Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

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athletic dysprax
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Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by athletic dysprax »

Anytime I search dyspraxia I find nothing positive about dyspraxia? How come it's frustrating
Dan
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Dan »

Well, it adversely affects us, so why it would be seen positively is beyond me. I will say that Dyspraxics, in my opinion, tend to be smarter than average, but I otherwise find the condition to be shitty.
Jim
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Jim »

Maybe we could be looking at it from a different perspective though.

Instead of thinking 'Why is there nothing positive about dyspraxia?'

Why not 'Wow, look at those dypraxics doing positive things'.

There are some if you know where to look. ;)
“When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie
That's amore” :whistle:
Tom fod
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Tom fod »

Conforming to the peeceived image of what 'normal' is will always be a chaĺlenge as being great in our own unique way is sadly not as readily recognised.

There are some positive examples here and elsewhere on the web, but sometimes we sadly aren't in the right place to be able to feel uplifted or inspired.
Tom
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athletic dysprax
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by athletic dysprax »

A simple google search of positives of dyspraxia

+ We can be very creative!
+ Find alternative ways to learn,
+ Not as stupid at first glance,
+ Have excellent determination,
+ Have a great sense of humour,
+ We have more empathy and generally we are very helpful.
+ When we get motivated. We get REALLY motivated!!

Those show 0 skills that would make anyone want to be dyspraxic or hire one of us in the work place. 0 intangible skills. I am athletic and a investment banker and everything positive about dyspraxia is taken from the r....d that could.
Tom fod
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Tom fod »

I sense some cynicism, but I know I can be very cynical myself too!

To me the examples you provide are all desirable attributes/qualities, rather than tangible skills. However these qualities are valuable in themselves and if employers are able to value diversity and look to ft roles around people rather than trying to shoe-horn people into ill fitting roles they can take advantage of different and innovative thinking to get ahead. Employers need to be able to spot and develop talent but with conventional thinking that isn't always easy. Yes our condition in many circumstances doesn't do us any favours, we might struggle to find and get to an interview, get confused and mess up our answers to questions asked, due to the pressure we all too often put on ourselves. but give us free reign, the right support and a problem to solve and we have the motivation and determination to find a solution to things other minds have battled with and puzzled over.

Dyspraxia is one aspect of our whole self and I think there is a tendency to see it as everything that is bad/wrong about ourselves rather than trying to see/find the positives and understand why we're different and have the confidence to be who we are and show what we can bring to the table if given the opportunity and flexibility to be allowed to shine.

Sadly there are many barriers and many of us feel very lost and all too often bereft of hope. We're odd shaped pegs being hammered/trying to hammer ourselves into round/square holes. Athletic and Dyspraxic are not typically found together but many of us are in awe that there are people here who have managed to find a niche for themselves in roles that some would say someone with dyspraxia is totally not suited to, never in a million years! Our own individual journeys' are likely to be difficult with wrong turns, setbacks and pitfalls but hopefully these journeys will inspire others and give them the hope to keep going.

I appreciate you and others may want to/be quite able to shoot holes in what I've written, but let's have a constructive debate and. share our different but equally valid perspectives.
Last edited by Tom fod on Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: frustrated perfectionist at work
Tom
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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)
athletic dysprax
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by athletic dysprax »

Tom thank you for your response.

I recently found out about this. My " social awkwardness " I believe comes from abuse and not my dyspraxia. For me I believe my dyspraxia is the cause of physical issues.

I'm going by my story but not sure why dyspraxia isn't labeled a physical disorder over a social or learning?
Desert Rose
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Desert Rose »

Not being a conventional person isn't a bad thing in my experience, in fact it can result in you being more creative, imaginative, introspective, thoughtful and generally quite smart as a result. I would say this is a result of not being so constrained by the "mainstream" mode of thought, one is very conscious of their struggle with fitting in, ergo, are more likely to forge their own unique way in life. I think it can be a blessing, despite the difficulties.
Dan
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Dan »

Desert Rose wrote:Not being a conventional person isn't a bad thing in my experience, in fact it can result in you being more creative, imaginative, introspective, thoughtful and generally quite smart as a result. I would say this is a result of not being so constrained by the "mainstream" mode of thought, one is very conscious of their struggle with fitting in, ergo, are more likely to forge their own unique way in life. I think it can be a blessing, despite the difficulties.
Well written and accurate post. I do think that we, as Dyspraxics, many of whom have Asperger's as well, have brains conducive to abstract approaches to problems we face. Perhaps we may over-analyse; perhaps we find it frustrating, but we get through it in our own way. :)

