Dyspraxic Adults

This idea was inspired by Wayward who has kindly given me permission to refloat this previously abandoned topic. I do appreciate that this forum is often the first port of call for those of us who have fallen foul of our employers, who themselves are struggling to understand how to get the best out of us as reliable and hard working employees.

So if you have any examples where an employer has leant forwards to help you develop your role and enjoy your work, or ideas and examples of reasonable adjustments or novel solutions introduced and how you've benefited it would be nice to hear about them.

Please do think carefully about whether or not you wish to outright name or otherwise identify yourself or your employer by details of location, nature of business etc.

Obviously if you do wish to post links to articles you have seen in the press/media about positive examples, that too would be welcome. Obviously do please consider the above.

Thanks for bringing up an excellent topic. Unfortunately, I don't have any positive stories to tell.

There is a lot of general talk about how adjustments should be made by employers for people with learning difficulties. But there is so little out there with respect to practical examples that employers could put into practice.

I think it's the problem that employers feel they they are having to 'make allowances' and equally that we are not keen to accept allowances being made for use, especially when we worry that our colleagues will look down on us because of these.

By the very nature of dyspraxia it's not easy for us to know what we need, much less, how to ask for it. To get the best, employers need to look more at how they can harness our strengths, rather than try to make us work to our weaknesses. We may be slower but we are are not unintelligent. We need to be challenged and feel valued like anybody else.

Yes, we may have spiky profiles, where we're very good at some tasks, but no good at others. It's a managers responsibility to make the best use of the people in her or his team, and in terms of determination, conscientiousness, effort and commitment we can really shine.

You've raised so many good points in your last post that it's making my head hurt (in a good way!)

This is a difficult yet important topic that could be the inspiration for a phd.

Anyway, let's hope someone has some good stories to tell regarding this subject.

It's a good post, but I don't see you getting many replies here, although in many ways you *should*.

I believe that with the talent profile of dyspraxia and the way this alternative brain wiring is categorised by what we can't do so well (as opposed to a more accurate, comprehensive definition), many people do not attribute any talents to dyspraxia.

Therefore we see our successes as coming from ourselves independent of dyspraxia, while our challenges come directly from dyspraxia.

The more research I do into neuro-diversity (dyspraxia, dyslexia, etc), the more I see and hear it as being expressed as different facets of the same root cause. "Co-morbidity " is more than 50% (i.e. if you have one, you are most likely to have at least one other).

I think currently that it is about finding a role that plays to your strengths. Not so easy to put into practise. Less than 1% of ND people are corporate managers, but we are vastly overrepresented in entrepreneurial activities, acting and politics. 1% of us do Law or English in University, but 16% of us do Engineering or Nursing.

So, I guess, unless you are driven to be a corporate manager (good luck with that) or a lawyer, we should go where our talents give us an advantage - big picture stuff, new ideas stuff, making new connections...

Here is a positive work story:

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/new ... 462026.ece

Good luck!

Hi Rohan
Thanks for posting the link. I was aware that this might thread might not get (m)any responses and see it as a long term thread that people who find themselves here in future might read and contribute to in months or years to come. It's currently more a theoretical debate/discussion about why we haven't had or might not get a great number of examples, but it may evolve.

I've often pondered the because of/in spite of conundrum and understand why people want to keep dyspraxia a closely guarded secret, albeit one that likes to remind oneself/announce to others that it's still there at the most inopportune of moments. Equally we don't want to be defined by a label and what other peoples opinions of what we can or cannot do. We're all individuals and don't necessarily want to bare our souls/open up about the things that we're not great at for fear that we may leave ourselves open to others' negativity or misunderstanding.

There are a couple of threads in which people have explored similar ideas around diverse talents/strenghs and qualities.
http://www.dyspraxicadults.org.uk/forum ... 746#p24746
http://www.dyspraxicadults.org.uk/forum ... f=9&t=3238

Comorbidity; Not my favourite word. Whilst it's a fact of life, it just reminds me of all that is derogatory and judgemental and I do try not to dwell on things if I can avoid it, not always easy.

