm in my 40s - it drives my husband mad!) But since I've found out about dyspraxia (only recently - and don't have an official diagnosis) I've felt so much better about myself. Just to know I'm not alone!

I found it really hard to learn to ride a bike or swim, I did eventually, but I'm still not confident. It took me three year to learn to drive, but glad I kept on with it, although I do have difficulty joining slip roads and parking, and tend to avoid motorways!

Anyway it sounds like you're doing really well with the things you are doing. The hardest thing to me is not to get disheartened and I worry that people think I'm silly, I can tell they're impatient with me sometimes, but I'm realising I've just go to accept some of the things I can't do, and concentrate on things I can do well.

Good luck to everybody. Nicky

[joy]

Hi caroline
Is it hypermobility you have or Hypo mobility you have both me and my son have the latter.
Hypermobility is defined by connective tissue that is very slack and joints stretch farther than normal and usually you will be double jointed.
Hypo mobility is defined by very dense very stiff connective tissue. I am much more affected than my son he doesnt seem to be that bad.
People with DYspraxia often have Hypermobile joints. I have read that it also links with arthritis and studies have show that people who have hypermobile that around 67% also have panic attacks.

[dragontail]

I'm in denial, lol! I think I just find it hard that the ed psyc could tell I had dysbraxia that easily... ?

That's not denial, that's shock. If you were in denial, you wouldn't be visiting this forum. You would insist that you didn't have dyspraxia, no matter what, and you would keep away from anything that even hints that you do.

Maybe I will just have to accept the diagnosis.

Accept in what sense? Do you feel that it fits you? Do you feel the ed psych is wrong? Do you perhaps sense that s/he is getting some part of it wrong even if the overall picture seems somewhat right? Or is this question of "acceptance" more about getting over your shock and integrating it?

If it seems right to you once you've had a chance to integrate it, that right there is acceptance. If something the ed psych is telling you seems wrong, even if you can't put your finger on it, and even if other things they tell you seem right, then maybe there's some detail that is off. That wouldn't necessarily mean you don't have dyspraxia, just that there's something else that needs exploring.

That's interesting about your ADD being similar to dysbraxia dragontail. I definitely have problems concentrating!It must have been hard for you over the years to have different diagnoses... How has it affected you in your work/study? I'm trying to study midwifery and finding it so hard to get my work done...

Well, there's a reason why I'm 37 and don't have a career.

The only advice I can give regarding working and studying is actually pretty general. Put some effort into figuring out what in particular is hard for you when it comes to getting your work done. Perhaps what you'll think of first is the end result. Maybe, for instance, you often don't meet deadlines. In that case, when you miss a deadline, what's going on for you?

Maybe you have trouble concentrating when you try to study. What, then, might be causing your difficulty with concentration? Maybe you're sitting still too long (for you). Maybe you're in a physical position that doesn't work for you. Some people need to be sitting at desks. Others concentrate better on the floor. Maybe you simply can't take very long periods of studying and need to break it up more. Do you have any difficulties with reading and/or writing? If so, that's a big part of the picture.

Maybe you're in an environment that interferes with your ability to concentrate. Here are some things that do it for me: noise and visual distractions. I absolutely have to be in a very quiet environment, and without people walking around and doing things, to be able to concentrate. In my case, another interference is an allergic reaction. I'm allergic to chemical fragrances--ie perfume, cologne, scented personal care products, air fresheners. If any of those things are in my environment, where I can smell them, I get a reaction that includes an increasing inability to concentrate (and makes me quite ill on top of that).

Or maybe your problems are something I haven't mentioned here. That's why you should do some work with yourself, to figure out what it is for you.

Also consider why you're studying midwifery. Obviously, there's something to it that really floats your boat. If there weren't, you wouldn't have chosen that field. What in particular do you expect to like about being a midwife? How does it fit with who you are (with or without the dyspraxia)? And is any of what you want when you're a midwife present in your life, in any way, now, while you're studying? Does your program include any hands on experience, for instance?

I find that for me, it's not enough to have a goal--I have to have some elements of that goal already in my life to be able to focus on working toward it. I have an undergraduate degree that I got by attending alternative schools that de-emphasized the classroom and thoroughly emphasized hands-on experience. If I had not had that option (which is all too rare even in the States), I would not have gotten a degree at all. No matter what goals I might have had, I couldn't have gotten an education if it were delivered in a way that didn't work for me.