Dyspraxia Week: 13-19 October
S̄wạs̄dī, Happy Minds. October’s inclusion calendar has some hot topics, so if you haven’t already subscribed then you can do so here.
I decided to focus on Dyspraxia Week for a few reasons. Firstly, because, despite it affecting around 1 in 10 children (predominantly male), Dyspraxia is way less talked about and understood than its more famous cousin; Dyslexia. Secondly, my partner, D, was diagnosed with Dyspraxia as a child. I thought his story could help parents who think their child might have Dyspraxia, adults living with it, or anyone wanting to learn more about making their workplace more inclusive. I’ve included a short interview with him below. But first, let’s explore what Dyspraxia really is.
What is Dyspraxia?
Developmental Coordination disorder (DCD) AKA Dyspraxia is a motor skill condition that affects coordination. It’s most often seen in children, because it’s often detected during the early developmental stages – crawling, walking and self-dressing can present difficulties – although an adult can develop dyspraxia later in life due to cerebral trauma such as a stroke or head injury.
Dyspraxia belongs to a family of developmental conditions; Dyslexia, which impacts reading and literacy and Dyscalculia, which affects a person’s ability to understand and work with numbers. Dyspraxia may present as a feature of other learning difficulties, and common comorbidities include Autism and ADHD.
Because Dyspraxia describes a lack of fine motor control, early signs of Dyspraxia may include fidgeting, clumsiness and difficulty with handwriting, throwing and catching, tying shoelaces, using a knife and fork and really anything that involves controlling how objects move through space. There are also subsidiary symptoms which can affect memory and focus, articulating speech and controlling volume, as well as planning and completing tasks.
Although the symptoms of Dyspraxia may become less severe over a person’s life as they gain practice over their fine motor skills, Dyspraxia will never fully go away. Dyspraxia does not have a direct effect on an individual’s intelligence, but can affect the ability to focus and study. This Dyspraxia week we have the chance to consider our friends and coworkers who may still struggle with tasks that we take for granted and provide an opportunity for them to share some of their lived experience with us.
Interview with D.
How old were you when you were diagnosed with Dyspraxia?
I was about 6 or 7 years old. I can remember being assessed by an educational psychologist who provided my diagnosis after a couple of one on one sessions.
What signs did you notice before the diagnosis?
I was quite typical and certainly inline with the symptoms described above. My mum says I used to fidget and wriggle around a lot, she described me as being like a puppet with tangled strings. I can remember really struggling with learning to tie my shoelaces, using a knife and fork, learning handwriting and playing sports like football or tennis.
Is anyone else in your family on the neurodiversity spectrum?
My sister was diagnosed with Dyslexia at the same time and my Dad has borderline personality disorder, so I’d say we’re a fairly ‘neurospicy’ family! I’ve often wondered if I also had ADHD tendencies since I struggled so much to focus in school. That could be due to the Dyspraxia alone, but as you mention above its very commonly comorbid with ADHD. I suppose at this stage it doesn’t really matter since I’ve mostly managed to find ways to live with my brain!
What did you find challenging as a child with Dyspraxia?
The hardest thing for me was the fear and shame associated with throwing and catching in competitive sports. Often this is accompanied by a high-pressure environment where your success or failure directly impacts others. I still get very nervous if people throw something for me to catch, and I’ll often fumble it because of the pressure.
What strategies have helped you cope?
I had to find physical activities that I enjoyed to get lots of practice at them. My first developmental love was music, and I managed to persevere through being terrible at the guitar to being OK at it. I’ve been playing music for 30 years now, and this has really taught me the value of consistent, patient practice. I also get a lot of pleasure from physical activities like weightlifting, yoga and martial arts. A lot of people say that I must not have Dyspraxia anymore, because I can do things that many people can’t. I always tell them that it’s got nothing to do with it, because getting halfway good at something is always less about talent and more to do with how much you are willing to persevere and work at it.
How does Dyspraxia affect you as an adult?
Most of the time I don’t think about it, but I’m still very sensitive about my handwriting. I tend to cover that up by making jokes, but I find it very difficult to write important information – like an address for example – by hand. For that reason I’ve embraced IT technology, and I’m far more comfortable working on a laptop than with pen and paper.
Any advice for anyone who thinks they or someone they know is Dyspraxic?
I think it’s normal to assume that anything that impairs your abilities in some way – in this case hand-eye coordination – has to be inherently a weakness. I’ve tried to turn that idea on its head and turn my weaknesses into strengths. I’ve become proficient at music and martial arts by slowing everything right down and having the confidence to control the tempo of an activity so I have enough time to do it correctly. That’s something that a lot of people struggle with, because when they’re worried that they won’t be able to do something, they usually try to rush it, ironically making it even more difficult for themselves. I go smooth and slow until I know I understand what to do, and that’s made me really efficient at breaking skills down so I can learn almost anything. So my advice is to try to find the joy in learning, moving and doing for its own sake and not because you’re in competition with anyone else.
If you’d like to get a little more clued up on the ins and outs of Dyspraxia, you can find some helpful resources below:
