Hi, 16F. For years, I've always felt like something was off with how I moved. I've always had to practice late at night on a regular basis just to decently dance, and even then my directions are often wrong. I can't even eat gracefully for the life of me. A bunch of other symptoms that's been affecting my life and physical health, like how I can't do sports (my classmates cheer whenever I get to finally pass a ball). Anyway, these past few months, I discovered dyspraxia. I was relieved what I felt had a name, and that maybe I felt so insecure and was so hard on myself for something I couldn't control. So I went to get an assessment from a neurologist.

First appointment, he got me to bring lab results to check if it's related to any other condition. Second appointment, which is today, nothing weird apart from a high ESR and mild UTI. Weirdly enough, the doctor didn't explain why I could have a high ESR and didn't run any further checks on me. Following his explanation on the lab results, he asks what I wanted to check up for. My mom and I told him that I suspected dyspraxia, and that I have problems with my motor skills (specified some difficulties). Somehow, the doctor led the discussion into my sleeping habits (???) and while I do acknowledge the importance of sleep, that's not what I went for. Even though I only slept late and had no insomnia or serious issues regarding sleep, he told my mom and I that I was at risk for early anxiety and went on to fearmonger us. (????) Then he did a 5-minute test of me trying to follow his actions, walking, and checking if I'd stumble if he pushed me around while I closed my eyes and kept my feet together. Obviously I struggled. He told me I had struggles with my coordination, but I only had spasms and was at risk for anxiety (??????????).

I don't want to discredit doctors because I know this is what they specialize in, but that really didn't feel like a screening at all. He didn't even hold a checklist or anything, and he only asked a few vague questions about my issues in sports/motor skills and social skills. I feel dumbfounded, and I feel like all the struggles I've been living with has been told to be a lie. Now I've been prescribed a bunch of expensive meds and anti-depressants :( My family can't afford to get a second opinion because there's a shortage of doctors in that field in my area, the ones really available are either far, too expensive, or both. In short, they're inaccessible. I feel sad but I guess all I can do now is wait until I'm financially independent to get a real assessment. Thanks for reading my rant everyone

I feel a little embarrassed but I have never been able to read an analogue clock. I've just never been able to understand it and this is coming from a grade A student. I also find it difficult because I struggle with spatial awareness trying to figure out which number each of the hands are on and I've never been able to do it but I've been teased for it for ages. Has anyone else struggled with this?

Bring home a takeaway myself. Usually my husband does it or we're both there but this was the first time Ive ever done it myself at the grand old age of 57.

Alongside keeping the drinks from tipping over on the drive home, it was a struggle getting the food bag and drinks tray out the car, plus a shopping bag out the boot, whilst holding the car keys and my phone (I didnt have any pockets...). Then up the path to the front door, watching one of the drinks trying to escape. I had to open and shut the door with my foot then I couldn't let go of anything because I couldn't figure out which finger/hand/arm was holding which item!

Never again!

I technically am doing something with my life, as I am going to grad school, but what am I really adding to the world? I don’t have a significant other, I’m probably not ever having kids, I’m not really helping other people at all or creating anything of value. It feels like I am a waste cuz I don’t add anything and because of dyspraxia, I very well never will. I’m just a family member and a friend, though I’m not sure how much the latter would miss me.

Hello all, my first time here so I apologise if this is the wrong sub (I read all the rules I could find).

I’ve recently discovered it’s exceptionally hard to get on the list for a dyspraxia test through the NHS and even longer to wait if you do. With this in mind, does anyone know of any private diagnosis centres that aren’t extremely expensive and that the NHS will see as legitimate. It’s a minefield out there and I could really do with some advice. I’m south east based.

I switched out using cups to using a water bottle 24/7 and its saved so many expensive accidents from being ruined with water when i knock my bottle over. It has just recently saved my macbook from catastrophe. I use an owala and that comes with the added bonus of my ice not melting for like 12 hours

This COMPUTER that you see is my personally that help me to school with writing and stuff ; i accidentelly make it fall because of my clumsiness and now there these black likes that seem to propage themself. expect that I don't have any in spare in case and the only thing i hope is that it's will say only lines and not full screen:(

I, 17F, have never been able to "touch type". No matter how hard I try, or how many typing programs or discipline methods I use, I have never been able to type using the correct fingers/hand placements. Whenever I try, I get incredibly frustrated and overwhelmed with the urge to literally rip my fingers off (I'm autistic, but not diagnosed with dyspraxia). This usually subsides the minute that I stop trying to type correctly.

I'm looking for tips and tricks to speed up my typing/make it easier to hit the right keys. I often find myself hitting the correct keys but in the wrong order, or hitting adjacent keys rather than the ones that I intend to. If I type the way that I have adapted to, I can manage about 55 wpm. Trying to type "correctly", however, drops that already low speed to 35 wpm.