On a lighter note I remember the opening credits of an episode of American Dad, where the headline on the newspaper that lands on his driveway is Optimist drowns in half full bath!

Hi guys. Sorry I'm late to the party - I'd forgotten about the thread I started (and deleted) which Tom mentions in the OP.

I had a very negative experience with an employer in the past which involved me being forced to resign due to my difficulties relating to dyspraxia...so when I chose to disclose my dyspraxia to my current employers it was a big deal. I had some help from Pluss who some of you may have heard of (I think they mostly operate in the southwest) who liased with my employer and we had a meeting where my dyspraxia was explained a bit more to my boss (I got an assessment from the jobcentre's work psychologist explaining dyspraxia)

We agreed on two reasonable adjustments for me:
1. I am expected to serve maximum 2 people at once (because of the strain on my short term memory and the effect multitasking has on my slower processing speeds)
2. I have a slightly larger work area which is a fixed space (unlike the others who change areas frequently) so that I don't have to worry about remembering where I am, it's slightly removed from the others so I have more head-space and being a tad bigger makes it more manageable for me.

Two fairly simple to implement adjustments but they have been a big help to me.
The most helpful thing is that I've been met with a kind attitude from the others, and over time they've seen that I can do my job well and so don't talk down to me either. Having said that I did experience some bad attitude from one colleague (thankfully no longer with the company) but mostly asking for adjustments went well

I do worry that in a new job things might not go so well, and I sometimes feel I'm holding myself back because of my difficulties.

I'm especially interested to hear from anyone who's managed to make office work feasible for them. How do you cope on the phone when there's background chatter, how do you manage your time, that sort of thing?
There's got to be someone out there who's figured out some ways around the problems...

On the other side...what reasonable adjustments do you think employers *should* offer to people like us?

Rohan, your comments on 'co-morbidity' (sorry Tom!) sound right to me. I tend to think that neurodiversity is a developmental glitch, though I suppose the positive way of describing it would be 'difference'
With neurodiversity I tend to see it all as being to do with processing - the senses, memories, physical commands, language, social interaction. But I'm straying off topic there, sorry!

Hi guys. Sorry I'm late to the party - I'd forgotten about the thread I started (and deleted) which Tom mentions in the OP.

I had a very negative experience with an employer in the past which involved me being forced to resign due to my difficulties relating to dyspraxia...so when I chose to disclose my dyspraxia to my current employers it was a big deal. I had some help from Pluss who some of you may have heard of (I think they mostly operate in the southwest) who liased with my employer and we had a meeting where my dyspraxia was explained a bit more to my boss (I got an assessment from the jobcentre's work psychologist explaining dyspraxia)

We agreed on two reasonable adjustments for me:
1. I am expected to serve maximum 2 people at once (because of the strain on my short term memory and the effect multitasking has on my slower processing speeds)
2. I have a slightly larger work area which is a fixed space (unlike the others who change areas frequently) so that I don't have to worry about remembering where I am, it's slightly removed from the others so I have more head-space and being a tad bigger makes it more manageable for me.

Two fairly simple to implement adjustments but they have been a big help to me.
The most helpful thing is that I've been met with a kind attitude from the others, and over time they've seen that I can do my job well and so don't talk down to me either. Having said that I did experience some bad attitude from one colleague (thankfully no longer with the company) but mostly asking for adjustments went well

I do worry that in a new job things might not go so well, and I sometimes feel I'm holding myself back because of my difficulties.

I'm especially interested to hear from anyone who's managed to make office work feasible for them. How do you cope on the phone when there's background chatter, how do you manage your time, that sort of thing?
There's got to be someone out there who's figured out some ways around the problems...

On the other side...what reasonable adjustments do you think employers *should* offer to people like us?

Rohan, your comments on 'co-morbidity' (sorry Tom!) sound right to me. I tend to think that neurodiversity is a developmental glitch, though I suppose the positive way of describing it would be 'difference'
With neurodiversity I tend to see it all as being to do with processing - the senses, memories, physical commands, language, social interaction. But I'm straying off topic there, sorry!

