Dyspraxic Adults

This is just a hypothetical, but...

what stuff about dyspraxia in adulthood would you like to be researched??

I doubt there is too much that has been researched about dyspraxia in adults.

so why don't we make list some things that should be?...

I'd say early diagnosis for developmental dyspraxia.

and would say all of it, as ended up going out to the bus 10 minutes earlier than the timetable/bus driver said, only to see the bus going passed.

and wasn't going to pay £10 or £11 for a taxi, so ended up having to walk the 5 miles home, with a stinking dizzyness/violent headache spell, which still hasn't gone today.

(the dizzyness was happening before the drinking, and feels like I been doing plenty of )

Actually I'd like to see more research done on what's gong on in the brain of all us adult dyspraxics, as clearly our neurons still haven't quite 'grown up' with the rest of us. I've always been interested in neurology and I've come up with a fair few theories, none of which are currently backed by any evidence. I wanted to do neurology as an honours degree, too, just never got the grades I needed for it .

My wish-list is more along the lines of day to day practical things and knowledge of the disorder generally.

I think some general research about what percentage of adults with dyspraxia are preventing from carrying out certain tasks would be useful, as there still seems to be a great deal of uncertainty as to what does affect us that can with some confidence be attributed to dyspraxia. It could also be then used as a basis for governments to establish support relevant to the areas where dyspraxics commonly encounter real difficulties.

I also wouldn't mind a process for diagnosis that could be agreed upon across the health system - although this might prove difficult given the different ways dyspraxic can present itself.

I'd really like to know what sort of jobs would be suitable for dyspraxics. Of course we have individual differences of personality, but there are surely some similarities of ability, disability, that would make certain jobs and careers more suitable and successful options.

I agree with you Dan, and looking at the majority of the web-site, the main area that effects us all is the lack of hand eye co-ordination, as being the main subject.

as for jobs then I think it should become more public notice in the condition, and unless the hand-eye co-ordination is a major health and safety thing then more, eg. more hazardous jobs like driving, flying,

but more awareness in the condition, and helping those with the condition overcome things to do these type of jobs, after all we aren't all the same, just because a person says right you can use a pc, your job for the next 50 years is a computer call centre person!

I think that is why I am enjoying the driving lessons so much, is because it is a fact of knowing about the condition, and knowing I want to overcome it enough to get my cat. c lisense, after all I managed it once for a car lisense, so it isn't impossible to train the brain to overcome these problems, it just needs longer.

It would be interesting to see some research on some of the more social issues that commonly arise due to dyspraxia, as I feel people are even more unaware of these than the co-ordination problems. I suppose the co-ordination issues are more concrete.

I got a lot out of reading your responses. i was thinking about it to myself but was a bit stumped. it looks like we need stuff from functional imaging to cognitive issues to social issues and day-to-day life issues...

I guess it would be great to see some functinal imaging studies on dyspraxia. i doubt thats been done before. that would be very interesting to see what is going on in the brain while we do things that we find hard.

I think it would be nice to have some more reasearch on just day-to-day things like finding our way around or just meeting new people. I think it would be nice to have information on non-verbal communication skills too. I have trouble with that.

As someone who has dyscalculia along with dyspraxia, I would like more exposure to be given to that condition. Although there is recognition that dyspraxia exists alongside other learning problems, most of the books and websites around only talk about comordibity with dyslexia, autism or ADD, focusing on reading and writing, or social behaviour. They don't tend to talk about Maths/numeracy related problems. These problems really matter where things like managing finances are concerned.

As far as dyspraxia itself goes, I think a hugely neglected research area is its impact on romantic and sexual relationships. This is one aspect of life where coordination/spatial awareness problems can become an issue, even if they are quite mild and manageable in other day-to-day situations.

Finally, I read somewhere about a piece of research saying that ND people are more likely to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. I doubt the credibility of that, and I don't know what evidence it was based on, but I think it would be interesting to explore.

welcome to the forum raisin girl, hope you make yourself at home here, we are a friendly bunch of people!

Thank you Shadwell :-)

Welcome to the forum Raisin Girl. Perhaps you could introduce yourself properly on the Introductions section of the forum?

Thanks for making some interesting points. I must admit I hadn't heard of any relation between ND conditions and sexual orientation, but I suppose anything is possible. I do agree that relationships in general are an area badly catered for, but we do try to help each other on those matters here!

So again welcome and feel free to join in!

Hi Rasin Girl,

Welcome to the forum!

The effect of the diet, undiagnosed allergies and mineral metabolism on dyspraxia. I would say that, as I want to be a Dietician. Still, there is some research about it and I'd like to see more. It pretty much says the same as it does about all developmental disorders: optimal fatty acid balance, organic food and the elimination of allergens and artificial additives decrease the symptoms significantly, and that the massive increase in incidence in the UK and the high co-morbidity rates with mental illnesses and other DDs might be explained by negative dietary trends. I've done all that (apart from the allergens - just switched to organic kinds of them) and my memory and concentration (as well as mood) got a lot better. To an extent though, by the time you're an adult and perhaps by the time you're born, some damage is already done and permanent. My mum never eats oily fish or any other decent source of DHA omega 3, so I guess that had an effect while she was pregnant. She got post-natal depression after my younger sister was born, which to me confirms that her body was drained of DHA by the pregnancies. My sister shows no signs of dyspraxia but some of dyslexia, so I think genes dictate exactly how nutrition affects each of us.