On Thursday I received my official diagnoses from a neuropsychologist: DCD (dyspraxia) and Synesthesia (motion-hearing). She also confirmed that I'm high intensity - top of the scale
- even though there is no formal label and diagnosis for that.I'm a 39 yr. old female (in the US), professional musician/music teacher. Until last year I had never heard of the term dyspraxia (when a student of mine was diagnosed) and only wondered if I might have synesthesia after starting to discover that no one else around me could hear the lights flashing, blinking, and shadows moving. She said it was clear I use my synesthesia to manage my dyspraxia and that in her 20 years of practicing, she's never seen anyone like me. But I have a feeling that people on this forum will read this and nod in understanding. I found this forum in my search to learn more in order to help my student, but kept identifying with everything myself. I had no idea that most people didn't have to process the sequence of every little thing day-to-day! So, I pursued testing and couldn't be happier to have an answer to why it felt I was working harder at life than my peers just to barely keep up, why I have always just felt awkward in my own skin, why schooling was so hard for me, and why people my whole life have complained that I'm too sensitive and think too much! Even as I started responding that perhaps the issue is that they just think too little, the impact of receiving so much negativity about my "weirdness" has led to having a library full of self-help/self-correction books in the quest to just not stick out. That used to be my life's goal - to not be noticed.
But validation that I'm just wired differently has changed all that. The Doc called my quirks "super powers"!
So, thanks for letting me join and I look forward to chats with you all!
Andrea