Very new to this!

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jpurbrick
New member - welcome them!
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:55 pm

Very new to this!

Post by jpurbrick »

Hi all,

Hope this post finds you well. About a month ago I was screened for dyslexia, which I highly suspected I had. What I didn't expect was to be diagnosed with both dyslexia and dyspraxia. This was a shock and since then, I have been googling dyspraxia relentlessly, trying to piece together which symptoms I presented throughout childhood / have now which could be put down to my dyspraxia. It feels a bit overwhelming; there's a lot of different symptoms for dyspraxia and it's hard to know which ones I have. It is also weird to be told there is an actual medical reason for a lot of my issues. I am about to go into my final year of a joint honours degree and although nothing has changed, I feel worried to start my fourth year with this diagnosis, does that make any sense?! I find comfort in the dyslexia diagnosis as I suspected it, but I don't know how to feel about the dyspraxia. Any words of wisdom on how to ace fourth year and embrace this new aspect of my life would be great :)

Thanks for reading!
JP
Tom fod
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Posts: 2947
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 9:05 pm
Location: SW UK

Re: Very new to this!

Post by Tom fod »

Hi JP

Glad you've found us.

Getting your head around Dyspraxia is not an easy feat and it takes time to processwhat the diagnosismeans for you personally. That it's not been picked up earlier is far from unusual and testament to your coping (and masking) ability.

Making sense of what the label means for you and and who, whether and how to inform others is challenging.

Try to consider the new knowledge as an explanation for why you've done things differently and why some things aren't theoretically as easy as you'd hope or think.

Thinking differently is laden with confusion and uncertainty and theoretically simple things can sometimes take you way longer than you'd want or hope especially on the kind of day when your brain and concentration seem to have decided to take the day off.

We're a very diverse lot so while some traits may be familiar, you won't tick all the boxes. We can sometimes feel completely the opposite to another person with the same condition as they've trodden a different path to our own.

You may feel like a bit of an imposter and undeserving of, or even beyond assistance.

Beware of sites like Medical News Today!

Remember the label does not need to define you or others' notion of what you can (or cannot) achieve.
Tom
Moderator/Administrator

With a foot full of bullets I tried to run faster but I just hobbled on to the next disaster.
(from Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Foot Full of Bullets)
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