Wayward wrote:I'm especially interested to hear from anyone who's managed to make office work feasible for them. How do you cope on the phone when there's background chatter, how do you manage your time, that sort of thing?

There's got to be someone out there who's figured out some ways around the problems...

I recently gained a full time office job, I've always felt that I have a decent aptitude for office/admin work but this is my first actual role where it's been at the whole core of my job.

I'm working in an NHS call centre where we act as as 'single point of access' for several different nursing services and because of this it's like several different jobs in one. It's been a challenge to learn and for a period it was a bit stressful when the incumbent staff who were/are training me went a bit over the top in pushing me along and flagging up any areas of weakness.

It got to the point when they were pulling me up for things that weren't really problems and I began second guessing everything I did because I thought they were on my back and ready to rip me apart for making the slightest of mistakes.

But my manager had a word with them, and since then they've backed off a bit and let me get on with it, and this has enabled me to find my own feet. I've now been able to utilise my inherent skill set and apply it to the job, my perfomance is improving and I now feel almost fully integrated.

Apart from that, no real adjustment has been made, certainly nothing formally acknowledged or sanctioned anyway. But that's ok, my coping mechanisms are strong, and I've proved myself capable and effective, especially when there's less interference.

My manager has told me to 'challenge' my colleagues, because she has noticed that sometimes they smother us new staff, and forget that the experience and variety we bring to the team is also valuable, especially so if it gets the actual job done as well as the next person.

But they sometimes forget that I have more NHS experience than the rest of our office put together, there are three strong characters in the office who all like to get their point across.. and I struggle to get a word in edgeways much of time and find that I get spoken over too readily. However.. the more I settle in, the more assertive I'm able to get and bit by bit I'm beginning to show that when I know what I'm talking then I know what I'm talking about.

Coping with the noise can definitely be a issue for me.. The baulk of the job is phone based, and it does get very loud in the office at times, which can affect my concentration. However like my colleagues I've developed my own way of taking notes and clarifying information. I've learnt to not be afraid to ask someome to repeat something, just tell them the phone is bad (it usually is anyway), and am gradually building my assertiveness in dealing with panickity callers.

The over sensory issues, are at they worst when it's busiest and noisiest. This does affect my concentration, again effective note taking is key. The over sensory issue in unavoidable because there are times when there is no choice but to multi-task, on two, three, four things or more at once, especially when the phone lines are busy. We have to document the phone calls on a computer system, and we can't let the phone ring too long, so we often end up having several patient records open at once all with unfinished business, so hand writing the key info down on a note pad comes in very useful.

Since I stated this job, I've been surprised but pleased to discover that my memory skills have developed very well. I'm the kind of person who dreads chip n pin machines. But in my job I have dozens of important passwords and entry codes to remember. The most important ones I have covertly written down, but mostly I am committing them to memory without any real strategy in doing so. I guess repetition is key here.

However, I do struggle to put names to faces... I still struggle with the staff I'm less familiar with... But in my defence there are a lot of different nursing staff and teams within the organisation and the vast majority of them I don't actually see often.. So it's harder to recall their names. Luckily for me.. since I'm the only male in the office .. They pretty much all know who I am though

I have had all my jobs via employment agencies at different companies. In the last job I had the line manager(s) and team manager of the team I was working with (since we were all temporary agency staff) did not mind how many times we asked how to do something as it was important to get it right first time or unsure of the paperwork, instead of wasting money and time correcting it.

Some of the jobs I had did not go as planned, I got let go after three days from one company, I did not get any training on how to do the job even though it was typing I should have been shown what to do , I was completed annoyed by work colleagues when I asked a question, so the employment agency phoned me at home during evening meal.

I think sometimes it my speech what lets me down (communication) sometimes people do find it difficult to understand what I am saying (have also taken to writing things down, but sometimes colleagues cannot read my handwriting) I also get alien looks about mobile/cell phones, I got this think on my brain (not serious) but been advice by doctors or have choosen not to have one (answering/talking) text message buttons far to small.

