Does anyone else wonder if they have dyspraxia?

[Spinelli99]

It's something I've questioned my entire life. I've failed 9 driving tests, a lot of it was due to nerves but I feel that I've always struggled with coordination.
I work in social care and sometimes struggle with things like hoisting, positioning slings/pads on people. I dread the double up calls because I know sometimes the other person will get frustrated at me. Sometimes when people give me verbal instructions I will get confused.
They'll ask me 'can you grab that thing off the shelf' and I'll be looking at the wrong shelf and they'll be like no up, left, down, right, whatever.
If I ask for directions to a place and someone sprouts verbal directions at me it's pointless, I need to see it written down.
I know some people think I'm bit dozey/in the clouds. I've always been considered as intelligent but a bit 'not with it '.
I don't do it on purpose and I do try to concentrate but it makes me feel ashamed. It does make me wonder about dyspraxia and seeking a diagnosis, does anyone else have this or suspect it?

I'm dyspraxic and have EDS. Diagnosed at 21 and 25 respectively. My PE teacher when I was at primary school said I would make a wonderful gymnast, if only I could balance!

I was diagnosed via my GP. This was a good 12 years or so ago now. She referred me to a neurologist who made the diagnosis.

Like others, I can't drive or ride a bike. I struggle to tell left from right. I'm very clumsy, constantly drop and spill things. I always have random bruises. I was 14 or 15 before my parents allowed me to pour my own drinks (I used to over pour them until the liquid spilled out of the glass). I was in the 6th form before I was allowed to carry my own cereal bowl to the table as I always used to spill the milk from it.

I'm glad I got my diagnosis for my own understanding. I used to have reasonable adjustments for it but now work somewhere I'm allowed to just get on with things as I need to. Also, I have reasonable adjustments for other things that cover what I need for the dyspraxia.

How does the diagnostic criteria differ from inattentive adhd? Is it also a neurological difference.

Well now I am (typical)!

left and right confusion, couldn't pass my driving test, hated PE because I could never figure out the instructions in games, couldn't do simple gymnastics, could never follow a dance routine etc. Can't do yoga as I'm constantly being repositioned or told I've done it backward and it's embarrassing!

I have quite bad ADHD as well

I think maybe my six year old daughter has.

Did you find it hard to learn to ride a bike and swim?

I was diagnosed aged 9. Happy to answer any questions.
Ps on driving lessons, I will never drive. Its something I accepted some years ago and have happily settled near a main public transport route.

My son is severely dyspraxic. His balance is 0.01%. I had never heard of the condition until he was diagnosed. He isn't clumsy, he is extremely cautious.

I put all my struggles down to my dyslexia but I think maybe I could be dyspraxic too.

same here. that's why I'm scared to drive because I don't want to hurt people

It took me 3 attempts to pass my driving test and haven't actually driven since.

Rubbish at PE all the way through school - no hand eye coordination

Can't ride a bike

Walk into doorways

Struggled with handwriting through most of primary school although I can write neatly now.

Find it difficult to plan motor actions eg my sister and I were doing some gardening for my Mum. One job involved getting bark from the huge bag it had been delivered in, into a wheelbarrow to take it round to the back. My sister got a spade and started shovelling. I tried but couldn't work out how to link the movements, was overwhelmed and just used my hands to scoop the bark out.

I haven't had a diagnosis of dyspraxia but I have had an adult diagnosis of asd and dyspraxia can be comorbid with that.

Forgot to add

Rubbish dancer

Can't keep up with an aerobics or step kind of classes because I can't process the instructions and translate what I see people doing into movements with my own body.

Love yoga but new positions take so long to learn because I can't just look at what the instructor is doing or follow a verbal instruction. It takes ages working out if I'm moving a left or a right arm/leg, if it's going in front of or behind a different body part etc.

I really struggle with food shop. Especially packing bags at end. Putting them in car in logical way. Anyone have the same with food shop?

took me 5 attempts at driving test.

bump into everything.

i loved dancing as a child, but had to work so hard (at home) to remember the routines.

I do too op. Bump into things a lot, directions are a struggle. also hyper mobile. One of my kids now has a similar dx.

I can't tell if you're snide and passive-aggressive or just ignorant. Dyspraxia affects a million different things with varying severity.

