Developmental Questionnaire.

Getting assessed for your dyspraxia, getting help, disability allowance etc.

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Lithium_joe
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Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

I was sent this questionnaire as preparation for the assessment for dyspraxia I have next week.

Since a fair amount of time is spent of these boards by new arrivals and old hands discussing that perennial question of 'Am I dyspraxic?' / What is dyspraxia? and oft followed by chants of 'I do that too' I thought I'd present this questionnaire here in it's blank form - so you can fill it in for yourselves.

I should probably add, this *is not* definitive, but it may be a good guide for reasonable indicators of dyspraxia.

Here it is:


Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy:



Complications at or after birth:

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking.

Infections

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips

Tying shoe laces, ties

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy

Holding pencil with conventional grip

Learning to write letters and numbers

Differentiating left and right

Colliding with people and objects

Hopping, skipping, jumping

Using apparatus in P.E

Playing throw / catch

Keeping time to a musical beat

Managing Stairs and escaltors

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects

Liked / disliked fast rides

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom

Disliked waiting in line

Took longer to complete work

Upset by failure.



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises

Car sickness

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks.

Organising approach to tasks

Adapting to new or unexpected situations

Remembering information

Following instructions in the right order

Developing mature and efficient handwriting

Copying from blackboard

Completing work on time

Low self-esteem

Articulation deficits

Did you ever have a psychological assessment

Are there other members of your family with similar problems




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult

Posture sitting/ standing

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels

Time management or prioritising

Cluttered work / study area

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness

A serious injury including head inuries

Surgery

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy

Cerebral Palsy

Muscular dystrophy

Polio

Stroke

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression

Any other conditons / diagnosis

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia?

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome

Dyslexia

ADHD

ADD

Asperger’s syndrome

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder)

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities





LJ \:D/
Lithium_joe
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Post by Lithium_joe »

I just want to say, filling in this questionnaire has led to some interesting discoveries about My Life Thus Far. Stuff I'd forgotten about and stuff I never knew about coming up in discussion with my parents.

If I ever doubted I was dyspraxic before now, I think the weight of evidence is behind me. :-k
Lithium_joe
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Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK

Post by Lithium_joe »

All finished for this Friday's assessment. My replies have increased the page total to 15! D'y'think she'll mind? :lol:

Must learn brevity. :-#
sheppeyescapee
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by sheppeyescapee »

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:

Complications during Pregnancy: None as far as I'm aware apart from being born early.

Complications at or after birth: Don't think so.

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking. Had a problem crawling and walking. I learnt both backwards before learning to go forwards. Speech was advanced and was speaking in long sentences at the age of 14 months, although probably just repeating what I was hearing.

Infections: Don't think so.

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips: Big problems with small buttons and zips. Used to and still do get very frustrated about it.

Tying shoe laces, ties: Not so much a problem with ties but definitely with shoe laces, I can never get the tightness right so they are always coming undone, or I snap the laces.

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy: I can use scissors but right handed ones on my left hand. It gives me terribly wrist pain though. I went through a lot of anxiety due to drawing and having to stay within the lines in colouring.

Holding pencil with conventional grip: hahahahahaha! I'm a lefty and I told my pen really strangely according to the EP I saw last year.

Learning to write letters and numbers: No problems as far as I remember

Differentiating left and right: I'm ok unless put on the spot and know in my brain but will say the other out loud.

Colliding with people and objects: All the freaking time, it is like doorframes move in just for me. Open door, and still walk into the frame.

Hopping, skipping, jumping: Not too bad, fall over a lot.

Using apparatus in P.E: Fell off a lot but generally put down to clumsiness.

Playing throw / catch: By the time I have processed that the ball is coming towards me and the appropriate response is to put hands out, it has already hit me in the head.

Keeping time to a musical beat
: Not too bad.

Managing Stairs and escaltors: Hate escalators, stairs I manage to fall up and down. I also have a lot of joint pain walking up and down stairs.

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects: Not normally. I can be quite hyperfocused on one thing in fact to the point where I don't notice anything else. Shame it was never what I was supposed to be concentrating on.

Liked / disliked fast rides: Love fast rides! Feel the rush! Yeah!!

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom: Very much so. The slightest distraction and I'm gone, unless I'm deeply focussed on something.

Disliked waiting in line
: Hated waiting in line, especially for lunch. It made me anxious and aggressive. I always found a way that meant I was able to push in (with good reason) like being register moniter or prefect as they always went in first.

Took longer to complete work: Takes me a long time to complete work as I get really bad wrists when writing. I also am a perfectionist so can easily write and rewrite the same piece of work over and over.

Upset by failure.: Very. It takes a lot of work for me to get anything done so when I fail at something it made me really distressed.

As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle: Didn't learn until I was 10 and even then used to fall off a lot.

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises: Definitely. Falling down stairs or forgetting where my head was and hitting it on cupboard doors was common.

Car sickness
: Yes! Many times of being sick in the car going to grandparents house from London to Isle of Sheppey!!

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks.: I have to conciously think about everything new or unfamiliar. Analyse the way that things are supposed to be done and then try to do them. Although I have no awareness of where I am in relation to other things, so that can be fun!

Organising approach to tasks
: I have to be organised otherwise things don't get done. I have to know when everything is going to happen and at what time.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations: Absolutely awful! I have a need to know everything in advance, always have. My mum tells me that included having to know times of trains, what platform we needed to be on (this was at the beginning of the journey), extreme reactions to unknown situations or things not going as I was told they would.

Remembering information: Depends. I can hold a lot of really random information, to do with special interests but if it doesn't interest me then it won't stay in there.

Following instructions in the right order: No, I normally forget after the third instruction unless written down.

Developing mature and efficient handwriting: Teachers were always complaining that it was too small, too big, starts small and ends big, messy and so on.

Copying from blackboard: Painful but I could do it. The notes were a complete and utter unreadable mess though.

Completing work on time: Yes I could complete work on time and almost always made sure it was in on time. It always caused a lot of stress but still managed somehow.

Low self-esteem: Well if you had someone telling you that you were stupid and a useless waste of space, you would have a low self-esteem for a long time afterwards. Especially if that person was someone you looked up to.

Articulation deficits: I had problems with communication when having sensory difficulties. Once my brain shuts down my speech becomes impaired to the point where people are unsure what I'm trying to get across.

Did you ever have a psychological assessment: Not that I remember. I had anger management, counselling and social skills training in schoool, with varying degrees of success.

Are there other members of your family with similar problems: A lot on my mums side of the family. We have a a lot of dyspraxics and dyslexics in my family as well as autistics and a few cousins with aspergers.




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult
: The majority of them.

Posture sitting/ standing
: I've been told that my posture is quite bad.

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels: I hate clothes labels and certain kinds of fabrics.

Time management or prioritising: I'm useless at time management, time flies by so quickly I barely notice.

Cluttered work / study area: My work/study area is always a complete mess.

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand
: My notes from uni are around the flat somewhere, I start off ok with organisation and then it gets worse as the academic year goes on.

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy I can type at about 70wpm so my typing is pretty good!

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving
: I get a lot of eyestrain, but since getting my coloured lenses the print doesn't move anymore. Every other line used to move in opposite directions.

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent: Irritating and unpleasant is an understatement I find it intrusive and painful. It feels like it pierces my brain and can see it flickering with lines coming out of it.

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent: The buzzing is annoying and the brightnes has to be turned right down for me to be able to use a computer monitor.


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness - Nope

A serious injury including head inuries: Nope

Surgery: Only to do with gender stuff

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy: Nope

Cerebral Palsy: Nope

Muscular dystrophy: Nope

Polio: Nope

Stroke: Nope

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression: Yes, but normally triggered by sensory problems and being unable to interpret what is going on around me.

Any other conditons / diagnosis

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia?: Yes

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome: Yes

Dyslexia: Yes, although I think this one is incorrect.