I think it will be different if I could get employment with a company without an employment agency putting me there, but will be a stepping stone again if I got temporary employment through an employment agency.

Hi everyone,

I would say my positive story is retraining to do a hands on job. I am fortunate enough to have been blessed with decent genetics which means I'm tall, flexible, reasonably strong and naturally slim/fit by default.

I took a degree which was a bit short sighted (I studied music technology at university) which meant that not really having any connections when I graduated meant that a job in the industry was unlikely (one that I could even scrape a living from anyway).

This resulted in me just working in crap call centre/admin jobs that I would repeatedly get fired from as I simply didn't fit in and couldn't do the jobs properly. Not to mention I absolutely hate working in an office, it's not a natural thing for the human body to be sat down all day, staring at a backlit screen breathing the same circulated air - I find them the most oppressive places to work in the UK in my own experience.

What I ended up doing was retraining to become a tree surgeon. I've only been doing it for around four months now so I'm still a baby in the industries eyes, but it is much more suited to my physique and inability to keep still!

I always found I had too much energy to be sat down all day so in an office environment I was often getting into trouble for being out of my seat too much and going to the loo or making a brew; the stress that would build up in my legs was unbearable.

I am fortunate that the company I now work for has very relaxed managers and I fit in a lot better with my colleagues. People there are very welcoming and intelligent, everyone has a quite a 'hippy' yet professional attitude. The job is one of these zero hours contracts which means the hours are a bit more up and down resulting in slightly less money in earnings than previous employment but I was more than happy to take a pay cut to get out of the office!

In summary I finally feel like I've found a job that I can do well and one which I want to stick at, not just some dead-end, cooped up employment that you do to just get by.

Hurrah!

Hi Guys

I know this thread has been going for a while, but I wanted to add a positive story to the mix.

After a very shaky start to my post degree employment status, I have finally found a company that' gets me' so to speak, they have not only invested money in my development, but their person time to mentor me and grow me professionally.

Coming from working in pubs, which I was pretty good at but it is a hard industry to work in, I found moving into the 9-5 office world difficult. But after a lot of searching I stumbled across a great little company that is almost like the Cheers of the manufacturing world. It is like a little family, managers doors are always open, they understand they way I am but don't belittle me or reprimand. Instead they guide and develop.

They only downfall is I wonder how long I can stay here and still grow professionally, but the fear of starting again and not finding such a good company keeps me seeing the good in this place

That's great Cazza, I'm very glad for you and thanks for contributing to the thread.

I think a lot of us can feel held back by the fear of new employers being less understanding...this is something I'm struggling with at the moment.

Jim: Well done, I am delighted for you! You are finding your way in that office, and developing the assertiveness needed to bash those people who are throwing their weight around. As your boss said, stand up and be counted. You’re learning to accept the background phone chatter, and learning to get along with stressed callers. Good man!

I had a similar office job for 3 yrs, and was a walkover in meetings (often by loud Americans who loved the sound of their own voice even if they were saying nothing concrete), the job drove me mad, made me sick and I was eventually made redundant.

Griffaliff: Delighted for you too, I also dislike open plan offices, and you can’t beat being out in the fresh air.

Cazza81: Delighted you’re getting on well in your office job. It’s great that you’re seeing the good in your job, and long may it stay that way.

-ve experience from my last job of 3 yrs, but hopefully I can have a +ve story from my next job.

I was in an office job, a family run SME, who had the patience to groom me towards middle management from day one using ‘the carrot’ approach of people management. They were patient and understanding, but of course I never revealed any Dyspraxia to them.

A promotion came up in the 15 person firm 3 yrs later which I was given, but I was not organised enough to be able to handle it. The depression I suffered from meant I couldn’t concentrate, and I never really settled into the company anyway. It was evident that I had flat lined, and I got found out at that level. Got made redundant. Perhaps I can learn from it, and attack things more in my next job (get stuck in). At the end of the day, employers don’t want people to sit on the fence, they want them to progress and grow with the company.