Dyspraxia assessment

[Tinselviolin]

Has anyone had a dyspraxia assessment done as an adult? I'm due to have one through my university, and I'm not sure what to expect. It's 3 hours apparently.

My DDs both had OT assessments at more or less the same time, one was 10 and one was 15. They were very similar, except the 15yo was given slightly harder things to try on occasion. I can't really see why a 15yo would be far different from an adult. (DD1 diagnosed with dyspraxia)

Things she had to do that I can remember:

• kneel on all 4s and stretch out left arm and right leg and hold it (and then vice versa)
• walk backwards toe to heel on a straight line without looking round
• throw a juggling ball at a target
• follow a maze through with a pencil
• transfer pegs from one board to another
• sorting things into order
• remembering things and repeating them / saying them in reverse
• I'm sure there were quite a few other things too

There was also a section where I talked to / filled out a questionnaire about things they had difficulties with. The OT also noted things like DD1 talking to try to distract from having to do a hard task.

Hope this helps.

I had to do all the above (assessed at 7, 12, checked again at 18) plus lots of cognitive stuff eg writing speed, reading comprehension, drawing pictures, doing ‘spot the difference’ puzzles, finding an object in a picture eg where’s wally , lots of basic maths and spelling etc . Threading buttons, laces ... Also a very difficult test where they showed me a pattern made from wooden blocks and then asked me to recreate that pattern ... I found that impossible sadly !

Very different to assessments as a child where I remember a great deal of lying on the floor whilst they moved my head, neck, legs and arms to check if I had hyperextending joints !!

Thank you - it's reassuring to know what sort of thing I might be asked to do. Tbh I'm not sure if I'm going to come out as dyspraxic or just a bit clumsy/ slow. I'm just fed up of not being able to explain why I bump into things and people all the time, I can't give or take directions, I'm often late even though I try hard not to be, my writing is slowish and I can't throw or catch and so on. The walking backwards one sounds particularly tricky!

I've already done a questionnaire which they said made it look like it was worth doing an assessment

Tinsel What we were surprised with for DD1 was not the motor skills issues (which we were well aware of), but how related things were impacting her:

• organisation
• ability to write to a mark scheme
• ability to recognise what information is most relevant/important

and for her to a lesser extent

• her sensitivity to texture of food and clothing materials

The analogy I can give is my mind is like filing cabinet, all beautifully cross referenced. DD1's mind is more like you've tipped all the files out of the cabinet and scattered them all over the floor. So not only does she find it hard to retrieve information unless you point her at it, but she struggles then to find other related info.
NB Not everyone with dyspraxia has this problem!

I'm not sure I do have that problem, but I do struggle with organisation. Weirdly, the questionnaire asked if I had a lot of difficulties to obtain basic skills of maths and English gcse.. Given that the university entrance requirements were AAA at A level, this would seem unlikely

One thing that I didn't realise could be related was that while I've always loved dancing and going out, when I'm in a crowded place after 45 minutes or so I desperately need to get out, it's like a panic where I physically cannot stay there any longer, my chest tightens and I just have to get out and close my eyes and cover my ears to shut out the world for a few minutes

I think there's a lot of overlap between Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and some aspects of Autism. Apart from the motor skills, it's a bit pot luck which extras you get with dyspraxia. (That's my theory anyway).

Yeah I feel like there's a lot of extra stuff that different people may or may not get. Various older family members probably also have dyspraxia (one is really pronounced even though never diagnosed as she's in her 60s), and some things I thought were just personal quirks turned out to be related when I started looking into it properly