ADHD: No

ADD: No

Asperger’s syndrome: Provisional, but pretty much everyone is agreed.

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder)

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities
I am J, 24, husband, student, diagnosed AS and Dyspraxia.
Lithium_joe
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

Thanks for sharing that - I'll get to posting up my completed form in a bit since you've seen fit to share it only seems right.
"You don't get anything worth getting by pretending to know things you don't know."
~ Sam Harris.
Lithium_joe
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

Some of this was filed in by my mum, evidently... ;)

To this I can now append all the problems I've had during the PGCE years which would fill out some of those 'struggles to organise' questions.

My diagnosis has now been enlarged to Dyspraxia and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder.

-------------------------

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:

Complications during Pregnancy:

Two weeks before giving birth, LJ did not move at all. The doctors began to consider that he might have died in utereo as I had lost weight instead of gaining and a heartbeat could not be detected. Towards the end of the two weeks, the heartbeat was detected and inducement was considered but then birth resumed as normal and LJ was born weighing 6 pounds 3 & 1/2 ounces on 28th August 1980. It was as though that the placenta had stopped working.

Complications at or after birth:


LJ was difficult to feed and displayed persistent vomiting. He was also slow to put on weight (at 6 weeks he weighed only 7lb 6 oz. At 12 weeks, he weighed 10lb, 1oz.)

LJ did not follow normal sleep patterns. He hardly ever seemed to sleep. He never woke up less than five times a night, usually to be sick. Waking five times or more per night continued until he was three years and four months old, when his last tooth came through.

Teething was very difficult. Teeth were very slow to appear. He displayed a high temperature and very thick saliva, similar to egg white, which had to be pulled from his mouth.

At 17 months, LJ bumped his head and was detained overnight at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, where he recorded a temperature of 39oc and 40oc. Hospital staff were concerned. I knew LJ was like this all the time but it had not been seen by anyone until now. 2 days later he developed German Measles. I was relieved that his head x-ray revealed the teeth in his gums, waiting to descend.

Milestones:

Milestones were achieved late. He used to use the commando crawl. When walking: toes down first, heel second, instead of heel first and rolling onto toes. He had a rolling gait, heels not in contact with floor. Speaking began as normal. When LJ was older, I noticed he mumbled and did not pronounce words clearly. He had great trouble completing jigsaw puzzles. He would try to force pieces into the wrong places. He seemed to want to complete the picture ‘his way’.

Infections:

Please see attached medical records for 0 – 6 years.

This represents the time up until LJ was first referred to Great Ormond Street.

LJ had repeated water infections interspersed with tonsillitis. I considered Richard’s health to be in decline. He was covered in thick, black bruises, lacked energy, had a grey complexion and was either limping or dragging one leg. A blood test revealed a high white blood cell count, indicating a severe infection and our family Doctor feared LJ had Leukaemia. We were hastily sent to Great Ormond Street to be seen by a specialist. Leukaemia and other life-threatening illnesses were rules out after tests but GOSH staff also noticed Richard’s lack of co-ordination. It was, they felt, so bad that LJ was in their words, ‘one grade away from being considered spastic*.’ Further tests later determined that Richard’s problems (pains, limp, complexion etc.) were caused by his tonsils and these were removed in February 1988.

*In today's enlightened times this would be Cerebal Palsy, but I preserved the original comment for posterities sake.


Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips

LJ experienced trouble with dressing, particularly reversing clothes to face forward before putting them on. Buttons and toggles on duffel coats were particularly problematic.

Tying shoe laces, ties

Terrible trouble with shoelaces, finally mastered the knot and bow at age 11.
LJ still struggles today (26) with tying a tie.

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy

LJ always enjoyed drawing and tracing. Use of scissors was awkward – LJ wanted to use more than two fingers and a thumb in the loops.

Holding pencil with conventional grip

LJ used to hold his pencil like one would hold a javelin. LJ struggled to master the grip he was being taught in the nursery – the ‘pincer grip’ was floppy and he never had control of the nib. This began the lagging behind his peers in the presentation of his work.


Learning to write letters and numbers

LJ was unusual, in the sense that despite his poor written work he was ahead of his peers developmentally. He was very confident in using numbers. By the time he started nursery he could count up to 100 and recognised two-digit pairs, something his peer group could not. However his writing continued to be poor. His first year at school was truncated due to staff shortages. He only attended school for one term consisting of half-days from Easter to summer. When he returned to school in September, after his fifth birthday, he entered in the second year.

Richard’s work always stood out as different from his peers.

When he started school, to settle the children in, they all had to give some ‘news’ to the class, most children chose to speak about grandma coming to tea or a new pair of shoes they had bought. LJ chose to announce to a stunned classroom, quoting a recent news item, that “Some scientists believe, in the next 36 hours, Mount St Helens is going to erupt.” This demonstrates how he was already focusing on special interests - at home we were collecting a scrap book of newspapers cuttings and so he was aware of what was in the 'news'.

In a competition, the children were asked to paint on the theme ‘toybox’ – LJ disregarded this instruction and instead painted the African volcano Kilimanjaro with the snowy peaks.

He demonstrated a unique thoughtfulness compared to others as well as his passionate interest in volcanoes, earthquakes and tornadoes. He read avidly and developed early a wide vocabulary. He was obsessed with natural disasters of all kinds, and this was evident in a lot of his work and drawings.

When we were putting LJ to bed he did not want conventional storybooks. LJ was not interested in fiction books; he wanted textbooks about how everything worked, from volcanoes and the planet earth to telephones, televisions and all sorts. We chose to encourage this inquisitiveness by taking him to museums in London as he grew up.

Differentiating left and right?

LJ always uses cutlery with knife and fork reversed for a right-handed person.

Colliding with people and objects?

LJ couldn’t walk past anything without colliding with it, chairs, tables etc. Permanently covered in deep, black bruises.
Hopping, skipping, jumping?

At age 6 LJ was assessed at Great Ormond Street Hospital for his co-ordination His jumping, skipping, hopping on one leg were observed to be poor. He reminded me of a marionette with loose strings. He used to flail his arms and legs about when running.

Using apparatus in P.E?

Didn’t like going up things when he was young. Enjoyed climbing frames when he grew older.

Playing throw / catch?

There was no co-ordination whatsoever between Richard’s eyes, hands and feet. This lack of co-ordination made playing ball games hard if not impossible. Because of this LJ was never chosen to be in any team and was always placed last of all by the teacher.

If a ball was thrown to LJ he could not catch it, neither could he kick a ball.

Keeping time to a musical beat?

Enjoyed dancing to Status Quo: ‘Rockin’ all over the world’

Managing stairs and escalators?

No problem.

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects?

It was a constant thing; he was always fiddling with things. This has not changed in the last 20 years.

Liked / disliked fast rides?

Didn’t like being dizzy or heights (roundabouts and slides); loved swings, seesaws

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom?


When LJ was interested in something he was not easily distracted.



Disliked waiting in line?

Not really.

Took longer to complete work?

LJ was always asking for reassurance. He always appeared anxious.

Upset by failure?

Cannot recall this at primary school.

As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle

Used stabilisers. Successfully learnt to ride a bike. Completed cycling proficiency.

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises?

The clumsiness was more pronounced when LJ was younger but this problem did continue.

His unco-ordination made all collective games, especially P.E in secondary school, a misery.

When LJ was nine he was sent to an optometrist because he could not focus his eyes on a central near point. The optometrist recommended LJ practice with a lollipop stick as focal point and to bring it to his nose and try to keep the image focused. This was to train his eye muscles to stop them letting his eyes drift.

Before the exercise, Richard’s eyes would drift out on their own. When LJ first attempted to complete the exercise the optometrist recommended, his eyes would travel towards his nose about halfway and then abruptly shoot out to the sides in opposite directions. He no longer experiences this problem.

