Dyspraxic Adults

Hi

I was diagnosed with Predominantly Inattentive ADHD a few years ago, in my early 20s. That's undoubtedly my biggest problem, but it's well-managed with the medication which has literally saved my life. I'm now doing well, in my final year of university, with a hopefully a career in IT ahead of me. Although I also have a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome (mild, a bit atypical, and after much difficulty at school, I can pass for normal at this stage in my life), I had concluded that ADHD was the cause of my most serious problems in adulthood and decided I didn't really care if I had anything else as it must be mild anyway.

But now I'm looking again at the role dyspraxia might have played in my past and some of the concerns I still have for the future. There are certain difficulties I have that continue to cause anxiety and shame at times, which threaten to become serious problems again when circumstances again demand certain skills. I can't confidently put them down to dyspraxia at the moment, but they seem more likely to be covered by that term than any other I know of. I've been reading some threads here to try to find out if these problems are typical of people with dyspraxia.

I would love to be able to offer an explanation for certain difficulties when I'm feeling embarrassed or afraid I might get a bad reputation at work for being stupid if people don't understand. E.g. asking the male friend you're teaching to swim to tie up your bikini as you're terrified it'll come loose if you do it yourself... can be necessary but easily misinterpreted as teasing. Actually that's an example that does sound more clearly like dyspraxia, but there are other things I'm less sure of.

My username is a reference both to the cluttered mind and workspace associated with ADHD, and the fact that as far as I can tell, I have a speech fluency disorder called cluttering. I don't know if that is common with dyspraxia, as most clutterers don't even appreciate how unusually they speak, and it's often confused with stuttering, so it could be very common part of dyspraxia and the link wouldn't be researched or common knowledge yet. At first I assumed everyone with ADHD must clutter at least a bit but that's apparently not true.

Thanks for reading!

Hello, welcome to the forum.

There's lots of overlapping aspects of neurological conditions, hence why it's quite common to have dual diagnosis. It can often be tricky pin-pointing which difficulty belongs to which condition.

Here's a useful diagram to show the conditions interact with each other.

http://www.neuroknowhow.com/wp-content/ ... lide05.jpg

Thanks Jim. Good diagram. Having had mental illnesses as well, sometimes I feel I don't want anymore diagnoses; one or two is a relief but more seems depressing, haha. At least I can look at this chart and say I "only" have half of them - the others I have no hint of and am even the opposite of two of them, whereas the average person does at least have a hint. A "person of extremes" might be the best way to describe me, when pressed for time.

The trick is not to think of it as seperate diagnoses but a spectrum of neuro diversity.

Don't let a diagnosis define you.

And remember, just because you maybe don't have a listed symptom of one particular condition doesn't nessecarily mean that you don't have it.

The list of associated symptoms for Dyspraxia is longer than my legs.. So it's inevitable that no one person would demonstrate every single symptom. But that in no way rules you out from that condition. Afterall we all have different combinations of the symptoms.

Welcome to the forum, Cluttered.


That's an interesting diagram, Jim. It is useful having the overlapping difficulties put together like that.

Interesting post.... thanks for your openness.

I do agree think we have to be wary of labels, and we can become preoccupied about the diagnosis, so that even common foibles become part of our "condition", I am of an age where the first time dyspraxia was mentioned, (eight years ago and I am 54) I could only get a free diagnosis by continuing on a course I was not enjoying, and my doctors do not want to know, so I am only "self diagnosed".

On mental health, (not the same as learning difficulties) I realise that perhaps what happened to me when I was younger, and I was very ill on occasion, was related to the stress of what I was trying to achieve despite my challenges, even though at the time, I was unaware that some of my challenges, that had been issues since childhood, (poor handwriting, concentration, bad at sports and needlework, untidyness, poor short term memory) were possibly a diagnosable condition.

The particular label I got on mental health was certainly true at the time, but in my case the general assumption that it is a lifelong condition I proved to be wrong.

I have found overlapping symptoms, between dyspraxia and the other condition I was treated for, and this has been confusing for family later in life. Getting overwhelmed with "learning difficulties" from the spectrum described in the diagram Jim posted, certainly affects mental health, and being upset through circumstances or mood, can equally increase our patterns within the spectrum of learning difficulties.

What I found interesting about the diagram that Jim posted, was that there were symptoms I had assumed were dyspraxic that come under ADH, (concentration). So may be I am both!

Since I managed to get eight o levels, allbeit, with a good (state) education and strict parents, I have to recognise, that in the right circumstances, ie that I am motivated, interested and have adequate routine in my life, "where there is a will there is way" comes into play. I was more of a shy dreamer at school than disruptive, so much of my distraction, but not all, went unnoticed. Trying to train to be an architect in the days before CAD with very limited small motor control and spacial awareness was another story!

I am not trying to suggest that you should not try to be kind to yourself, and give yourself a break. If labels help us understand and help us find solutions, or just get less frustrated with ourselves... that is great, but try to be careful about trying to identify every foible. Been there done that!

Even people who appear to be very capable have well rounded abilities in most aspects of life and are devoid of any diagnosable conditions, have their foibles. Very few people find everything easy. I guess to an extent things are about living up to yours and others expectations. That can often create more problems than the challenges themselves.

PS Cluttered.... sometimes the most practical way of dealing with awkward situations like bikini ties, is to take the easy option. Invest in a comfortable swimsuit! If I choose to wear stuff with lots of tiny buttons, it has to be big enough to go over my head, or to get changed well before I need to leave home and wear a pinafore for any messy jobs, again, with a loose enough ties to get it over my head in a hurry!