About Dyspraxia written by a Dyspraxic

Due the dyspraxia there may be spelling and grammar mistskes. Some recent experiences has led to me to write this blog. and believe they is still a lack of awareness around dypraxia However it is better then it once was this blog post is attempt to raise awareness.

I was diagnosed with Dyspraxia at around the age of 7 or 8. Growing up Education was difficult. i remember that some teachers in secondarily school appeared to see it as something that made less intelligent that others rather then just needing the right things put in place to reach the same of standards as other pupils without dyspraxia. teachers would sometimes say if i told them i was aiming for a cretin grade "oh that's very unlikely" in PE due to difficulty i will explain further on in this blog i was seen as not trying hard. I did come away from a school with not the best GSCE results. I did however work my way up university and graduated even though they were set backs during my course(not just due to my dyspraxia) for my final stint in university I was fortune enough to have a module tutor that recognised the potential and understood that i just needed to different things put in place to reach my capabilities(again with other difficult as well) in fact without me speficiitly telling him he knew what would find most helpful weather that was adjusting the way i assessed for an assignment or how he went over things on to one to one basis or prompting me when he knew i wanted to ask questions but wasn't sure how to get them out.. As a result of this i walked away with the highest mark for that module.

Now I come to world of employment without going into detail there are cretin traits of dypraxia could be mistaken for noting being bothered, not puting effort in, lack of focus or carelessles when the oppsite might be the case epasilly if this person has not manged to or thought of having one to one conversation with their line manger about dyspraxia and this could lead to difficulty or misunderstandings. something which i've found for me which may be partlly relating to the dyspraxia I can be fine interacting with customors and other staff on my level but get nervous abd quite reserved around mannagers leaning to some coumication diffiercults and misunderstandings.

below is a link to article explaining dyspraxia however personally i don't like thier use of the world poor I believe just saying difficultly may be better why of punting things.

https://www.dyspraxia.ie/Adults-with-Dyspraxia-DCD

its important to clarity that dyspraxia effects every one differently i have below i have taken the points of article that effect me specificity and and have provident further dififfantion on how as it could be the same for someone else or could diffeerdnnt.

• Poor balance. Difficulty in riding a bicycle, going up and down hills. i can ride a bike however it took me longer to learn how to and if i take my hand on one of the handle to sigal i can become womblbly. I can also lose my balance more essailly standing up on moving vechiles

• Poor hand-eye co-ordination. Difficulty with team sports especially those which involve catching a ball and batting. Difficulties with driving a car, i have diffecullty with these things. however sometimes in the past i found over time if its the same thing it gets better as it becomes more muscle memory.

• Lack of rhythm when dancing, doing aerobics: i belive this one comes under trying to tell my brain to do servel diffent things at once with diffent parts of my body.

• Clumsy gait and movement. Difficulty changing direction, stopping and starting actions. this is sometimes the case, i can realise i need to stop but my body has not quite caught up with my brain.

• Exaggerated ‘accessory movements’ such as flapping arms when running, im not sure what further detail to give with this one.

• Lack of manual dexterity. Poor at two-handed tasks, causing problems with using cutlery, cleaning, cooking, ironing, craft work, playing musical instruments. this one of areas that could be mistaken for carelessness. as it lead cretin things looking untidy and not neat. as with the two handed tasks i might be slower and have more difficulty then others if am doing tasks that require one thing to do done with one hand and another to do be done with other at the same time as it rintaillty requires more thought put into . Again i have lernt in the past that if its the same its the task this can get better the over time the more i do it as it becomes more muslcle memory

• Inadequate grasp. Difficulty using tools and domestic implements, locks and keys. one of the main areas that this trips me up with is use of a tin opener which may seem like an incredibly simple task to anyone with dyspraxia

• Poor visual perception: prehraps in cretin ways, I may not remember exactly how something is done rightist way if someones just shown(however showing me is better then just telling me how to do something but i learn most by doing things)

• Poor sequencing causes problems with maths, reading and spelling and writing reports at work. As you may have come across

• Difficulty in distinguishing sounds from background noise. Tendency to be over-sensitive to noise. can sometimes have difficulty blocking out background noise.

• Over- or under-sensitive to smell and taste, temperature and pain. I have a very low pain

• Little sense of time, speed, distance or weight. Leading to difficulties driving, cooking, may take longer to do these tasks then others at least at the beginning

• Inadequate sense of direction. Difficulty distinguishing right from left means map reading skills are poor. when growing to new places or places that i'm not yet familler with i can get lost easily. may always have trouble giving other people directions

• May talk continuously and repeat themselves. Some people with dyspraxia/DCD have difficulty with organising the content and sequence of their language. this leads tp pherherps something I said being misunderstood by others

• Speech may have uncontrolled pitch, volume and rate. this more likely when i get upset or am trying to get the point across. this can lead to people thinking I am being rude when i'm not

• Difficulty in planning and organising thought. this lead me to jumping

• Poor memory, especially short-term memory. May forget and lose things. if am given a lot of information at once i'm likey to forget something straight away and may need it repeated in a work setting this may be mistaken for not listening or paying attention.

• Unfocused and erratic. Can be messy and cluttered. Another thing may be mistaken for carelessness in a work environment.

• Difficulty in following instructions, especially more than one at a time. This would be more the case with verbal instructions I can either miss some or miss understanding

• Difficulty with concentration. May be easily distracted. i can get sometimes get disterted easily

• Difficulty in picking up non-verbal signals or in judging tone or pitch of voice in themselves and or others. Tendency to take things literally. May listen but not understand. this is another thing that at least in my experience can result in me misunderstanding a instruction given me in a work enivermoment which again may

• Slow to adapt to new or unpredictable situations. Sometimes avoids them altogether. This one is only partly true with me.. while i may take a little bit longer to get used to it. I don't avoid them. And can still enjoy jobs where things are changing all the time.

• Impulsive. Tendency to be easily frustrated, wanting immediate gratification. i can get fustarstand if i make mistakes or somethings i've done hasn't gone quite right

• Tend to get stressed, depressed and anxious easily. I have always got stressed more easilly then others.

• Prone to low self-esteem, emotional outbursts, phobias, fears, obsessions, compulsions and addictive behaviour: I can actully struggle with coffidence in mysleaf

I hope this has provided some better understanding to anyone reading this. I would like to address some points to anyone that's come across this who has some kind authority over someone with dyspraxia weather that teaching them(including in higher education) or managing them.

If you're teaching them work with them to put things in place to help reach the potential and if tell you that certain adjustment would work better for listen to this

If you're a manager of someone that shows the above traits even if they haven't a conversation with you about dyspraxia as they have either not thought of not yet had the courage to pull you aside and explain it to you especially if there still fairly new to the job. What I would first suggest is ask them if there is anything that effects them with these things if they do happen be dyspraxic or even have another hidden disability this would give them the opportunity to explain it to you. Ask how best support them with this to allow them to do their job. This may be extra time and patience when doing tasks their may be specific aspects of the role they need more time and support with then others try not to get frustrated if there's certain aspects of the role they take a long time with also slow time to learn and improve on things(to add if you get visibly frustuctard and imply you're not happy with them this may actually hider them more rather them help them) . More time to to get up to speed in a new job especially if the working style is something they may not be used to. Tying in the last point if they appear to lack confidence give it time for this to improve before making any decisions impacting their future in the job.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

I

has led to write this blog post.