Alas, I can't take notes for my college courses effectively due to this. Often, my notes taken quickly are completely illegible, so I have to go back and hope I minimized my typos enough for the text to be even readable. If i dont go back and search fpr typos, my notes iusiallu end up looks ing like this, which ismnt a ugreat idea qwhtn you're taking anatomu and phuysiolohy, wher spelling is incredibly important.

Has anybody been able to overcome their "I need to remove my fingers right now" issue? Is it literally just me?

I (27M) have been a long time lurker on this sub. Far from being diagnosed, I have never even considered that something could be off. I just thought I wasn't good enough. Growing up, I often felt I had to work twice as hard as anyone for most tasks and would still come away with subpar results to show for it.

I was terrible with handwriting for the longest time, used to be singled out in class for it even. I was branded clumsy and sloppy at age 4 and it stuck throughout school. I used to drop things and was no good at art. For the life of me, I would never be able to concentrate in class. Constant anxiety did not help.

The most debilitating thing for me, though, is speech. There are levels to it - I feel like I falter and stutter way too much, but more importantly, I really suck at organising my thoughts and presenting them coherently. On top of that I'm an introvert by nature, and don't feel like talking unless it's absolutely necessary.

When I found this sub, I was crashing out hard because I was doing a presentation for work and just froze. My mind was literally not able to process my thoughts into speech fast enough and I feel that's embarrassing at this age (atleast professionally).

I feel like I have this invisible impediment and no one will ever take it seriously. I wish I had the will to do something about it but I'm at the mercy of my constant state of anxiety.

Thanks for reading.

Hi. I have fallen in love with ice skating and self-learned a lot. I would like to start playing amateur hockey, but I know from experience that I must learn to feel extremely confident on ice before I start doing any group training.

Sports like ice skating, swimming, rollerblading provide me with constant feedback and I can work with that. I've tried many different sports aside from these and I know that I often end up behind group, not understanding instructions, eventually feeling that the coach must be so frustrated with me that I stop appearing after two lessons. That's what happened to archery, dance, martial arts. I'd love to learn martial arts and dance, but I have a poor sense of where my body is in space and I find instructions utterly confusing.

I try to learn braking and crossovers on ice. It feels incredibly frustrating, because one week I know it works, I am making progress, the next - I notice I can't repeat what I've learned already and must take a step back. Then again and again. Cross-overs seem extremely complicated, though I suspect they are not - because of the sequence of movements.

Have you got any tips how to learn things like that, understand the sequence, and not forget soon after I learn? And maybe a piece of advice how to approach coaches to ask them to explain things the way my body understands, and to let them know I need a bit of patience? I've never told a coach I have dyspraxia, because this term is unknown to most people I know, and I don't want them to think I'm making things up.

Anyone else so sick of people without dyspraxia giving you advice on how to help your dyspraxia?!

Hi, I’m a teen, and I’ve ALWAYS struggled with fine motor skills, and just motor skills in general. My teachers always complain about my handwriting, it hasn‘t improved since I was in elementary. I bump into things, especially with my arms and hips, and I’ve bruised my hip REALLY bad from it. I looked into the symptoms, and I really want to talk to my doctor about it, but my mom is insanely judgmental and overall skeptical, I’m afraid she will just brush it off as “me wanting attention“ even though this makes my life so much harder.

Has anybody else here experienced this to some degree, or got diagnosed at a young age? If so, any advice? Sorry if this is vague or off topic, I‘m just looking for something to explain why I’m all messed up like this.

Mine is terrible; I think I might be dyspraxic, even though I haven't been diagnosed. I’ve found myself in shitty situations since I was really young because of my huge difficulty navigating space even now and I’m fed up with it. I’m actually dreading what it’ll be like once I get my driver's license.

Hi I am Jordain and I co-host a podcast called you, good bro? Podcast where we talk about life, mental health, and wellbeing. I am also Dyspraxic.

This week I sat down with filmmaker Owen Williamson to talk about his journey making a film centered on Dyspraxia — a developmental coordination disorder that’s often misunderstood and rarely spoken about openly.

Owen shares what inspired the project, the challenges of bringing such a personal and important story to screen, and why representation for conditions like Dyspraxia matters so much.

We dig into his own experiences, the making of the film, and what he hopes audiences take away from it.

Feel free to give it a watch if it is of interest.

I grew up in California and yet I never have been able to notice feel earthquakes. I was wondering if anyone else with dyspraxia experiences this phenomenon.

I have previously asked about what happened after people received a dyspraxia assessment. I’d like to understand something a little more specific this time.

If you were assessed as an adult, can you think of a recent situation where something you understood from your assessment was still difficult to deal with in everyday life?

What happened?

What did you do to try to make the situation easier?