Car sickness

No.



Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks?

Normally children learn by repetition and LJ did not. He could do the same thing a thousand times but would not retain this knowledge or recall how to perform tasks. He doesn’t pick things up; he has to be specifically taught how to do something.

Organising approach to tasks?

The assessment by the Russell-Cairns Head Injury Unit indicated that Richard’s mental processes were very fast, but that he did not have full control of his writing hand. It was as if his brain was working so fast that his brain was at the end of the word but his writing was still at the start. This was how, it was estimated, that Richard’s writing became so jumbled, with capital letters appearing in the wrong places.

As a result of the diagnosis of dyspraxia, LJ had a personal tutor who helped him to plan his work rather than launch into it with little forethought or preparation. This was intended to get him to slow his brain down and so to be more precise with his hand.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations?

Mixed. Sometimes very timid, didn’t like unfamiliar people and places, other times bold and adventurous and keen to explore his environment.

LJ's poor social interaction as he has grown up has also been noticeable. Unlike his brother, LJ has very few friends. He has very little awareness of atmosphere or emotional cues. He himself has confessed to being over-literal and a very poor reader of other people in some instances. He finds judging when a conversation has ended or when it is his turn to speak difficult and is often excluded or interrupts inappropriately.

Remembering information

If something has LJ's interest and attention his recall can be almost perfect. His short-term memory however is fickle and he struggles with remembering processes and lists of instructions. LJ seems to retain information if he hears it spoken to him.

Following instructions in the right order

LJ says he occasionally struggles to remember too many instructions, if they are given as a list.

Developing mature and efficient handwriting

LJ concentrated on improving his handwriting and worked incredibly hard at it.
After his diagnosis, LJ did a lot of activities that encouraged fine-motor control; this ultimately fed into his ability to control pen and pencil movements and his handwriting consequently improved. He stopped trying to join up words and instead began to write each letter individually to make up the words. This is slow and laborious and it is how LJ continues to write today.

Copying from blackboard

LJ found it impossible to copy correctly from the board. Several worrying comments and tellings off from Richard’s secondary school regarding this, is what prompted his first assessment with Freda Newcombe that considered Dyspraxia as a possible cause and explanation. LJ was often upset that his best efforts seemed to continually lead to more tellings off.

Completing work on time

On time was not really the issue, it was more the accuracy and legibility of the work. Richard’s presentation was constantly criticised.

Low self-esteem

Constantly asks for reassurance.

LJ had a miserable time at school up until the sixth form; however, it was communicated to me by his teachers that the school did not consider LJ to be “of A-level material.”

He frequently complained that if only he could explain his answers rather than having to write them down his grades would improve.

Just prior to when LJ was referred to Freda Newcombe, his secondary school teachers gave a brief assessment of Richard’s performance. One perceptive teacher noted his physical inability to co-ordinate movement and his frustration at not being able to meet expectations. He commented on the effort that LJ was putting in and his distress at not getting any positive results.

When LJ re-sat his A-levels at a local college, after receiving poor results at school, his new teachers expressed disbelief that such an articulate and intelligent child could have done so badly. His sociology teacher was so impressed with LJ's recall of sociological theory and depth of understanding, that he felt it rivalled his own. This highlights once again the disconnect between LJ's verbal performance, mental capacity and his inability to replicate these in his written answers.

Articulation deficits.

Growing up, his speech was inarticulate. He would often speak too quickly and he still doesn’t judge volume well. Much as his writing was jumbled so too was his speech. His rapid speech was I think a mark of his quick thinking but slow physical co-ordination of the speech organs.

Did you ever have a psychological assessment?

During his referral to Great Ormond Street, staff noted Richard’s poor co-ordination and his unusual relationship to adults. Whilst awaiting the operation for his tonsils LJ was seen repeatedly by psychiatrists (Wiseman and Rolf) at Great Ormond Street – although nothing ever came of this.

When LJ was thirteen he was referred to Russell-Cairns Head Injury Unit at the John Radcliffe Infirmary. He was assessed by consultant neruopsychologist Freda Newcombe during 1st October 1993. Her conclusions were that LJ demonstrated an above –average intelligence, impressive recall and reading skills but she suggested that the disconnect between his verbal skills and his written performance was significant and worrying. She concludes this was not dyslexia but that it may be explained by the emerging neuropsychological understanding of dyspraxia (apraxia).

She recommended one-to-one tutoring and that LJ learn I.T to develop the fine motor skills and re-focus on grammar and proper sentence structure. LJ was encouraged to play computer games and to paint small figures and take up playing the drums (hobbies he already enjoyed), as these would extend his dexterity and fine motor control. Dr Newcombe advised that ammenuensis or extra time in exams should also be considered.

Are there other members of your family with similar problems?

None insofar as we are aware.




As an Adult do you find any of the above areas still difficult?

Writing

I realise that what I write resembles my jumbled thinking. For instance I will occasionally split up a point I am making across several sentences. (I might even make a separate point in parenthesis.) But I will then resume my original point in a new sentence. Just like that. However that is an organisational issue in constructing the essay and it’s the kind of ‘structural mistake’ I make when writing, which I believe has made my sentences hard to read and my arguments difficult to assess.

Tripping

Occasionally I stumble when I walk. The experience is like I’ve forgotten to move my right leg and because I’ve not lifted it as part of my stride, I stagger forward. Family have noticed this and the floors are often even and smooth and there is nothing I have evidently tripped over, except my own feet.

Articulation

I do find myself occasionally confronted by being told I’m not speaking clearly or that I’m speaking too loudly. It is something I am not aware of until or unless someone tells me.

Learning by repetition.

This I still struggle to do. I find in confronting new or unfamiliar tasks my learning curve is steeper than most. Not because something is necessarily more difficult or I more incapable, but just that repetition does not lead to any greater or natural ‘grasp’ of what I am supposed to do. I have felt this in learning to drive (which took me the best part of two years and three tests.) It was noticeable to me that in all my mock tests and in the tests I failed, that the reason for my failing varied and that things I had previously mastered in lessons and prior tests, I would make mistakes with during the current test. I cannot attribute this solely to nerves because it happens all the time.

It feels sometimes as if I have no permanence when I have achieved something. Most recently I have felt this in revisiting the vexed issue of mathematics, where learning calculation methods has been a real and disproportionate struggle even though when I have the concepts and methods explained to me enough times I can eventually perform well. I have always benefited with one-to-one tuition and have for the past two years retained the services of a private mathematics tutor to supplement my learning.


Posture sitting/ standing

When I am sat down I find I often jiggle and family have commented on this. My legs particularly are rarely still and I will tap and fidget while reading or watching TV.

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels

I feel I am quite touch-sensitive but in a good way. I like the way a lot of fabrics feel on my skin. It was remarked upon that I shop for clothes by texture not colour. I felt at the time this was because I am colour-blind (protanopia – deficiency in red/magenta) and so find colours inherently unreliable to judge by. However, I find myself attuned to texture more than I do almost anything else.

Time management or prioritising

Prioritising what needs to be done first or fastest is, I find, a struggle. I often think when I am required to ‘put things in order’ (as most part-time work consists in the menial and unimportant functionary tasks) that I behave methodically, that I will get things in order eventually but it takes time. I was once fired from such a minor post from a temp job in The Post Office for putting papers in alpha-numerical order too slowly!

Cluttered work / study area

My desk and rooms are always messy and disorganised. My brother’s is clinical by comparison; I don’t know how he does it! Even my ‘tidy’ is ‘messy.’

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand

Generally I am capable of getting myself to work on time, going on trips (navigating London’s Tube network) or on holiday, catching flights and so on, so I’m not inhibited in that way.

My class-notes are usually cluttered, messy, and semi-illegible due to have to copy down material so fast that I simply abandon trying to write clearly. It has not been the case yet that I’ve copied down something I’ve later been unable to read.

