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?

@AppleBlossomTimeNow I'm in Ireland so it's a different system. I went privately as, even if it's possible to go public, I would expect the waiting time to be ridiculous. After health insurance (50% rebate) and tax rebate, it was approx €150 so well worth it to me. Upfront cost was €400.

I contacted an OT who specialises in dyspraxia in adults and she assessed me. I would need to get the diagnosis confirmed by a doctor who would need to rule out neurological causes but haven't bothered with that bit as the OT report is sufficient for work to give me accommodations.

If you can afford to go private, I would suggest googling occupational therapist dyspraxia assessment, or similar. The Dyspraxia society may also have a list of practitioners.

Although I just looked at https://www.dyspraxiauk.com/bookingcosts.php and it is insanely expensive for a private assessment in the UK! It's £865 or £965 in London. That's between 2.5 and 2.8 times what it cost me.

I am not officially diagnosed, but know I have dyspraxia.

It can be quite varied as I see from this thread, but it does just confirm it for me.

I do drive, and I passed my test first time, so this task alone isn't a set in stone struggle. But I do have to have Google maps on permanently, as I am awful with directions. Even if I know where I am going, it isnt automatic that I will know the route. I have to think of how to get there every time. Obviously not to the next road, but any trip which involves various roads. The amount of times I didn't think it though and ended up in the complete opposite direction.... My ex took the piss out of me my whole married life, so it is embarrassing for me, so I never ever tell anyone. I just make mental notes.

I fall over all the time, drop things, lose things. I can never follow one of these group dances ever. I don't go to gym classes where everyone needs to follow the instructor, as I am the one that is always going the other way.

I need to write things down to recall them. If someone gives me a verbal shopping list, there is no way I'm getting everything on there. I use lists. Even my DC know not to tell me they need XYZ without writing it on the list.

I'm hypermobile too, and have misophonia, I am not sure if that is linked. I have been called quirky more times than I care to remember , probably as I am just so awkward really.

It is just how it is really, so tbh I never really thought of getting an actual diagnosis. I am in my 50s now.

I posted earlier on the thread about some of my traits (not diagnosed dyspraxic but adult diagnosis of autism and the 2 are often linked).

I've been particularly interested in how many people say that they have got no sense of direction.

I hadn't realised that this could be linked.

Whenever we go on holiday and are wandering around a new town, my dp and dd seem to get a feel for a place really quickly. They recognise streets and know what direction to go to get back to our hotel.

I never have a clue. If they decided to run off and leave me, it would take me days to find where I needed to go!

I think it was one of the first indicators to me when I started looking into it. As it's particular bad in my case. Even if I have to point a direction to someone, chances are I'm not pointing in the right direction even though in my head I know I'm right.

I was in a particular awful situation in which there was a major car accident that happened right infront of me on a dual carriageway. I was first on the scene and had to phone the ambulance. They asked what road I was on, which was fine, but then asked was I travelling east or west. I didn't know! I said I don't know to the operator who then got short with me saying I need to know which way to send the ambulance from. I was getting so upset and she getting shorter. Eventually I just told her where I was coming from and going to. It really stuck with me, I delayed things and got into a panic, and it was a basic question really.

@HiHighlighta That sounds dreadful. Coming across the accident would have been dreadful enough without the unsympathetic call handler. Surely, she should have been trained to understand that getting impatient with callers just makes them more stressed and makes it harder for them to respond.

Thanks again @OchonAgusOchonOh - that's what I feared price-wise in the UK. I'll do some research. What a useful thread this has been!

I'm sorry that happened to you @Highlighta . I would have been exactly the same in that situation and can imagine your panic.

@cariadlet I posted upthread too - I have diagnoses of dyspraxia, ASD, ADHD. I have absolutely no sense of direction and often joke "do I look like a sea captain?" when someone directs me east/west. I also have Aphantasia (I can't picture images in my mind) and horrendous face blindness, and there is some research suggesting they are all linked.

It takes me ages to learn my way around somewhere new. I have to use google maps even on foot but, more than once, I've walked quite a way before realising my little blue dot was going the wrong way. If I'm driving a familiar route but find a diversion, I would need sat nav to guide me the rest of the way. I couldn't just figure out a way on to the next parallel street to continue my journey.

One time, I was at work and looking for a room in a building I'd been to many times. I walked along the corridor, thought I had the right room and peeked inside - nope, wrong room. I headed back the way I came, triumphantly thought "yes, there it is!" and OPENED THE SAME FUCKING DOOR. I hadn't realised I'd walked in a loop because I was coming at it from the other direction

@amusedbush I have never heard of aphantasia but I am the same.

I also have massive face blindness. If I meet someone out of context, I really struggle. I really insulted a guy I know quite well as he was in a context I didn't expect and I thought he was someone else who it would have made sense to see in that context. They look nothing alike other than the same colour hair. It was apparent from the conversation that he considers himself much more attractive than the guy I though he was so was insulted...

@Highlighta - I would have been the same in that situation. I navigate by landmarks, I don't remember road names etc. When my best friend tells me so and so from our home town lives on X road, I can't imagine it at all. She has to say 'she lives near the swimming pool' or 'by the cinema'.

I never have any idea if I'm going north/south or east/west. It's just not how my brain works.

The call handler shouldn't have spoken to you like that. Sometimes they will get calls from people who are in shock/flustered. Or from children/ people who don't know the area/don't speak English fluently/have learning difficulties or anxiety and struggle on the phone.

@Spinelli99 thank you for posting. Because you posted, many other people posted and for the first time in years, I do not feel so alone. I hope you are not feeling so alone anymore too. I would get it looked into just for yourself.

It does help me and my family when I can tell them I am having a dyspraxic day. They can't understand all thankfully having inherited DH's dexterity but they are more patient.

@BogRollBOGOF

Is correct when she says autistic perfectionism and dyspraxia are a frustrating combination.