As I posted earlier: I have diagnosed dyspraxia and I can drive, but only in an automatic and it took a very long time to learn. I also didn't drive for several years after passing my test due to anxiety. I'm still anxious driving anywhere new and I spend loads of time studying the route, any roundabouts, lane changes, etc on google street view.

I rely heavily on sat nav but even that is of limited use because I struggle to judge distance, either hearing it or by looking at the little map. I paid £££ to have a reversing camera retro-fitted to my car because it's absolutely non-negotiable to me. Without it, I could never reverse park.

Several people have commented on how well I drive, and how safe they feel in my car, because I have to pay such close attention to every action. I don't speed and I double check before I make any manoeuvre. I can't talk to my passenger or even just listen to them talk; I need 100% focus on the road to mitigate my very real, diagnosed dyspraxia that is laughably far beyond "just clumsiness".

For what it's worth, I get PIP and was awarded a fair whack of points on the "planning and following a journey" section because of it.

I still don't really know what it is.!

Oh. Just saw this line.

Maybe you shouldn't comment on other people's experiences then

What?

I’m diagnosed dyspraxic (plus other things) and passed my driving test in a manual car first time.

Automatic cars with parking sensors EVERYWHERE make life a lot easier, though!

I replied to you at length, then saw your other post where you admitted you don’t really know what dyspraxia is, despite having it. My two comments to you were posted back to back and make more sense if read in order.

Yes, always had poor balance, can't hop or jump, my manual dexterity is shocking, my writing is awful. PE lessons at school were a nightmare, I couldn't run, throw or catch. It took me 5 attempts to pass my driving test. I'm autistic & dyspraxia often goes hand in hand with Autism.

DS is diagnosed dyspraxic along with dyslexia and autism.
His fine motor control is poor. At 12, he struggles to use cutlery despite 99% of the meals he's ever eaten being at a table. We're still battling the easiest way to do shoe laces. Sports, he's not so bad, but he can only scoot on one leg and gallop one-sided. The chaos that can come from dyspraxia does not intersect neatly with autistic perfectionism...

I suspect that the apple didn't fall from the tree... and had wondered about dyspraxia ever since I heard of it. My instinct in PE was to (very sensibly I may add) duck or brace when someone was stupid enough to throw a projectile at me. Why stand there optomistically doing physics working out the parabola and optomistically get your hands into the right point of the space/ time continuum, and more likely risk breaking your nose??? Just why???
Swimming I got the hang of finally at 16 at adult 1:1 lessons after years of school teachers screeching and flapping around failed to teach anything. I was one of two non-swimmers out of 60 in the year. Bike riding, I finally cracked at 19.
I love dancing but my brain and body don't agree on choreography. Yoga videos, I have to work out if the leg/ arm being used is at the back/ front of the screen to match them. DH knows when I'm navigating to focus on my physical cues and ignore the random verbal instructions that contradict. The physical cues are 99% right.

Driving took a year of very regular lessons and it was finer details like clutch control that took time. I passed second time, and 20 years on still drive very much with my instructor's teachings in mind. Clear record, but I do veer towards risk adverse if there is doubt.

Very scatty, messy, open plan. In sight is in mind. A tidy desk is an empty brain. Things will be missed/ forgotten. I don't often forget outright, I just don't remember at opportune moments. This week I proudly handed DH the parts of his gym kit that were easy to forget from the tumble dryer... at the cost of the parts that I'd already put by the door as soon as he sent the message. A lot of feedback at school was about planning and details. My teachers knew I knew it from my Hermione Granger-esque verbal answers, but getting it on paper was much more Ron Weasley (and put together at the last moment... like 6am the day it was due in) DS uses my organisation survival method of carry it all to avoid forgetting it- I have tried suggesting lighter methods, but he's determined to keep going with the heavy-weight way.

Since learning more through DS's sensory issues, I am more sensory than average. What I do have diagnosed is "Obscure Auditory Dysfunction" where basically my ears do hear it, but my brain loses parts of the input. This caused issues at school and indirectly nearly caused failiure of A-level French after failing to pick up and record stage 5 out of a 6 stage homework and the teacher's reaction caused a massive breakdown in my confidence in the subject repaired by a private tutor.

I do wonder if there is some kind of dyspraxia- inattentive ADHD mix going on. My PE teachers just thought that no one could genuinely be that shit and I must just be idle. I realised when I covered PE lessons that I just can't process the action and do things like keep score or remember who did what.