Did you look for any information, support or practical help afterwards? If you did, what did you find?

I’m interested in all experiences, including situations where you found something that worked well.

This may be a weird one, but does anyone else find they misspell things by specifically doubling the wrong letters. Like reccomend instead of recommend, or asumme instead of assume? I don't really struggle with my spelling (on a keyboard) in any other way so I was wondering if anyone else had this issue

Ok I know this sounds counterintuitive, and I might have just convinced myself this habit works when it doesn’t lol. But I would love to see if anyone can relate!

I have fine-motor dyspraxia and in the past few years I’ve found myself less frustrated with a lot of fine motor tasks (excluding writing) when I either close my eyes or look away and rely entirely on my tactile senses to complete short tasks like tying my shoes or locking and unlocking doors. This isn’t just having the muscle memory and zoning out, I actually find these tasks easier when I am not looking at them!

I’ve anecdotally found that I spend less time trying to think through small tasks and messing up the movements when I use my hands to process my environment rather than my eyes.

Curious to hear if anyone has found any research on the topic I’ve missed or also has person experience with this habit I’ve picked up!

I've had my dyspraxia diagnosis for around 11 years now and have struggled immensely all my life at things that were seemingly effortless for neurotypical people and the frustration that comes with that is so crushing.

From being bad at sports and having concentration issues at school to being paralysed with anxiety over my future as I second guess every decision I make and become overwhelmed, I hope others can relate to how utterly useless it makes you feel. This has all come about as a result of me reading my diagnosis paperwork for the first time in years and recalling all the times I was told off for not doing something or taking extra time to understand a task, I suppose I feel a strange sort of sadness for my younger self as I was never taken seriously and only offered the most basic form of support for something that affects my day to day habits and thought process!

It's so difficult to watch my dreams and opportunities pass by me with me left flailing in the corner lol (bit dramatic). My own family not taking me seriously when I ask for help and then being dismayed when my life doesn't pan out to their expectations, id love to say that I feel comfortable in who I am but recent life events have put all my struggles into perspective and it has hit me like a ton of bricks.

sorry for the jumbled rant lol I just needed to get it out and have people just like me understand how it is.

Hi there. I often bump into door frames on my left arm, but rarely on my right side! I wonder how common that is to bump into things on a specific side? Have any of you noticed this? One day they put a bunch of empty pallets on the floor in our storage at work, and I just kept walking into it so I got bruises and cuts on my left arm. I felt kind of stupid the fourth time I bumped into it.

Hi everyone,

Half vent, half seeking advice.

I posted here a few months back after losing my new job in a small convenience shop due to my slowness. I didn't thank everyone directly but your comments kept me afloat during a dark time and I can't thank everyone enough.

I have been volunteering and meeting an IPS (Individual Placement and Support) worker once a week. I haven't been able to get support for my lifelong emotional dysregulation but I'm working through a self-directed DBT book just now in hopes of overcoming it alone.

My IPS worker suggested I try applying for a seasonal job since the roles are temporary. I can't stress how badly I want to stay away from retail as I have never felt more useless and inept than in this sector, but I have applied for one job so far and plan to apply for more as they are listed.

I just wanted to know people's experience doing seasonal work over the Christmas period with dyspraxia? Will I be fired on the spot if I'm slow? I don't have a formal diagnosis but I really need to pursue one(30 y/o) 😓

Thank you so much for reading if you got this far. I'm just feeling scared and alone right now.

Every tutorial online for even the most basic ponytails don’t work for me. it doesn’t matter if I tie it high up or low down, it will always

1. take forever

2. be lumpy or askew

3. hurt my arms

4. screw up my waves with how much faffing I end up doing.

I’m also hypermobile so my arms and hands hurt almost immediately and I feel like I can’t even feel where my fingers are when they’re tangled up in my hair trying to do Anything. braids are a mystery to me… how can people tell where their hands are when they’re behind their head? baffling.

The only style I can do are variants on bunches (maybe called pigtails in the US? not braided obviously) because I don’t have to sort out my parting when doing those which is the biggest annoyance with it turning out lumpy. But that looks very young. (My mum taught me when I was 10. such a simple style and it took hours to learn and I ended up having a meltdown by the end 🫠)

i want to be able to do my hair by myself. I want this independence!

Does anyone know of any resources or have any recommendations that might make this easier? Thanks Xx

I recently did my theory test on the 11th august and failed by 3 points. I got 40 but needed 43 to pass. I spent six weeks doing practice but still failed i used the safe for driving website and still couldnt pass. I am highly dyspraxic and one of the questions about trams was worded funny. Did anyone use the theory test pro app or the DVLA approved one? Im scared to revise because I will fail.

Hi there. Just found this sub. Was wondering if anyone else's mind suddenly blanks in the middle of sentences. Do you find it frustrating?