Compared to friends from the same lecture, my notes stand out a mile

They reflect the way I think – so often consisting of arrows connecting ideas, thought bubbles of related material and of verbatim quotations from the lecture, as well as in maths, diagrams.

Although my notes are not illegible, I occasionally feel (in maths most recently) that when in lessons my notes make contextual sense, but outside of the context of the lessons I struggle to recall what it was the notes were meant to record. So I often struggle with homework, and to take recent example, calculating the probability distribution under a normal curve, I had plenty of examples copied down and some of the method, but whilst I could see how I’d solved previous problems I couldn’t translate that into a solution for the problem I was working on. This is often how it goes. Even if I remember the method for a particular style of problem, if the question is different and varied (as examiners are wont to do) then I don’t see how I take what I know and re-apply it. One-to-one tuition in mathematics has been incalculably beneficial to me in helping me to improve, as I can call a halt to something and have the concepts explained to me enough times until I get it. The experience of not remembering/recalling how to solve a mathematics problem is in many ways like my problems with grammar. I feel I ought to understand what to do but trying to think my way through a problem is like trying to swim through treacle. It takes such effort and I get nowhere with it.

I have requested extra time in my forth-coming A-level exams but have been told by the college that they need to see a more current assessment of my need before they will consider this.

Organising things is not something I do well. Dad jokes, I have filing systems but no retrieval system, so filing becomes a disorganised mess. I spent a productive morning last month organising four years worth of bank statements into time order with my Mum. I had enough sense to keep the account records but had no clue how to order them and the longer I waited the bigger the backlog had become.

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy

Learning I.T skills was a specific recommendation of Freda Newcombe who first assessed me. This helped me to control the impulses to write, for instance, phonetic spellings for words I didn’t recognise (which spell-checking highlights) and also to reinforce the use of capital letters for names and proper nouns as well as leaving spaces between full stops and commas. I still practice these things today when I type and feel this has been a great benefit to me.

I have a fairly rapid typing speed, but an idiosyncratic typing style, that hovers somewhere between the two-fingered stab and touch-typing. I didn’t used to hold my hands in the conventional manner for typing although I have improved. My accuracy however is variable and I repeatedly make errors that I have to correct. When my speed and accuracy have been tested (in job applications) I have performed well although I failed an RSA exam for typing because of inaccuracy.
However where I feel the dyspraxia most keenly is in remembering and applying the rules of grammar. As a sequencing disorder, my thoughts appear on page as somewhat jumbled, and I struggle to get a point across, even if I know what I mean or want to try to express. I read my essays through now and I can feel like I am often repeating a point, and frequently what is evident is that my essays seem to lack a coherence but this is not as a result of a lack of research or ideas, usually the reverse – I have a lot of information to convey but apparently very little skill in discriminating effectively and moulding it to the purpose of an essay. A uniform theme of essays grades I receive back from university tutors is ‘great ideas Richard, shame about your lack of grammar / structure of argument.’ On those days it seems little has changed from when I was at school.

I feel my proofreading skills of what I have written are weak, and I often feel I lack the ‘common-sense’ to spot errors I have made. Friends and family have often helped me read my own work – and even then, I have received work back from university tutors, unaware of my condition, explicitly criticising my grammar and punctuation.

For Christmas I was given a book on proper grammar to correct my ‘shotgun’ approach to punctuating a sentence. She felt with my good long-term memory I would retain rules if they were clearly spelt out.

This has helped me make an improvement in my writing but concentrating on obeying the rules is an effort, I feel as I begin the PGCE that this is where I want professional help to improve rather than having to rely on the kindness of those close to me.

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving


No I’ve never experienced any problem listed that I can recall with reading books. I love reading and frequently get lost in a book, which I experience very visually. I read very rapidly.

Find fluorescent lighting irritating and unpleasant

Not especially.

Computer monitors irritating and unpleasant.

No.

Any additional info:


Driving:


I learnt to drive a manual car recently and this was a real triumph over adversity for me. Having to concentrate on so many things simultaneously; having to co-ordinate different parts of my body when doing something complex like reversing (gazing out the back window, turning the wheel and operating the pedals); and telling left from right on manoeuvres such as parallel parking. For my test and pass plus exam, my instructor pasted “L” and “R” onto the steering wheel at my request.

Specific concerns I have about the PGCE are:

Essay Submissions:

Past experience has lead me to conclude that I need to declare this sequencing disorder as loudly and as clearly as I can, so my apparent disorganisation is not a wonder to my tutors. I want to access to a personal tutor who can help me to review my work for spelling, grammar and sense. This is a facility I have not had access to before and I feel now this is something I really want and need.

Cursive Script:

I am aware that a major function of teaching children how to write is to control the pencil and pen through the strokes required to form the graphemes of letters. This is traditionally done in the cursive script of ‘joined-up’ writing. I was advised by Freda Newcombe to abandon cursive script and print my letters. It was advice I took to heart and I have spent years practising and perfecting my own print script. (My fiancée has commented in the past that watching me write neatly is like watching me draw letters – I think this is accurate. I don’t write instinctively so much as carefully draw each letter in print form.) When I have worked in schools on a voluntary or part-time basis leading up to the PGCE I have not returned to cursive script on the board and I am nervous that I will be expected to as a student teacher. Compared to my print script, my attempts at cursive are awkward and imprecise.


PE:

My co-ordination has improved but I am an avowed non-sporty person. I will need some considerable instruction and help if I am to be expected to lead a class in physical exercise. I feel, being a man trying to entertain the possibility of a career in primary education, that there will be an expectation on me that this is a role I will naturally fill in a school – and this, I feel, will be a problem

Have you ever had any of the following?


A serious illness?

Abscess on left kidney 21.04.94

A serious injury (including head injuries)?

No.

Surgery?

Tonsilectomy. 05.02.88

Operation on nose to clear aberrant bone growth. 19.07.94

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy?

No.

Cerebral Palsy?

No.

Muscular Dystrophy?

No.

Polio?

No.

Stroke?


No.



Mental Illness (including anxiety of depression)?

No. I was pretty miserable at Warwick University and I think I displayed behaviour that was depression-related i.e. sleeping a lot as an avoidance – but I have never been clinically diagnosed with depression, anxiety or any other kind of mental illness and consider this to be coincidental.

Any other conditions or diagnosis?

Dichromatic Protanopia (Red-Green Colour Blindness)
Have you ever been diagnosed with any of the following?

Dyspraxia?

Yes. 05.10.93 – Freda Newcombe, Russell-Cairns Head Injury Unit, John Radcliffe Infirmary. Department of neurosurgery.

Dyslexia?

No.

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder?

No.

ADHD?

No.

ADD?

No.

Asperger’s Syndrome?

No.

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder?)


Not unless you count dyspraxia as an ASD.

Learning Difficulties?

Only dyspraxia to date.
"You don't get anything worth getting by pretending to know things you don't know."
~ Sam Harris.
Shadwell
Moderator
Posts: 932
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:24 am
Location: Bridgend, South Wales

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Shadwell »

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy:

Complications at or after birth: Yellow jaundice a lot worse than others, and not put under the lamp for long enough

Milestones:
Crawling: it was a lot longer than my brother
Walking: not too sure on this one, would have to check it up when I find the report again.
Speaking: at age 5 before able to say things like mum, and dad, vocabulary was just about that.

Infections:
cold's like once a week, tonsilitus several times, and admitted to hospital with it a few times. sicknesses galore, don't think the doctors believed I could get so many infections without trying.

Dressing for P.E: always needed help when in infants, especially with shoe laces. even remember nagging my parents to get me sandles as I hated having to get a teacher to help me with my shoe laces, i would go around with my shoes untied more than ask for help.
managing small buttons: for trousers I wasn't too bad at doing a button, it was more when it was 2 or more that I got frustrated. same as now with shirts, undo enough to get my head, and arms out, and then do them back up after, even to the point of trying to undo just 1 button, and forcing the shirt off.
fastening zips: zips were a little problem, but nowhere near as much as buttons.

