Hi my name is neil (i'm 43)and i only found out about dyspraxia very recently as my son (who's 13) was diagnosed with it by being referred to have tests due to his poor handwriting & memory. Upon researching it to help support him i noticed a lot of the symptoms in myself (poor memory, clumsy, repeating myself etc..) went to my GP & asked for a test, he checked my hand to eye coordination & reflexes my right hand side was very different to my left. so afterwards he said i had it.
Have since gone back to see if i could have help with my memory as it's affecting my job, and saw a different GP who gave me a 5 minute memory test which to me was useless as the questions i was asked & told to remember not 2 minutes later (when in my life when trying to remember things after 10 minutes is when i have problems & usually when i have been thinking about a separate task)and he seemed very uninterested & suggested some blood tests as it may be caused by a deficiency,
Also it looks like my daughter has it also as she has a lot of symptoms too. Is there any support groups in sheffield? have been to dyspraxia foundation website & tried ringing the people who are listed in sheffield & emailing them but phone number is not recognized & emails have not been answered.
Am also having problems at work with my poor memory & after i told them i had dyspraxia & gave them a list of symtoms they said i needed to be more specific & i still needed to be able to do my job
Sorry for waffling on but if anyone can at least point me in right direction for support groups or help in sheffield i would really appreciate it.
Edited by Shadwell to space out sentences
Help in Sheffield?
Moderator: Moderator Team
Re: Help in Sheffield?
Welcome to the forum Neil, as for an adult to be diagnosed, then it is nearly impossible, unless as most people say you got to be in full time education, or have loads of money to get a diagnosis privately. while GP's are good some of the time, they seem to spread too thinly with knowledge, and don't seem to even understand even some of the problems experienced on a day to day basis, unless signed into hospital or something, so they get to see you on a regular basis.
as for myself then spent loads of time in hospitals etc while growing up, but didn't go chasing for an answer to my problems until I was 30 years old. my current GP thought I had been told that I was Dyspraxic, but it had been in my medical records for 10 years without the GP's telling myself or my parents, plus 10 years of being with the current GP at the time. they always said my problems were caused by me being awkward.
I did contact Dyspraxia Foundation last year, and taken them about 2 weeks to reply, in the end I ended up phoning their helpline, and she did appologise, and said they only work 2 or 3 days a week or something, and she would reply to my e-mail, which she did that day, I think they need more help there though, as while the information was good, it was irrelevant to the information I asked for.
have you tried contacting Sarah Johns? she is with the Sheffield Dyspraxia Foundation the web-site is: http://www.sheffieldhelpyourself.org.uk ... roup=26279, failing that then hopefully other members can help on the subject.
as far as I am aware there is extremely little or no help, and support for adults. no matter how servere the condition is.
as for myself then spent loads of time in hospitals etc while growing up, but didn't go chasing for an answer to my problems until I was 30 years old. my current GP thought I had been told that I was Dyspraxic, but it had been in my medical records for 10 years without the GP's telling myself or my parents, plus 10 years of being with the current GP at the time. they always said my problems were caused by me being awkward.
I did contact Dyspraxia Foundation last year, and taken them about 2 weeks to reply, in the end I ended up phoning their helpline, and she did appologise, and said they only work 2 or 3 days a week or something, and she would reply to my e-mail, which she did that day, I think they need more help there though, as while the information was good, it was irrelevant to the information I asked for.
have you tried contacting Sarah Johns? she is with the Sheffield Dyspraxia Foundation the web-site is: http://www.sheffieldhelpyourself.org.uk ... roup=26279, failing that then hopefully other members can help on the subject.
as far as I am aware there is extremely little or no help, and support for adults. no matter how servere the condition is.
Re: Help in Sheffield?
Thanks for the reply, have tried contacting sarah by email provided (had found link previously) but have not received any reply
Re: Help in Sheffield?
Hi Neil
Welcome to the forums (or fora). I think I was diagnosed when I was at school 22 yrs ago though it was never explained to me and/or I may not have wanted to listen.
I only recently discovered it through someone at work who knew about it. While it explained a lot there is very little 'What Now?' help out there. Dyspraxia is still very difficult to try and explain and no one of us is exactly typical. A lot of people are learning of it through their kids being diagnosed but once you become an adult it sadly all to often seems to be that you're on your own. I know I'm at risk of sounding biased but this forum is the best help I've found.
