Hello!

[Page]

Hi, my name is Will.

I hail from Long Beach, CA, USA. I'm a 22 year old guy, and I am attending California State University Long Beach as a creative writing major and a technical writing minor. I haven't officially been diagnosed with Dyspraxia, but I do have a lot of the symptoms, some of which are quite severe.

1. My speech and language formation is considerably affected. I'm a writer at heart and I have a well-developed command of the English language, but my speaking ability is damaged. I've always stuttered a lot and I have the habit of stopping and repeating words that I've already said. I also forget to breathe while talking. This caused me a lot of problems when I was younger, but as I got older and had fairly comprehensive speech therapy I've learned to control it somewhat by slowing down (basically, I'm thinking and forming words much faster than my body can allow, so I have to slow down to match my body's limited speed).

2. I have physical coordination issues. When I was younger, I moved slower and had terrible hand-eye coordination. I couldn't catch or hit a ball or play sports worth a damn, and I often had trouble keeping my balance. Even now, I tend to trip over my own feet sometimes. My handwriting was always abysmal (even more so after I sustained a physical injury to my wrist) and as a result, my handwriting is illegible to the point where I must type everything. This means that I have to carry a laptop with me everywhere I go.

3. Another symptom of dyspraxia is poor memory retention and sequencing skills. This utterly destroyed me when I was younger because I was never able to be proficient in math because solving equations required a specific procedure that I could never manage to follow. This math difficulty very nearly kept me from getting accepted to Cal State Long Beach because they have a math requirement for transfer students. I was able to satisfy all of the transfer requirements except for the math. However, I got in thanks to the disabled students program pulling a few strings on my behalf.

All of these things made me somewhat of a social parish when I was younger, but now that I'm an adult things are looking better b/c people get more accepting as they get older.


Anyway, I'm glad that I found this site and I plan to drop by frequently.

[Walltowall]

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[nick]

Hi welcome Will, your symptoms sound almost identical to mine and i have been diagnosed.

I lived in Los Angeles from 1991 to 2001 until i got in trouble with the law and was forced back to England. I finished my days in LA in the valley in Reseda. I never lived in Long Beach but i passed through it, or rather pass by it, on the 405 freeway.

What sort of things do you like doing in LA and where do you hang out? I miss it quite alot but London is pretty good, so i can't complain to much.

[Greg]

Greetings and salutations,
Can't comment on the math things, since it's always been a strong point for me. I know where you're coming from with the handwriting and co-ordination issue though, sounds like things haven't gone well :(
Still it's good that you got the uni to accept you and it's nice to have another student roaming the boards. Cursing examination procedure is more rewarding the more people understand it all ;)

[Page]

What sort of things do you like doing in LA and where do you hang out? I miss it quite alot but London is pretty good, so i can't complain to much.

I don't really do that much outside of work and school right now. Both keep me occupied constantly. Sometimes my girlfriend and I have time in our busy schedules to go out and spend a few hours together, but that is pretty much the extent of my social life.

[nick]

I was not as busy as you. So i used to go out clubbing quite a lot. Not the clubs on the sunset strip but the underground rave parties. Also, being English meant that i hung out a bit at santa monica and palms but i never really got into the expat scene. I never realy understood the logic of travelling thousands of miles to ignore the locals and hang out with other brits. In addition to that, i got into hanging out in Manhattan Beach for a while because i had friends their. But they are all quite different areas to Long Beach.

[Page]

I was never really into clubbing because the loud noise and bright stobes/lasers really makes me uncomfortable. The same thing with concerts.

[keiraknightleyfan27]

Hi, I'm Shanna (aka Hermionefan5 from DT). I'm from Oswego, Illinois, USA and I am currently at school (college). I love the Chicago Cubs and I am very sad they are not doing well this year (but I can't stop believing in them for some reason or another as I've been a fan my whole life). I am a journalism major and I don't officially have dyspraxia because I am diagnosed with a Nonverbal Learning Disbility (similar to dyspraxia in some ways).

I have trouble with short term memory. I used to have much trouble with coordination (as I had trouble with writing-gripped my pencil way too hard). I also have always had trouble with gymnastics. However, I have been able to run and play things like soccer, softball, and basketball quite well for some reason. It took me four long years to get officially off training wheels and I am a bit behind in driving a car as well. I can drive, but it is awefully hard for me still!

I have trouble with math as well (I think math and I will always be at odds). But I am pretty good at English and writing. I love to write stories and I dream of being an author someday. I like movies a lot and I like to read. I LOVE Harry Potter novels and I LOVE Nicholas Sparks novels. I have a few close friends, but mostly aquintances and I like it that way. I am a Christian (presbyterian if you want to know exact type). I like all types of music in moderation and I play Alto Saxophone, piano, and guitar. I love animals. I hope you enjoy your stay here and you weren't too bored by my letter.

~Shanna~

[david456]

Hi Will,

I'm 19 years old and can relate to your problems. I am a creative person too. I hope you find the forum of use to you.

David,

[Daniel]

Hi, welcome to the forum, Page!

I'm Dan, 27, and currently in Vladivostok, Russia for reasons that are explained in the lounge section! Thanks for sharing your background, a lot of it sounds very familiar.