Curiously most of my friends are some combination of dyslexic/ dyspraxic/ autistic. They just make more sense than most.

My planning is none existent, I'm always losing things, I'm very untidy, something like tidying up is a nightmare because I don't know where to start. I have to have hickies in shoes & trainers because I can't keep them tied up or trip over laces, I fall or trip over frequently.

One particularly stupid teacher put me in a skipping race when I was 7...
I didn't get the hang of that until I was 10...

Fortunately I didn't stand there practicing for 3 years until it clicked. I sensibly fell over the stupid bloody rope a few times in an attempt to follow the others, then dumped the stupid bloody thing and stomped to the end. Then was sent stomping off to fetch the sodding thing back.

Surely it's just sensible to ask if children can skip before plonking them in front of the whole school and humiliating them like that!

Most of my PE lessons were spent stomping after rogue projectiles. Or being subsitute if I got lucky.

A particùlarly stereotypical PE teacher decided that I was not going to practice tennis with my inept friends, and decided that I should play against the wall instead. The bastard wall totally outclassed me as it could hit the ball back every time, so I had to stomp off to go and fetch the stupid sphere and attempt to serve to the wall another 5 times, and repeat.

My son was diagnosed at age 18. Most of his issues are fine motor, with some planning, timing, and organization issues. He loses things. He's not a great driver but he passed on the first try. Shortly after he got into an accident; luckily no one was hurt. We've since got him extra training and encourage him to practice with an adult in the car. His physical skills are all over the map. In spite of loving soccer, he never could acquire any skill. He struggled with swimming. He can barely tie his shoes. But he is weirdly good at martial arts and dance.

So, is it worth getting a diagnosis as an adult if one has strong suspicions/evidence? It wasn't a widely understood condition when I was at school so I flew under the radar. When I found a description of dyspraxia online & read some personal testimonies it was a lightbulb moment for me. I can't have it severely as I've always managed to adapt, avoid or find work-arounds but my experience tells me that the relationship between my brain & my body is not 'normal'.

@AppleBlossomTimeNow - it depends. For me, it was worth it as I needed work to deal with some noise issues. Plus we are short of offices and there is a danger we will be asked to share offices, which I would struggle with. The thin walls are bad enough but luckily I have reasonably quiet neighbours.

It is also very validating to know that it's not just you and there is a reason for it all. For example, I tend to ask questions or comments (stuff like "oh no" or "did that work?", not taking over the conversation) when someone is speaking, which apparently some people find irritating. It's my adaptation to keep track of the conversation as I struggle to keep track of verbal discussions otherwise. A casual friend had a go at me over that once and it really upset me as I felt I was showing interest in what was being said. Unfortunately I hadn't the diagnosis then so just apologised and don't speak when she's speaking any more. I try to avoid her company now but can't always.

The reality is, the diagnosis makes no practical difference unless you need accommodations at work. If you do need them, then definitely go for it. If not, it's just a question of whether you would like to understand why you are how you are.

I actually find this comment quite offensive.

Dyspraxia presents differently in different people. I know dyspraxics who do drive and those that don't. You'd be surprised what dyspraxics CAN do. I took years to learn to drive and my licence is automatic as I struggle with the coordination for gears. Still a nervous driver. Yet I can swim well, ceilidh dance beautifully, wrap most presents quite nicely, sew on buttons and open champagne bottles. My equally dyspraxic mother and I are good at putting up flat pack furniture as a team.

I would struggle to take in a set of instructions, I work slowly, I struggle at team sports - no coordination for anything with a ball, I can't open things that are meant to part/pop open easily or work childproof items, didn't understand how a navigational compass worked until I was in my 20s, I can just about tie my laces and do up zips and I can't cut in a straight line with paper scissors.

As with pp, I am also hypermobile ; ankle joints are wrecked, physical tasks tire me v quickly, have issues with noise/sound; I don't cope with loud noises and sound "hits" me, I react to it physically, and have spent my life smacking into and cannoning off wall edges or bits of furniture I've walked into. I've spent a lot of my life with people assuming I'm entirely stupid because I struggle with something they deem elementary. Pps post seems to suggest that any competency means one cannot be dyspraxic and thus underestimates dyspraxics.

Thank you @OchonAgusOchonOh - that's helpful. How did you go about getting a diagnosis? I'm sorry if that's an intrusive question, I'm just beginning to think it might be helpful to know definitively.