I'm quite sure I belong here

[BipolarBear]

Hello, I'm a 21 year old Canadian male who has recently been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Social Phobia, and ADHD. I've always attributed my clumsiness to my anxiety, and thought that most of it had to with my mind being blank in social situations. But then I came across Dyspraxia symptoms online. Almost all of them apply to me. I have a problem walking in a straight line, and when I'm walking beside people while focused on something else, I tend to bump into them multiple times. I actually have to focus on walking to walk in a straight line. I hit walls everywhere I walk. The famous phrase in my old elementary school was, "Adam, the wall can hold itself up" because I would always lean against it without thinking.

I just do everything physical awkwardly. I lose my balance all the time, but don't usually fall because of it. My ex-girlfriend always said that I'm the most awkward kid she's ever met. And my "friends" who don't know me well tend to make fun of me and definitely think I'm an idiot. I'd like to think I'm fairly smart. I have a vast vocabulary for someone who is too lazy to ever read, I passed my grade 12 year with a 90 average without ever paying attention in class, and only studying a day or two before tests (Calculus and Sciences included, and my teachers in high school used to tell me I was gifted. Not to mention that I'm going to be going to McMaster or UofT next year for Life Sciences. But honestly, the idea of the clumsy wreck I appear as in other people's eyes completely negates these accomplishments in my head. I feel like the idiot people see me as, at least when I'm with them. I feel as if I need to prove to these people that I'm not a complete moron, but I'm always too anxious to talk much, and dropping 3 sets keys when trying to grab one off a hanger doesn't make me feel any better.

The only thing somewhat contradicting this is that I'm an avid guitarist, and I'm pretty damn good, and I'm also really good at video games and drawing. From what I understand, DCD/Dyspraxia strongly affects your hand-eye coordination, but I'm guessing that this could be overcome when you train yourself do to do certain things well? That, or I'm looking at the wrong reason for my extreme clumsiness.

P.S. I'm also a TERRIBLE dancer. I can't mimic people's movements very well, or follow instructions on how to move my body. Pretty much everyone who has tried to teach me how to dance has just gotten fed up. (I do have a sense of rhythm)

[BipolarBear]

I didn't really make my question clear (actually, I didn't state it at all). Does this sound like a case of Dyspraxia? Can you be good with certain activities involving hand-eye coordination while being a total klutz when it comes to everything else?

[Tom fod]

[quote="BipolarBear"] . . . . I've always attributed my clumsiness to my anxiety,

Hi Adam,

Welcome we're happy to see you here and hope you find it useful. Where in Canada are you from? (does U of T = Toronto?)

I guess you might equally ask is your anxiety due to your clumsiness? While we can't professionally or definitively say if you have dyspraxia/DCD or not here, I think it is definitely worth exploring investigating further. The condition in adulthood is unfortunately not as well understood but hopefully your, Doctor or college/university may be able to help you get an assessment to get you some support to enable you to realise your potential.

It's perfectly possible for you to be good at guitar. We're all different and are affected to different degrees and few of us fit the set idea of what we can or cannot do easily. I can't dance either. I've tried though to be honest I haven't the patience and you don't necessarily need to be if you're into Slayer 8-)

Ps. If you forget to add something to a posting you make, you can always use the edit option to include it (as I've done here)

[janetp]

Hi Adam, I can relate to what your saying, I cannot walk in a straight line, I bump into things, trip etc. , my friends call me Crash Bandicoot, I often hurt myself and others but.... I am not always clumsy, I am also told I am quite graceful and poised in my movements. I think this is because I am weary of my surrounds and always careful in my actions as objects I think are further away often jump out and hit me I consciously propel myself forward through my arms to maintain the forward motion. I know that sounds silly as most people just walk without thinking about it, if I don't watch carefully going up and down steps and tread the terrain carefully I come to grief. ( All part of the day no wonder we get tired).

[screengreen]

Hi there from professional studies of dyspraxia, you can have dyspraxia nd ne good at a familiar task because that task does not involve new movement, it may be if you were asked to play a different sort o guitar that may be more difficult... PS I consider myself dyspraxic and am completing post grad studies so that I can do a better assessment of folks with dyspraxia issues!