Is it hard working with Dyspraxia ?

[TSDREX]

Hi everyone!

I never worked in my life always been in studying (i'm now on my second year at university) Don't really like Going But have to pay rent, I fear that if i worked in a shop / super market i'd make a massive embarrassment to myself especially if i worked on the Counter as i haven't done maths since i was 16 and i don't do the shopping ether So i'd suck and i can't really speak clearly. if i worked at the back of the shop or anything to do with lifting i won't be able to do it for long i've got really high metabolism and i'm really slim and always tend to be tired from not sleeping very well + im very clumsy.

What jobs do you guys have? and is it hard? I'd love to work in a office or on computers as it's only thing i'm ever good at. I can't work with other people as i get really nervous /scared and won't know what to do which causes me to panic if i worked on a PC it'd be better be in my own Zone but meh

Thx
Tom

[chchchcherrybomb]

Well I think it depends on how much experience you have with the job your in.
I find learning thing's incredibly difficult but once I have learnt the way I am able to do thing's comfortably however I do find it really difficult when I first start a job but that is also due to my anxieties too. Meeting new people, having a new routine etc. I do occasionally have to take days off work due to being 'ill' when I am just having a bad day.

[TSDREX]

Thanks for a reply back.
Yeah just like me going somewhere new for the first time gets me really panic or even before i leave the house for University etc i get really nervous / Scared and keep needing the toilet. I'll might try to be a freelancer (where you self work mainly on the internet and get paid from it). and yep if i hate certain day i won't go in or i go there and decide to go back home mainly if i make a embarrassment of myself on the bus as i get clumsly time to time

[Tom fod]

Hi everyone!

I never worked in my life always been in studying (i'm now on my second year at university) Don't really like Going But have to pay rent, I fear that if i worked in a shop / super market i'd make a massive embarrassment to myself especially if i worked on the Counter as i haven't done maths since i was 16 and i don't do the shopping ether So i'd suck and i can't really speak clearly. if i worked at the back of the shop or anything to do with lifting i won't be able to do it for long i've got really high metabolism and i'm really slim and always tend to be tired from not sleeping very well + im very clumsy.

What jobs do you guys have? and is it hard? I'd love to work in a office or on computers as it's only thing i'm ever good at. I can't work with other people as i get really nervous /scared and won't know what to do which causes me to panic if i worked on a PC it'd be better be in my own Zone but meh

Thx
Tom

and . .
Yeah just like me going somewhere new for the first time gets me really panic or even before i leave the house for University etc i get really nervous / Scared and keep needing the toilet. I'll might try to be a freelancer (where you self work mainly on the internet and get paid from it). and yep if i hate certain day i won't go in or i go there and decide to go back home mainly if i make a embarrassment of myself on the bus as i get clumsly time to time.

I appreciate where you're coming from as i have suffered worrying about what others think of me. Unfortunately some people are [insert appropriate descriptive words or BLEEP] and are just not bothering with. If they don't have time for you, then why bother having much time for them.

I'd strongly suggest that you speak to your GP or Student Support/Welfare as your nervousness is affecting your day to day life and it needn't do so.

Try to think more in terms of what you can or could do. You don't need a great deal of mathematical ability to work with tills as they do the maths for you. Having the ability to recognise when there may have be an error is useful though. Equally back room work like stock taking may not necessarily involve heavy lifting as there are trolleys etc to assist you. Employers don't want you claiming because you've done your back in and /or having to pay you sick pay while your off sick. Obviously you're not going to apply work as a hod carrier on a building site and I guess H&S make that role a bit of a rarity nowadays.

You'll have to interact with others in at least some aspects and you may have to work extra hard to earn respect, but it will be worth it. Be careful about online work, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is and you probably can't guarantee a stable income.

I work in an office, whilst a lot is responding to emails, I still have to speak to others in person and on the phone. I guess it depends a lot on who your 'customers' are but not everyone is rude or horrible, though you may have bad days from time to time. Everyone does.

