Dyspraxic Adults

I'm vaguely aware that dyspraxia can be acquired after a head injury as well as developmental. After an electric shock (I accidentally touched an electric fence in South Africa - long story) most of my problems started and I was originally 'diagnosed' with dyspraxia at university.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? I'm not talking about an electric shock as I know that is very unlikely for most people unless they've also been working at a wildlife centre in South Africa, but has anyone else had a head injury of some kind that has led to dyspraxia and how have you coped? I don't get much support from doctors, often the assumption is that you have to be stupid to have dyspraxia.

Hi Lizzie

Welcome to our community. While most of us were born with dyspraxia, it's certainly not unheard of for people to have acquired the condition after a traumatic accident or serious illness or event like a stroke. I won't claim to be any kind of expert but I'd say it was perfectly plausible that an electrocution could result in dyspraxia, though not an example I've seen here before. I guess the electric fences to keep wild game under control pack a more considerable jolt than the typical fence setup farmer Giles would use to keep his cattle/sheep/pigs or other stock in.

Sadly a lot of doctors don't have a great deal of knowledge about dyspraxia but while one could mistakenly believe us to be stupid, that kind of assumption is more than likely a prime example of stupidity in itself!

I personally was born with the disorder, I think most people that have it were born with it but I bet it would be possible to get it after birth if you got a VERY-VERY-VERY-VERY bad injury/illness!! I am sorry to hear that you got shocked and also got a misunderstood disorder, <3 best of luck to you. <3 <3

"Acquired dyspraxia" almost sounds like another term for brain damage.

Unlucky to have it or not, we're certainly not stupid. As Tom points out to make that assumption is rather stupid in itself so please never think that you're stupid

I think it is a good question.

Hi and welcome to our community.

I believe there are people who are dyspraxic or who have dyspraxic tendencies but for the most part don't realise they are there. Equally they might have been 'taught' to not accept they're different and have been adept at finding and developing coping strategies that have worked well for them.

Through putting in the characteristic '110 per cent' effort they are able to either excel or get by quite well. The general lack of awareness of the condition has meant people have not been diagnosed. Indeed getting a diagnosis as an adult is a lottery and/or a hard fought achievement in itself. It does seem quite common that some people realise they also have the condition when a child is diagnosed with it.

Finding something that' works well for you is half the battle unfortunately change can sometimes pull the rug from under us or we find in some cases we encounter a glass ceiling that we have to throw ourselves at multiple times to break through. While their may be commonalities, we're very diverse.

Finding love is the one thing I'm still struggling most with too.

P.s your spell checker seems to have substituted supervised for 'surprised'! You can edit your submitted posts when logged in if you want/need to.

Most of the difficulties I have had, particularly when I was younger, were most likely caused by problems I had with my head and brain a few weeks after I was born. Despite being seen by Neurologists, Psychologists and having CT Scans, I was never diagnosed at the time. But since doing a lot of digging around in some "homemade" medical records that my Mum kept updated after each appointment, and looking stuff up online, I believe I had Hydrocephalus.

I am currently trying to pursue a diagnosis (or at the very least, a medical opinion) to find out the cause of my delayed development and social and concentration difficulties. This is easier said than done though. It would help if my GP didn't keep referring me to Mental Health Services