Tying shoe laces: like I said above in infants, then I nagged my parents for sandles, instead of shoes, so I didn't have to rely on teachers to see my laces were un-done, or asking.
ties: I didn't wear a tie before comprehensive thankfully, as that frustrated me even then, before that would be like St. David's day, and it would be a clip on tie. but with my comp tie, I would do it up on the monday, and then just loosen it, and tighten it for the next school day. it never got un-tied the whole week.

Cutting with scissors: stright line you wanted? well that is straight via New York-the north pole-Vancouver-South Pole via china for a chinese take away!!

drawing: free style was very free style, the pencil would go everywhere apart from straight, and never inside the lines for colouring until Juniors.
tracing with precision and accuracy: I wasn't quite so bad at tracing things, but there again take me longer than everyone else doing the same project.

Holding pencil with conventional grip: next to none exsistant, the teachers would show me, and I would hold it in a completely different way, and a never ending repeating story, as I never felt comfortable holding the pencil the way I was shown. and my hands would ache after trying their way for about 10 seconds.

Learning to write letters and numbers: even a 2 year old would have beaten me at writing, I had mirror writing for a long time, including starting from the back of the exercise book my writing was extremely squiggerly, probably due to not being able to hold a pencil properly, and also the fact I had a hard time holding the book down with my right hand, and writing with my left, even though the teachers given me loads more written work whereby they would sit next to me, and try to force me to write with my right hand.

Differentiating left and right: then as well as now, especially when on a driving test.

Colliding with people and objects: this was a major problem when I was a child, as in I was long sighted, so dunno how much that counts!! when I got made to wear glasses, then I wasn't bumping into a wall that I would see as being like 3 feet away, when I was actually climbing it!! but not sure if it is the blind spots on the glasses (around the frames) or what, but still not able to see, and judge distance that I need, so always take more room to pass people. objects, then I was so frequently bumping into things that all my sences of pain had gone, so much so, that the first thing I would know about it is seeing bruises.

Hopping: would try it, but don't think my neighbour would be very happy at this time of night!! would do it, but was extremely unbalanced, so would end up having to land on two feet, so hope on 1 leg, and land on two.

skipping: I would skip with the skipping rope, get the first leg over, but it would always catch on my left leg.

jumping: I wasn't too bad, still needed to put my arms out for extra balance though.

Using apparatus in P.E

Playing throw / catch: absolutely useless, the ball, or object would always land on the floor before I would get it for catching, throwing then it would go via new york, I could never throw straight.

Keeping time to a musical beat: dancing my fav. past time when in school, but always looked like the beast being strangled by the beauty!! rhythm then off beat to the point I was nearly on the next beat. so that was bad

Managing Stairs: always have to look at my feet, and watch where I put them, and use bannisters or whatever for balance.
escaltors: always had a problem with them, like I said somewhere else on the forum, I had a serious fall on one, while protesting with my parents. they just put it to me being awkward all the time, not that I haven't got any sence in timing the step gaps. and did get quite serious grazing from the escalator metal bar, let alone the fall, I think it was then, that they started taking it as a serious problem. not an imaginary kid trying to be awkward. the convayer belts aren't so bad, as long as I do the change in angles as a step forward. but the steps ones, I have a serious problem with, and still don't like using them more than I have to.

Overactive: overactive I wouldn't say I had a problem with, I was fit, but much rather the indoors, and doing what I wanted.
unable to sit still: always got into trouble for this, as I wouldn't be able to look at teachers without even my eyes wandering to something in the back of the room.
fiddled with objects: always taking things apart to find out how it works. I think my first tv, and video were the only things I didn't take apart, as I had saved for a year to get them, and knew how much work I had to do to afford them. including winter time with delivering papers. and going without pocket money towards the end of being able to get them.

Liked / disliked fast rides: always disliked fast rides, which was a problem last year when my cousins were over, their kids are like we want to go on that (fastest ride), at the time I also had a giddiness type of bug, sort of like you had a pint or two, but without any other symptoms, which was a new one for me. my mother said I looked sick the whole time on it. a couple of days later she was on sick from work, with exactly the same thing. so then she could see what I meant by it. and her discription was exactly the same. dizziness like she had drunk a drink or two, but feeling fine.

actually I say always, but the one I did really enjoy was "thunder mountain" but the g's you pulled on that, didn't feel anything like the "black hole", or the "corkscrew" in alton towers (showing my age a bit there!!).

Easily distracted by background noise: yes, this is definate, and this always got me into trouble in school, along with daydreaming,
movement outside classroom: this would always catch my eye, even when on the 3rd floor, and extremely aware of the floorboards, especially as I don't like heights at all.

Disliked waiting in line: the only real dislike with this was the amount of time it taken for the line to do whatever. and the fact you would have to stand perfectly still, as 1/2 a footstep, and you are standing on someone's heals, and 1/4 of a foot step back, and you would garuntee you would be on someones toes. so I would always leave a gap of a few footsteps infront of me, so that I could move forward with the people up the line. or if I lost my balance.

Took longer to complete work: like I also said somewhere on this forum, maybe several times, if it isn't daydreaming, then it would always take me a lot longer. rules were the worst things to write down. as it is all boring, and at the end of the day it is just common sense. like don't run with test-tube of acid in your hands type of thing!!

Upset by failure: I used to be, but now I just don't care type of thing, and usually I know where I have failed now. like with a driving test approaching a round-about to fast to stop, so much so we could count the hairs on the old bloke driving slowly around the round-about. and that is with swift heavy braking to the point the wheels on the truck didn't skid, but still got his rear bumper out of sight.



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle: I didn't learn how to ride a bike without stabblisers until I was 9 or 10, which also lead to a trip down the police station, as I had been knocked off my bike by someone reversing out of their drive. basically the police put it down as bump for bump. I shouldn't have been on the pavement, and he shouldn't have reversed out. but basically made me feel like I was the one in the more wrong. even though my parent's forbid us from riding on the roads while we had stabalizers. even after that they still told me to stay on the pavements.

Bumping into things: as above, but not quite so much, as I started wearing glasses at the age of 5.
tripping: yes a lot more over my own feet, or just un-level ground, and over thin air sometimes.
falling: yes I would fall mainly by tripping, than actually falling for no reason,
more than fair share of bumps and bruises: definately, to the point that social services were called in, even though we only met the social worker when I was 19. so it was very lucky for them that I wasn't being beaten to death.

Car sickness: I can't really say car sickness, possibly Aunt sickness!! as we spent 4 days going around Scotland, and my Aunt was in the back of the car, and she devided the seat into 3 (me and my brother in less than 1/2 the fiesta's back seat. so we were plastered to the drivers rear window the whole time from Birmingham - Birmingham. but as for car sickness, then it was only once that I remember, and think it was the first time we went to Birmingham. as my father had a thing of going from a-b without any stops whatso ever. but in the question I would answer no, as I love being in vehicles, and driving them.

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks: always, including ones I have done millions of times before.

Organising approach to tasks: this I tend not to do, unless it needs a quick flick through a manual or something, I tend to be a hands-on type of person. or to get the task out of the way as quick as possible. rather than think right I need this, I need that.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations: always have problems with this, and even worse at testing.

Remembering information: as long as the list isn't longer than about 3 easy steps, like going shopping for my brother when we were younger, his list would be "if they haven't got this I will have that", and end up having to remember too much that the end of the shopping list would still be 500 feet away.

Following instructions in the right order: yeah, I wasn't too bad at this, as long as it wasn't more than about 3 steps from where I am. unless I can find short cuts, or easier ways to do something.