Once I got my arm through the doors of a bus as driver was pulling off and had to pull it out sharply as he wasn't stopping to let me on. I also got off once before the driver had stopped and went down like a sack of the proverbial. The funny side was I had some plums in my bag off a neighbours tree and was able to say that I'd 'squashed my plums'. I should have tried that with Accidents Direct!

[DanTheOutlaw]

I've only ever worked in retail, I'd strongly advise you to avoid this work if you've got dyspraxia.

[Jim]

It would be very difficult to advise you of what work you should aim for or avoid. The truth is that (dyspraxia or no dyspraxia) we are still all individuals with different sets of skills and talents.

For instance, many dyspraxics would avoid my admin job, because it involves a lot of speaking on the phone, typing and multi tasking. My dyspraxia is definitely a pain in the proverbial, especially as the over sensory issues make it very stressful when we're busy, but otherwise my personal skill sets fit quite well.

You can only really find out what you can or can't do by actually doing it.

But beware, the vast majority of jobs will require good communication skills where you will have to interact with other people be that a boss, colleague or customer. There are really very few occupations of which require no interaction.

Shop work isn't really that difficult. It's mostly repetitive so it's relatively easy to learn, and as pointed out, the technology does the maths for you. I really wouldn't worry too much about being embarrassed with looking or feeling clumsy. You can't do an awful lot to change that.

At my local ASDA, there are some members of staff who are very obviously 'handicapped' in some way. But so what? They have jobs, they are carrying out good honest work and earning a living. Good for them.

I don't know these people, but I'm proud of them. And there are many people out there with far fewer handicaps doing things far less praise worthy.

[Philip]

I have only had data entry/admin positions jobs, so of course accurately is key. I don't mind the photocopying and filing documents but than again being accurate is important so other colleagues can find paperwork if needed and not to waste companies resources making mistakes with photocopying/printing documents. In all the jobs I have had never had to speak to a customer/client face to face, but still required to have a fairly level of communication with colleagues (so I don't appear to be rude, not part of the team) because issues may need to be sorted out.

There of course some jobs for me will be a no go area because of co-ordination like using sharp tools, knifes etc also because of another medicial condition my back/spine is slightly curve

I do tend to get stress, freeze up with telephone but I am trying to improve this weakness of mine, I cannot do anything about my speech about pronounce some words and my speech is not always clear, sometimes what I type does not always make sense but so far only had to sent one email for a company but this was just copy and paste what was needed to put in the email.

As Jim mention ASDA, I can think of another store in the city where I live a few staff do have disabilities who work very hard.

[Mr_Tom_one]

I think one thing that should help with any job is being a model employee in all the ways you can. Like be smart, turn up on time or a little early, don't go in with a hangover or skive off, be polite and friendly. I try to do these things as best I can so that my bosses know I've got a good attitude (hopefully). That way if I do make a stupid mistake at least people know it's a mistake, not general laziness or lack of interest in the job.

Also with any job there should be ways you can help yourself with little problems. Like when I worked in a cinema with two screens I found it really hard to keep track of the film times, so I just wrote them on the back of a travelcard and had it in my wallet ready for when people asked.

I'd think you could find computer based work through temp agencies. You could try temping with various work agencies to find an area that suits you, although you might end up doing some really boring jobs before you find the right one!

My advice from my own problems would be avoid waitering or busy cafe work, or really busy retail work or anything where you have to work very quickly with your hands.

[Willr0490]

Ultimately a lot depends on the work itself. However a lot does depend on the employee being good. So far in work I have tried to be a dead reliable employee at all times (for instance in my previous role I was never late for work), and also tried to be chatty and polite with all the customers of that business.

[addseo1118]

Nobody dies from hard work.

(Rich Rich and Rich)

[Tom fod]

I think care needs to be taken here to avoid implying that people are in anyway averse to hard work. We generally have to work much harder at many things.

We also need to take care that we are not hurting ourselves trying hard to do stuff that could be easily and sensibly delegated elsewhere. Yes of course there instances where it's a matter of gritting your teeth and getting on with it but employers have a duty of care and tasks and roles need to be kept in perspective.