Hi everyone. (Long, sorry)

A place to talk about your experience of living with Dyspraxia

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
magic_flapjack
New member - welcome them!
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2021 2:11 pm

Hi everyone. (Long, sorry)

Post by magic_flapjack »

I posted this in introductions but after re-reading it I guess maybe it belongs here instead.

Hiya all.

Apologies this is gonna be a lengthy one so bare with me.

Just looking to introduce myself, my name is Joe, I'm 22 and my whole life I've experienced difficulties with seemingly-normal aspects of living which I've always chalked down to a various different things, the result of which has been crippling social anxiety from a young age that affects pretty much everything I do.

It has only been in the last few months that I became aware of the full range of symptoms of Dyspraxia and after speaking to a friend who has a diagnosis I found that the daily hardships she faces were pretty much identical the ones I put up with. I don't yet have a diagnosis but have put the wheels in motion for getting one (contacting my GP).

I suppose the purpose of this post is to vent or make my experiences known to people I know should fully understand? Just feeling completely overwhelmed at the moment.

1. Following directions/instructions: If someone asks me to perform a task and lists the various stages I find that I either don't seem to process what I'm being told from the get-go, or shortly after they have finished telling me what to do I forget what I've been told. Its as if everything gets scrambled up as soon as they start speaking.

2. Actually hearing what people are saying: I find that I really struggle sometimes to acknowledge what I'm being told, especially if there is noise in the background such as in a busy environment. This leads to me having to ask the person to repeat what they have said, sometimes several times.

3. Difficulty walking/standing: I lose my balance a lot when walking and end up twisting my ankle. I also have quite poor posture, but I am 6ft 4, so this could partially be explained by my height I suppose. Going back to the anxiety I experience - how I think I look when I'm walking has led to me getting really worked up if I'm walking alone past or in front of a group of people, I start to question whether I'm taking too-little or too-big a step, or that I'm not walking in a straight line (which is also something I seem to struggle to do).

4. Telling anecdotes: This is something I find incredibly hard, be it because the parts of the story get jumbled up or because I physically start to stutter.

5. Housework: I have always experienced issues with doing household chores, be it the physical act of things like hoovering (its as if my hands don't work sometimes) or the thought/planning that goes into cleaning and tidying - I get lost or distracted if I try to do things step-by-step.

6. General clumsiness/lack of coordination: Probably the most prevalent. I'm forever knocking things over, tripping up etc. I sometimes have difficulty with things like opening doors, which I can't really explain.

Do the things I've described above ring any bells with anyone?

Again apologies for this being so long-winded, this is the first time I've put anything of any length regarding the issue into writing. I really appreciate anyone taking the time to read this.

Thanks xx
Tom fod
Administrator
Posts: 2946
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 9:05 pm
Location: SW UK

Re: Hi everyone. (Long, sorry)

Post by Tom fod »

Hi Joe

Firstly welcome.

All the things you cover are familiar and would be good examples of how you’re affected and would be useful to try to convey to your GP. It would also be worthwhile completing a self assessment questionnaire and if possible printing this. Social anxiety and overthinking so often are part of the package as the emotional impact of feeling different to and/or struggling to keep up with our peers.

Communication, both interpreting and recalling what is said then responding appropriately to what others say either in words or actions to fulfil a request can often be difficult. It is tiring and we often feel slower so try to rush and knock things over. Equally we see the bigger picture and all the potential pitfalls so can quite easily become overwhelmed and paralysed to the point of inaction.

Please feel free to write as much as you need to to convey your points and questions. I definitely find I too do better at written communication than trying to verbally tell someone/explain myself.

Do check out the Resource list in the Getting Help and Assessment section and feel free to ask anything here.
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)
Post Reply