Hello everyone
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 11:06 am
I'm a retired teacher now aged 82 and have only just realized what an effect my dyspraxia has had on my life. I think I always accepted that team games were a no go area and bike riding was just impossible as were any careers that involved manual dexterity. I would have loved to play a musical instrument to a reasonable standard, but, alas, Cello Grade One and Piano Grade Three were my peak. Fortunately when I wanted to do O Level (GCSE for those under 40!) Music my teacher suggested Singing and I got to Grade 8 and have done choral singing in a variety of choirs ever since.
When I started school we used dip pens - a real catastrophe for a clumsy left hander - I thank whatever gods there are that my senior school allowed the use of biros! I remain clumsy and prone to break things unless I concentrate, which is fine - except the ageing brain finds it harder to to keep focussed. I suppose this is how we cope, either by avoiding activities like team games, or finding a way round like singing for instrumental music, or by persevering as when I passed my driving test - on the fifth attempt. What has been more difficult to cope with has been a deep sense of physical incompetence that has fulled a lifelong tendency to bouts of pathological anxiety, although CBT, medication and meditation have proved very helpful. I look forward to reading others' life experiences - it's never too late for me to learn.
When I started school we used dip pens - a real catastrophe for a clumsy left hander - I thank whatever gods there are that my senior school allowed the use of biros! I remain clumsy and prone to break things unless I concentrate, which is fine - except the ageing brain finds it harder to to keep focussed. I suppose this is how we cope, either by avoiding activities like team games, or finding a way round like singing for instrumental music, or by persevering as when I passed my driving test - on the fifth attempt. What has been more difficult to cope with has been a deep sense of physical incompetence that has fulled a lifelong tendency to bouts of pathological anxiety, although CBT, medication and meditation have proved very helpful. I look forward to reading others' life experiences - it's never too late for me to learn.