A nightmare. I’m kidding, kind of. Being dyspraxic isn’t the worst thing on the planet, though it gets a bit annoying at times. It’s like your awkward sibling, only you’re the awkward sibling.
So, what does being dyspraxic (also known as developmental co-ordination disorder) mean for my daily life?
- I can experience sensory overload in certain situations – this mostly relates to noise or lighting for me but can be different for other people
- I can be forgetful. This’ll usually be small things, like dates and numbers, so I end up having to repeat this sort of information to myself several times.
- My handwriting is atrocious and I can’t write on lines well
- I’m often slow to pick up new things
- My co-ordination is terrible and I sometimes have to do simple things slowly
For years at school, my teachers didn’t know that I had dyspraxia and assumed that I was just a problem child, so I didn’t get a lot of support with it until my teen years, most of which involved using a laptop in lessons with a lot of writing.
Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time doing activities that can help with my co-ordination. SOmme of the activities I did as a child that helped were:
- climbing – this helped me because I had to follow paths and would need to figure routes out, in relation to a static environment. I’m also pretty hyperactive and restless, so it wore me out
- typing exercises – I used this BBC program called Dance Mat Typing when I was younger, which really helped me get used to a keyboard and improve my general co-ordination)
- Playing video games – believe it or not, using a controller has helped me with my hand co-ordination, I suggest trying it out. Try not to spend TOO much time gaming though, the outdoors are always good.
- Dancing – Yes, I used to go to a performing arts group and would dance my little heart out. But in all honesty, it can be great for helping out with the co-ordination aspects of dyspraxia. And no, I don’t dance anymore, I suck at it.
- Sports – a lot of sports can also be good for young people with dyspraxia.
- Memory games – stupid as it may sound, this can help with the memory issues of dyspraxia, and I had a lot of fun doing them.
I can’t guarantee that these activities will help everyone with dyspraxia, these are merely what I personally did. If you have a child with dyspraxia or know a dyspraxic person, some of these may help them out.
Now it’s time for a list of some of the funniest things I’ve done as a result of dyspraxia and the clumsiness that comes with it:
- Somehow smacked a glass across a room and smashed it when I meant to move it across a table.
- tied my shoelaces together
- Fallen over from nothing at all
- Thrown a ball meant for my brother and knocked a set of drinks on a table.
Are you dyspraxic, or do you know someone with dyspraxia? If so, what have you done to help with it? Do you have any funny dyspraxia stories? Let me know.
Until next time,
Conrad 🙂
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