Dyspraxic Adults

I’m doing a work experience placement in a publishing house. I’m doing an MA course in publishing and I know I’m going to find aspects of it difficult because of poor organisation etc. But it’s little motor skills based things that make me look like an idiot.

Everything’s been going fine on my placement and I’ve loved the creative side but then yesterday I was given some basic organising/filing to do. It was just putting a pile of documents in order, putting them in plastic document wallets and then in a file ready for a meeting one of the bosses needs to take them too.

I was so slow! And even after the system, the order and the way things were filed was explained to me I still did it wrong twice. Then someone came to help which made it even worse, I was very aware that they were there and I kept finding difficult to get things in their little plastic wallets.

It’s just upsetting knowing that I was doing ok and then making myself look like an idiot over the most basic of tasks.

Does anyone else ever have things like this happen? How do you cope?

Should I tell people when I start at a new job that I have dyspraxia? It’s just that in publishing it feels like something you shouldn’t admit. I really want to work in publishing but I think dyslexia might be a bit of a career killer, saying that though I've found every job I've had difficult.

Hi Ellie welcome to the forum or is it the fora? I suspect that there are a quite a few people with our condition who work in the publishing industry as many of us are creative and have a good sense of how things should look.

We don't always do well when we put ourselves under pressure to do fiddly or unfamiliar things quickly as our brains want us to check and double check and check again. What was the attitude of the person who came to help you out? What other stuff have you done on the placement and how has that been?

I would say that although my handwriting is scrawly at times and while I do misread things sometimes. I saw my friends copy of the Sun today and read the headline as Ryan (Giggs) is a Woman It actually said Worm. I'm generally pretty good and do report writing in my job and read a lot and enjoy it.

What was your Dyslexia 'score' in the assessment. Maybe you heard the word dyslexia used and are assuming it's much worse than it is. there are varying degrees and you sound like your not that dyslexic at all. Please don't be too hard on yourself. Give yourself a chance no one is good everything though some people seem to infuriatingly seem to make things easy. Even us at times!

All the best

Tom

I would have a quiet word with someone dealing with your placement and let them know. If you are doing well in other aspects of the job this will help even out the balance with the aspects you struggle with. I had a similar situation at work, but I had 8 people standing watching me and waiting for the documents. Cringy. Have a word.

Don't beat yourself up for being dyslexic, it's not like you chose to be that way.

And remember when you're feeling down... Some pretty impressive people are/were dyslexic including in no particluar order... Tom Cruise, Muhammad Ali, Sirs Richard Branson & Jackie Stewart and even believe it or not Albert Einstein and Lenoardo da Vinci to name but a few.

Basically, you're in good company