Developing mature and efficient handwriting: yes, I did, very readable, but extremely slow, so when my parent's got their first pc, I used to write to a friend in London on that, instead of taking hours to write it by hand, and my writing would really get me into trouble for being so slow in school

Copying from blackboard: about the main problem I did have is no hand-eye co-ordination, so I would always have to look up, read 3 words, and then look down and write them, or if it was a hard word to spell, then it would be 3 letters at a time.

Completing work on time: I would have to say never on this, as my school work would always show, about the only thing I kept up to speed on was maths, and geography, as I was taking extra supported lessons instead of selecting 6 subjects, well they made gardening compulsary as a science, but as I missed 6 weeks of school in year 10, then there was no-way to keep up with the work load, so I did drop that as well.

Low self-esteem: I think I would put yes to this, as when I got loads of work, and loads of pressure off the teachers in school (nothing known in those days about being Dyspraxic), then it did lower my self-esteem, making me resent them, and myself, especially for not knowing why I am the way I am.

Articulation deficits: yes really bad in quite a lot of my life, like chimney, I would always say Chimley, not able to read very much, even though my parent's tried numerous time to get me to read, but it seemed so boring I was always active as in wanting to do stuff instead of sitting down for an hour to read a book. even on a rainy day I would be going around the house like a headless chicken while trying to pass time.

and as for the speach part of it, then that has always been a major issue, as my father stopped me from going to speach therapy as he said it was making me worse, when all I was trying to do was pronounce the word properly. and being active with few friends, then it meant that I wasn't getting the social interaction side of speach either, and my father was dead against talking to me. so it was a no win situation anyway.


Did you ever have a psychological assessment: yes but can't remember what it said now.

Are there other members of your family with similar problems: yes, some we know had problems, but died before they even discovered dyspraxic, or dyspraxia.etc. so never tested. alive then yes I got 2 dyslexic cousins, 1 on my mothers side, and 1 on my fathers side both of them younger.

As an Adult

Do you find any of the above areas still difficult: yes quite a number of them

Posture sitting/ standing: all the time

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels: yes, skin tight jeans I really hated, and protested wearing jeans for years. socks is another thing. trainers are extremely high on this list.

Time management or prioritising: time management, isn't too much of a problem, I know how long it takes me to get somewhere, so I get there, but time management as in workwise, then I would spend more time checking the clock than doing whatever. and even if I wasn't then my sense of time is none exsistant

Cluttered work / study area: I am not as bad now, but still forgetfull on putting things away straight away, usually something else more important comes up.

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand: never, unless it is a toolbox. but always looking for things as I put them down when I think of the next thing needed.

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy, a lot better than handwriting that is definate, I can type things about 10x faster than writing by hand, and usually very few mistakes.

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving: all the time, this is how much I hate reading.

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent: yes this was a major problem I had with school, also the buzzing noise they used to cause. or was it classes were that drearingly boring!!

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent: I get some days like they irritate me, but then most others I am fine.


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness: yeah known as life!! yes but won't go into details

A serious injury including head inuries: no. touch wood!

Surgery: yes

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy: no

Cerebral Palsy: no

Muscular dystrophy

Polio : no

Stroke: no

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression: yes at social services claiming to be doctors, and diagnosing me as depressed on my best days!!

Any other conditons / diagnosis: yes

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? I will put yes here, as I was classed dyspraxic

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome: DCD/CCS

Dyslexia: not aware

ADHD: not aware

ADD: not aware

Asperger’s syndrome: not aware

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder): not aware, certainly not as bad as my cousin if I have

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities: yes

wow finally finished, see what you mean you filled 15 pages, I done probably short versions of answers, but stat to end has taken 3 and a half hours on the pc. plus 1 dictionary search, and a few cups of coffee to keep me awake!!
Lithium_joe
Power poster
Posts: 462
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:45 pm
Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

We didn't mean to disturbed you from your rest! ;)

Still this is fascinating to compare with other people.

I might we'll go back and re-do my questionnaire in light of my experiences this year in which I think I've come to understand the problems I have more than when I drafted that out originally.
"You don't get anything worth getting by pretending to know things you don't know."
~ Sam Harris.
sheppeyescapee
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Posts: 187
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:08 pm
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by sheppeyescapee »

I think I might have to re-do this as well. :-k
I am J, 24, husband, student, diagnosed AS and Dyspraxia.
Lithium_joe
Power poster
Posts: 462
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:45 pm
Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

I never did do it again did I? Damn memory issues!! Must remember to add those to the list....



LJ Driver <-- going round in circles....
"You don't get anything worth getting by pretending to know things you don't know."
~ Sam Harris.
k9ruby
Getting settled in
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:21 pm

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by k9ruby »

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy: Erm...threatened miscarrage...high blood pressure.



Complications at or after birth: Didn't feed well. Needed oxygen mask.

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking.

Started walking around 2, had speech therapy (dunno when). Quite physically delayed, but mentally I was quite advanced (Smiled at 3 weeks, laughed at 5-6 wks, could point to things when asked around 8 months.

Infections

Gastrirentitus (Sp?) Apart from that, I have never been properly 'ill', last vomitted around 6 years ago. Never needed antibitiotics apart from acne.

I have had some bad reactions to vaccines aswell. Including screaming non-stop for 5 or 6 hours.

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips

Awful!!!! Up to year 9, my TA had to help me get dressed.

Tying shoe laces, ties

Learnt these when around 12. Not very good at them though! I will either totally forget the sequence, or it will fall apart 5 mins later!

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy

This is strange. I am really good at drawing, (B in art) but my handwriting is crap. Scissers are a challenge, I can do it, but so much effort!

Holding pencil with conventional grip

I grip way,way,way to hard. To the point of my fingers going white.

Learning to write letters and numbers

I found wrting hard. Especially up until I was around 8, I would write something and not be able to read what it said! My handwriting is neater if I have bags of time, but close to unreadable if rushed. My hands also ache, which travels up my arms to my body. I write incredibly slow (14wpm) and it makes me really tired. My hands shake aswell. Sometimes I cannot physically put pen to paper.

Differentiating left and right

I learnt this only a few years ago (I'm 17) and I still find it challenging if I'm in a rush. Once, my dog agility instructor made me write 'r' and 'l' on my hands!!

Colliding with people and objects

Yes. I have knocked bookshelves, wall displays, glasses, ornuments, drinks etc, you name it, I've bumped into it!

Hopping, skipping, jumping

I cannot skip (still). I can hop for a little bit, same with jumping

Using apparatus in P.E

lets put it this way. In year 6 I was on the Yr 2 team, and I was officially banned from doing atheletics for health and safety reasons.

Playing throw / catch

Depends how big the ball is. Small: Hard Big: might have a chance!

Keeping time to a musical beat

I can't dance. People are nice to me, but I know I can't.

Managing Stairs and escaltors

I hate stairs. I fall up aswell as down them. I also used to refuse to use escalators. its judging when to get on/off.

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects

I am not hyperactive at all, but people say I do fiddle. I like swinging my legs in chairs but people complain and say its annoying!

Liked / disliked fast rides

I love rollercoasters! Not loop to loop ones though.

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom

I find it hard to listen when there is background noise. Its as though my ears have the wrong priorities!

Disliked waiting in line

Yeah. I can get impatient, but also part of that is having to stand for so long. I wobble if I stand up for too long!

Took longer to complete work

Yes. I have a seperate room, laptop and 25% extra time for exams.

Upset by failure.

Yes. I am a perfectionist with school stuff.



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle

I learnt to ride without stablisers when I was 10. I am not a confident rider and rarely do.

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises

Dear god yes.

Car sickness

No.

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks. Yes.

Organising approach to tasks. Yes.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations

I like predictabality. If things are unpredictable for so long I begin to feel nausaus and stressed out.

Remembering information

My short term memory is rubbish and am bording on face blindness. I still have not learnt the names of people in my classes of 7 at school.