In terms of Dyspraxia being defined as a learning disability, not a physical disorder - Dyspraxia is rooted in the brain. Multiple Sclerosis (otherwise known as MS) causes very clear physical symptoms, but it is defined as neurological due to it affecting the myelin sheath in our brains, not our muscles, at al.
Desert Rose
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Desert Rose »

Dan wrote:Perhaps we may over-analyse; perhaps we find it frustrating, but we get through it in our own way. :)
This definitely seems to be the case, it has been observed in me by others and I see no need to deny it, the frustration and confusion that I cause myself sometimes is something I'm able to overcome, but sometimes I need gentle reminders from friends that know me well.
Tom fod
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Tom fod »

athletic dysprax wrote:Tom thank you for your response.

I recently found out about this. My " social awkwardness " I believe comes from abuse and not my dyspraxia. For me I believe my dyspraxia is the cause of physical issues.

I'm going by my story but not sure why dyspraxia isn't labeled a physical disorder over a social or learning?

You're welcome. Social awkwardness and Dyspraxia do seem to go together but there can of course be other contributing factors to this

As others have stated above Dyspraxia is deemed to be a neurological condition since the physical effects stem from the body's central processing system (that brain thing).

Dyspraxia is complex and also often affects working memory, coordination and organisation of thoughts/actions etc. Hence it's also considered a learning difficulty (or diffence) by some. There are some crossovers with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) such as Aspergers but people won't necessarily tick all the boxes necessary to receive formal diagnosis of any one of, or both conditions.
Tom
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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)
allesandro
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by allesandro »

I agree there is nothing positive about this. I agree we tend to be intelligent people. I've read that sleepy, foggy state that many of us experience could be the comorbid result of the disparity between our intelligence and the inability to translate that into action. Having people think you're stupid when you actually are is one thing but having them think your an idiot when you're actually very intelligent is quite another
allesandro
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by allesandro »

"Why is there nothing positive online about dyspraxia?"" Two reasons: because ya can't shine ****, and ya can't make chicken soup out of chicken ****." That's what my grandmother would say anyway, only in Italian, which makes it sound so much more eloquent.
Beloved
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Beloved »

This is a very interesting discussion topic. For me, Dyspraxia, and Dyslexia (or learning difficulties) which I've both make me empathetic to other people with disabilities.

I've always been the odd ball, loving long walks alone, talking to myself, finding humour in daily life around me. Sure, my humour may be werid and not 'mainstream', but that's what makes me unique.

Having learning difficulties causes me to observe more than normal people. For example, i'm constantly looking at people's body language, dress style and in particular the shoes they wear. More often than not, we're constantly rushing from place to place without observing others.

For me, I make a point to say thank you to the 'small people' such as toilet cleaners, sweepers and bus drivers. It's the small details that make up life
Xam
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Re: Why nothing positive online about dyspraxia?

Post by Xam »

allesandro wrote:I agree there is nothing positive about this. I agree we tend to be intelligent people. I've read that sleepy, foggy state that many of us experience could be the comorbid result of the disparity between our intelligence and the inability to translate that into action. Having people think you're stupid when you actually are is one thing but having them think your an idiot when you're actually very intelligent is quite another
That is the story of my life.

I always felt I wasn't exactly on par with the others, mostly smarter to say the least. Of course, my social abilities and my mediocre scholar results said the opposite.
It is only in Uni times that I began to feel better and a way to express myself. I began to catch up my wasted teenage years in my adult time, but it's far from perfect and I still had to face some serious social troubles (especially recently). Still, that the moment I met with C. (I'll call him that), an older guy doing a PhD, whom was asocial enough to despise most students (especially considering he had to teach some of them), "but found something" within me. We became very friend during 7 years, like brothers. We had the same obscur musical and cultural tastes, the same uncommon political views, etc etc. He was and still is a very very very intelligent guy (yup, even for PhD) and acted as my mentor : basically he took my potential and managed to make something good of it. Sadly we are in cold terms since one year, but that is something else.

And after all that, after realizing that most of my relatives (all of them ?) whom come from the same "social milieu", whom have straight better aptitudes both physically and mentally (like : reading for example) are far behind me intellectually and morally because of sheer laziness, and that I'm not even that well considered by them (like : before I was considered as "below average" ; now they might consider me as "slightly over average") after all the efforts and work I've put on, wel : it makes me mad. And quite lonely. You can't have a social life with such anger. Not to mention an affective life, but I'm even much more far from it.
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