This guide may give you/your employer some tools/ideas on strategies that might be helpful.
http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/d ... ia_1.0.pdf
Hope you hear from a local group if there is one I googled and visited the Sheffield Help Yourself Pages and whilst they're live I could not find anything useful in a site search for dyspraxia or dyspraxic. That's not to say there isn't anyone in your area from active on here who can advise on whether or not there is an active local support group.
Please do feel free to read the posts on this site and ask questions. You're as important here as anyone else and I hope this site helps you feel less alone.
Welcome to the forums (or fora). I think I was diagnosed when I was at school 22 yrs ago though it was never explained to me and/or I may not have wanted to listen.
I only recently discovered it through someone at work who knew about it. While it explained a lot there is very little 'What Now?' help out there. Dyspraxia is still very difficult to try and explain and no one of us is exactly typical. A lot of people are learning of it through their kids being diagnosed but once you become an adult it sadly all to often seems to be that you're on your own. I know I'm at risk of sounding biased but this forum is the best help I've found.
This guide may give you/your employer some tools/ideas on strategies that might be helpful.
http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/d ... ia_1.0.pdf
Hope you hear from a local group if there is one I googled and visited the Sheffield Help Yourself Pages and whilst they're live I could not find anything useful in a site search for dyspraxia or dyspraxic. That's not to say there isn't anyone in your area from active on here who can advise on whether or not there is an active local support group.
Please do feel free to read the posts on this site and ask questions. You're as important here as anyone else and I hope this site helps you feel less alone.
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)
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)
Re: Help in Sheffield?
i feel bad for you man.
I went to my GP and he just said they wont send me for refferral any more.
From what I could see, the only way to get a diagnosis is by getting occupational therapy through your employer to say there is a problem, and then get them/your work, to pay for a diagnosis.
Beware, bosses can be so ancient in there thinking for these times it's uneblievable. Like you say, "you still need to be able to do your job" etc. I got "Well if it is that, then i'ts at least 50% laziness." I found the pressure made it worse as well, once i started roping in occupational health things all seemed to get worse.
How ever companies do **** them selves when u mention the discrimination word. Then they will probably get occy health to say disprove any discrimination, but if you can get them to referr you to a psycologist (i think) then you should be able to get an unbiased diagnosis.
I didnt get this far. My boss dug up private conversations we'd had about smoking weed, and reported me for it, accusing me of being drunk and stoned on the job (a complete fabrication) to distract from the fact that she was trying to get rid of me, and didnt want to have put the effort in to support my shortcomings which she had been disciplining me for repeatedly since she started with no effect.
In the end, I just left rather than persuing it cos I felt like i was on the edge of a break down. I wish i'd stuck to my guns.
So be careful man, but that is a way you can get an official diagnosis. Proceed with caution with your employer though -
Good luck
I went to my GP and he just said they wont send me for refferral any more.
From what I could see, the only way to get a diagnosis is by getting occupational therapy through your employer to say there is a problem, and then get them/your work, to pay for a diagnosis.
Beware, bosses can be so ancient in there thinking for these times it's uneblievable. Like you say, "you still need to be able to do your job" etc. I got "Well if it is that, then i'ts at least 50% laziness." I found the pressure made it worse as well, once i started roping in occupational health things all seemed to get worse.
How ever companies do **** them selves when u mention the discrimination word. Then they will probably get occy health to say disprove any discrimination, but if you can get them to referr you to a psycologist (i think) then you should be able to get an unbiased diagnosis.
I didnt get this far. My boss dug up private conversations we'd had about smoking weed, and reported me for it, accusing me of being drunk and stoned on the job (a complete fabrication) to distract from the fact that she was trying to get rid of me, and didnt want to have put the effort in to support my shortcomings which she had been disciplining me for repeatedly since she started with no effect.
In the end, I just left rather than persuing it cos I felt like i was on the edge of a break down. I wish i'd stuck to my guns.
So be careful man, but that is a way you can get an official diagnosis. Proceed with caution with your employer though -
Good luck