Following instructions in the right order

Erm. I tend to do the first and the last and forget the bits in the middle unless some clearly writes it all down!

Developing mature and efficient handwriting

Gave up on this one.

Copying from blackboard

This is so hard. My working memory is really crappy!

Completing work on time. Hard. Very hard. I tend to lose track of time.

Low self-esteem

Articulation deficits

Did you ever have a psychological assessment Yes

Are there other members of your family with similar problems No. However, my mums and my dads mums hearing was incredibly good.




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult

Posture sitting/ standing Yes. I wobble if I do it for too long. I like to sit in supportive chairs.

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels. Yes. I hate labels, denim, lace, wool, some seams, patterns on shoes that I can feel, some types of linen.

Time management or prioritising. :banana: :banana: :banana:

Cluttered work / study area :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand You must me kidding!

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy I can type pretty quickley, but I am prone to typos.

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving. No. Sometimes I will forget a sentence and read it again to remind myself though.

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent When I'm tired, or already irritated, yes.

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent


Any additional info: Hyperacute hearing. Nose of a dog.


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness Nope

A serious injury including head inuries Nope

Surgery Nope

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy Possibly when I was a couple of weeks old, but unlikely. I used to look really angry and punch myself for a bit.

Cerebral Palsy People have queried this, but no.

Muscular dystrophy No.

Polio No.

Stroke No.

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression No.

Any other conditons / diagnosis

Nut allergy and enviromental allergies.

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? Yes

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome Yes

Dyslexia No

ADHD NO

ADD NO

Asperger’s syndrome People have wondered, but no.

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder) ASD and PDD-NOS.

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities Yes.
gherkin001
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by gherkin001 »

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:


Complications during Pregnancy: No



Complications at or after birth: No

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking. Yes

Infections Yes

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips Yes

Tying shoe laces, ties Yes

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy Yes

Holding pencil with conventional grip Yes

Learning to write letters and numbers Yes

Differentiating left and right Yes

Colliding with people and objects Yes

Hopping, skipping, jumping Yes

Using apparatus in P.E Yes

Playing throw / catch Yes

Keeping time to a musical beat Yes

Managing Stairs and escaltors Yes

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects Yes

Liked / disliked fast rides Yes

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom Yes

Disliked waiting in line Yes

Took longer to complete work Yes

Upset by failure. Yes



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle Yes

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises Yes

Car sickness No

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks. Yes

Organising approach to tasks Yes

Adapting to new or unexpected situations Yes

Remembering information Yes

Following instructions in the right order Yes

Developing mature and efficient handwriting Yes

Copying from blackboard Yes

Completing work on time Yes

Low self-esteem Yes

Articulation deficits Yes

Did you ever have a psychological assessment Yes

Are there other members of your family with similar problems No




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult Yes

Posture sitting/ standing Yes

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels Yes

Time management or prioritising Yes

Cluttered work / study area Yes

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand Yes

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy No

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving Yes

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent Yes

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent Yes


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

A serious illness Yes ish

A serious injury including head inuries Yes

Surgery Yes

Convulsions / fits / epilepsy YES

Cerebral Palsy No

Muscular dystrophy No

Polio No

Stroke No

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression Yes

Any other conditons / diagnosis Yes

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? Yes

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Clumsy child syndrome Yes

Dyslexia No

ADHD No

ADD No

Asperger’s syndrome No

Autism (or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder) No

Learning Difficulties / Disabilities Yes
DySpRaXiA dOeSnT mAkE lIfE hArDeR, jUsT mOrE cOmPlIcAtEd.
Lady Fluff
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Location: Rhondda, South Wales

Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lady Fluff »

I like lists and surveys, and work is quiet, so here goes nothing! I'll delete out the stuff I have no answer for so the post isn't humungous!

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:

Infections - constantly ill with bronchitis - had it at least once a year from birth up until I was 12, often several times. My asthma wasn't terrible but it wasn't normal.

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips Tying shoe laces, ties - I still find small buttons terribly fiddly, especially on other people - good job my partner's understanding being a fellow dyspraxic, so we have a giggle about it not being terribly romantic! Shoe laces were a nightmare - I must have been about 14 before I could do them! I still can't tie a tie - good job it's never been art of the uniform!

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy - I could always draw cartoons, but only froom the front - trying to do anythign from the side was impossible. I could cut accurately with scissors but only for short bursts, as my hand cramped quickly.

Holding pencil with conventional grip - one of my first school memories is Mrs. Clare (RIP) telling me off about holding my pen to the point at which I cried. I never held a pen conventionally, until shortly before my GCSEs. My history teacher showed me how, and convinced me I could write quicker if I adapted my style. It certainly helped, and I usually write normally now, but I have to think about it and often still revert back to my natural position

Differentiating left and right - still can't do!!! Have to hold out my hands and make an 'L' with my left hand to remember which is which! Have never learnt to drive as a result - reaction time too slow for moving vehicle!

Colliding with people and objects - always and still do frequently

Hopping, skipping, jumping - could never get the hang of funky skipping stuff in the playground and was left out of games as a result.

Using apparatus in P.E - rubbish. Couldn;t climb the ropes, and could get up wooden things but not back down again - I was rescued by a dinner lady from an outdoor climbing frame once! I was sent to Gym Club between the ages of 5 and 8 - my parents pulled me out after parents evening when I was 8 when my teacher suggested a joined a gym club - obviously after 3 years and could barely do a forward roll, it just wasn't happening!

Playing throw / catch - don't go there!

Keeping time to a musical beat - no. I learnt clarinet to grade 8 standard but rhythm was always an issue - I found the Jazz syllabus easier as the improvised eleement was easier to manage - I knwo jazz needs rhythm, before anyone flames me, but it's different! Mostly I'd have to remember the rhthm rather than follow the rhythm, if you see what I mean?!

Managing Stairs and escaltors - fine going up, hate coming down. I also have issues with escalators in that there needs to be two spaces in front of me before I get on them - I hate the London Underground for this reason.

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects - because I get sleepy quite early in the evening, I have to be constantly occupied from post-tea onwards or I just fall asleep on the sofa - my OH finds this infuriating at times and think I;m not listening when she's speakign to me, but I have to or I'll be sleeping and then I really won't be listening, LOL!

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom - totslly, constantly!Background music in a restaurant or cafe will often be as loud as the conversation to me, and I'll often comment on the music when people haven't even heard it

Upset by failure. - yes, but possibly due to my father telling me I was stupid on plenty of occasions when I was growing up too...



As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle - I still can't!

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises - yup - always!

Car sickness - only developed when I was 17, now have trouble with bumpy journeys or with bus/coach journeys over a certain length of time

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks. yup

Organising approach to tasks - better now, but I've always been rubbish!

Adapting to new or unexpected situations - not good. Familiarity does not breed contempt but instead leads to a happy Helen

Remembering information - I can't remember... Point proven?! Though I seem to have memorised all the actors in my favourite shows and spot them in other programmes I watch - anythign useful, however...

Developing mature and efficient handwriting - no problem, it was just damn slow - since I've started holding my pen properly however, I have really scruffy writing

Copying from blackboard - hideously slow

Low self-esteem - definitely

Articulation deficits - there are certain words I can't say, like 'particularly' - I start it and can't stop! I stutter sometimes when I'm nervous or stressed.

Did you ever have a psychological assessment - had my EdPsych last October

Are there other members of your family with similar problems - my second cousin (my dad's cousin's son) is also dyspraxic. My partner is too but as we're unrelated I guess you don't mean that!




As an Adult

Dod you find any of the above areas still difficult

Posture sitting/ standing - I get fidgety. I suffered with a bad back as a result of my bust size before I got a surgeon to hack it off, and my posture is poor as a result of damage caused by that pain.

Time management or prioritising - haven't a clue, I do stuff when I remember to do it and when I'm not procrastinating in between!

Cluttered work / study area - my work desk has old newspapers, a loaf of bread and some plastci packaging (empty) on it at the mo - does that answer your question?!

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand - nah, don't be silly!

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy - very fast, but not very accurate - AutoCorrect is my friend! I know how to spell things fine, I just bash the keys in the wrong order!

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving - yup, didn't realise it wasn't normal until I looked into dyspraxia - I love books, so I just got on with it anyway

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent - I can't read documents on screen, I have to print them (sorry trees!)


Any additional info:


Have you ever had any of the following?

Surgery - breast reduction, 2 years ago

Mental Illness including anxiety / and or depression - anxiety, which led to panic attacks.

Any other conditons / diagnosis - asthma, poor eyesight (-9 on my prescription!)

Have you ever been diagnosis with any of the following?

Dyspraxia? - yup! :)





It doesn't ask anywhere about driving - I can't drive, didn't take to it at all, not did my partner, so I'd be interested to know the stats on that...
"I will not be bound by what they tell me I can be; I will not stay silent, I will speak my liberty" (Kendall Payne)
blackbroom
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by blackbroom »

OK, I'm really confused now. Having done this questionnaire, I'm really not sure if I am dyspraxic at all, because in quite a lot of areas where you'd expect a person with dyspraxia to struggle,I have no problems at all. But I've always felt that I'm not "normal", and many of my teachers were of the same opinion when I was a child/teenager, although they never managed to get o the bottom fo what was wrong. What do you guys think from this?

Development History:

As a baby / young child were you aware of any problem in the following areas:

Complications during Pregnancy:
Not that I know of

Complications at or after birth: I was born by Caesarian - I'd apparently got tangled up in the umbilical cord, was very underweight, nearly strangled myself and couldn't get out.

Milestones: Crawling, Walking, Speaking. Normal, I think. In the case of speaking, early.

Dressing for P.E, managing small buttons, fastening zips No major problems

Tying shoe laces, ties No major problems

Cutting with scissors, drawing, tracing with precision and accuracy No major problems

Holding pencil with conventional grip No major problems

Learning to write letters and numbers No major problems

Differentiating left and right Some problems, not a huge problem, though

Colliding with people and objects Yes

Hopping, skipping, jumping Rubbish

Using apparatus in P.E Rubbish

Playing throw / catch Rubbish. Couldn't catch a ball to save my life, and when I threw one it went anywhere except where I was aiming to send it.

Keeping time to a musical beat Rubbish. Got bullied for not being able to dance/march in time

Managing Stairs and escaltors
No major problems

Overactive, unable to sit still, fiddled with objects No, not at all

Liked / disliked fast rides Disliked

Easily distracted by background noise, movement outside classroom Found it very difficult to concentrate if noise was going on around me (I still do), but it didn't make me disruptive or naughty, I just got annoyed or retreated into a world of my own

Disliked waiting in line Not especially

Took longer to complete work
Not at all, where academic work was concerned.

Upset by failure. Yes. And still am - even today I throw the mother of all tantrums when something I'm working on goes wrong

As an older child were there problems….

Learning to ride a bicycle
Oh yes, still can't

Bumping into things, tripping, falling, more than fair share of bumps and bruises Not really, as far as I can remember

Car sickness Yes

Needing to consciously think about planning movement to learn new and unfamiliar tasks. Yes

Organising approach to tasks Yes.

Adapting to new or unexpected situations Yes

Remembering information Depends. Not at all if it was written down - as a child/teenager my visual memory was near photographic. Couldn't remember oral instructions for toffee, though, and still can't.

Following instructions in the right order No

Developing mature and efficient handwriting Some problems - teachers complained about poor handwriting when I was in primary school and early secondary school, but it was never completely illegible, and by late secondary school it was only a little worse than average. Nowadays, I'd say my handwriting is bad for a chick, but better than most blokes' (sorry - is that sexist?).

Copying from blackboard No

Completing work on time Mostly no. I did have a tendency to do homework at the last minute, but it was inability to organise/motivate myself, not difficulty writing/actually understanding the work. I really struggled with organising myself for independent study (particularly at university), but never had problems completing work in class or under exam conditions. Definitely with practical tasks, though. I was the first person in the school's history to be banned from cookery lessons, because I was never able to finish on time. I was also hopelessly behind in needlework and pottery, too.


Low self-esteem Yes.

Articulation deficits No

Did you ever have a psychological assessment My PE teacher sent me to a psychiatrist (and also to hospital for some physical tests for balance etc) because my extreme inability to do basic PE went way beyond anything she'd ever seen before in a 20-year teaching career, although it was obvious that I was trying as hard as I could, and she was convinced I had a disability or special need. But they all said I was "normal" and there was no medical cause. This was nearly 30 years ago, though, so I'm not sure if neuro-diverse conditions would have been picked up then.

Are there other members of your family with similar problems My nephew was identified by teachers at primary school as possibly dyspraxic, but it has never been taken further, as it wasn't that bad and he was coping. Like me, he has little common sense, poor social skills, tends to daydream a lot and float off into a world of his own, and has never been good at PE/practical subjects. But then again, his father has mild Asperger's, so he might get it from his side of the family, not ours.

As an Adult

Do you find any of the above areas still difficult

Posture sitting/ standing
I am constantly told that my posture is pants and that I sit in a really weird way

Reaction to fabrics / clothes labels Not as bad as it was when I was a child (when I would scream the house down when my mum tried to put me in certain clothes whose texture I described as "covered in cat's hair"), but I do have an extreme reaction to some textures.

Time management or prioritising I am pants at this

Cluttered work / study area I am frequently asked if I am moving house or have been burgled when people see my bedroom and I used to get complaints about my desk from colleagues all the time when I shared a mutual work area at work

Organising, notes, having the correct items to hand I'm OK, but that's mainly because I foresee problems and have developed elaborate coping strategies

Using a keyboard – speed and accuracy No real problems. I'm not great, but probably no worse than most people who don't work in an office environment.

Reading: headaches, eyestrain, blurring of print, print moving Not a problem at all

Find fluorescent lighting irritatign and unpleasent yes, but doesn't everyone? Not to an exceptional extent, no.

Computer monitors irritting and unpleasent Not particularly.
Lithium_joe
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Re: Developmental Questionnaire.

Post by Lithium_joe »

I'll go back and read your full post in a moment but after reading your introduction I figure it best to just leap in and say this.

This questionnaire was given to me before my assessment as a self- diagnostic tool. It is *not* and should not be mistaken to be a diagnosis of dyspraxia, rather it is a context setter.

It is something with which at an assessment the results of further tests can be related. This is because there are essentially two kinds of dyspraxia indeed neurological disorders in general,those which are developmental (from birth / genetic, inherited) and acquired (from injury) now the injury may be acquired during birth with complications during pregnancy or through illness at a young age etc. which rather blends the two but the point of this is that these behaviours are typical but they are not set in stone.

If for instance you don't have a problem with your grip or articulating your fingers around a pencil - that's a good thing!

And a phrase that I think Pooky used on these somewhere which is that dyspraxia has an identity crisis, one persons experience does not necessarily mirror another which it is one of the reasons it's so hard to say 'what it is'. So it needn't be expected that you *should* experience such a difficulty, rather it points to the modularity and specifics of the difficulties we encounter. It is interesting that you had difficulties with concentrating, co-ordination and balance, texture sensitivities, for instance, as these are typical.

So I really wouldn't put yourself to worrying about this. I suggested this be put here and, Pooky agreed and stickied it, to help people draw together their experiences which isn't easy to do over a long time if you don't know what you are looking for and hence what questions to ask. This is not here to increase your confusion but to try and draw some of the threads together about the things you do or did which see you a bit more holistically as someone who maybe has a neurological disorder.


LJ
"You don't get anything worth getting by pretending to know things you don't know."
~ Sam Harris.
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