I want to get a summer job to earn money but every possible one I’ve though of I don’t feel I would be able to do it to a high level of standard. The only somewhat “skilled” thing I can do is build computers but that’s about it, I’m bad at coordination and maths and walking

hi so on friday i was getting diagnosed for dyslexia i am a college student going into uni so i thought i’d finally get it out the way during this i mentioned i’m pretty sure i have dyspraxia. They seemed unsure at first but after 40 minutes of questioning i got told i have moderate dyspraxia i’m not that well educated on it so i just wanted to know if there’s anything important i should know, also i have super stretchy skin and ive fainted a good few times in the last couple years can this be why?

Hello! I'm a final year medical student and I've just come off a truly terrible few days on placement, hoping to get some advice.

I've not had a formal diagnosis of dyspraxia. When I started school I remember having occupational therapy appointments, I believe I was referred because I couldn't hold a pencil properly. As far as I know, they didn't formally diagnose me because I managed to write well enough anyway, and they didn't offer any further help. Although the threat that they were going to observe me in PE always hung over my head, for some reason I was terrified of that.

Anyway, I have always had issues with co-ordination. I was delayed in learning how to walk (not helped by hypermobility) and have never been able to ride a bike. Walking down stairs is difficult for me without holding on to a railing as I feel like I'm going to fall down them. It always feels like I can't get my body to do what I want it to do. In a lab during my last degree I managed to push a full box of pipette tips off a shelf and scatter them everywhere.

I managed to get into medical school and I love it. I feel so lucky to help to support people and I love learning the science behind it. I got one of the highest marks in my exams in my cohort and I've had good feedback about my manner and communication skills. The only issue is that I have to be proficient in procedural skills. It has taken me a lot longer to feel confident in doing things like taking blood. Even something simple like percussion took me ages to improve in. I remember spending an hour-long bus journey just percussing my leg until it felt natural. But I can easily get de-skilled and that is what happened yesterday.

I hadn't taken bloods for months and I was on an acute ward where all the patients' veins are terrible. I didn't manage any successfully, had to get other people to do it and I caused patients unnecessary pain. A lot of them were delirious and called me all sorts of things, saying that I was messing it up deliberately. I've not felt so demoralised or like I'm going into the wrong career before. That all made me panic, making me mess up even more. Does anyone have any tips for how to improve procedural skills? Any success stories? Or should I rethink my career path?

And would it be okay to say that I have dyspraxia, given that I haven't had a formal diagnosis? I have explored getting properly assessed as it is having a clear impact on my life, but my university doesn't offer assessments and neither does my local NHS board. I would pay for a private assessment if I was not an impoverished student. I believe it would help my self-confidence if I didn't see my difficulties as a personal failing and instead a condition. Also, I feel disclosing would ensure better safety and transparency.

I m trying to learn but even with the beginner videos I’m really struggling. I wonder if I’m a lost case and I should take course with someone who could guide me for the beginning :(

I want to get back into drawing and my laptop is compatible with styluses. However the last one I used, which I think was a Microsoft one, was pretty uncomfortable to hold.

Does anyone have any that they would recommend? Or maybe even grips to make stylus pens more comfortable?

Hi everyone!

As there’s been lots of posts in the last week regarding what we all do for work and the sorts of jobs that may work for Dyspraxics.

I think it would be lovely for those who feel comfortable listing general positions they’ve done, what worked well in the position, what was challenging and anything that was done to reduce the challenges that it imposed. You are welcome to answer one of the questions or all three!

Happy to have anyone add any accommodations or reasonable adjustments that worked well to their comment as well.

Can’t wait to hear about all the awesome work everyone does (or has done)!

I just started a new job and already got my first verbal warning not into a month or work, my seventh job in 2 years after being initially let go from being a security guard job on night shifts which was doable for me, because all I had to do was stay awake and monitor. I have Dyspraxia, ADHD and got my autism diagnosis last year. I got a warning because I can't be authoritative with people in a caring environment. Environments with tension/ conflict always make me run away as I get intimidated quickly, I had previously worked for this company in a different setting that was much more at my pace but they moved me and now I cannot cope with the residents in this new environment. I have tried retail, construction, bar work, table serving, office work and nothing is working. I don't know what to do, everything is challenging and I have never ever impressed anyone who I have worked for. What kind of job should I do?

Anyone here with a dyspraxia diagnosis also have rigidity or rigidity behavior?

Hey all :)

Starting a new job on monday and wondered what reasonable adjustments people have requested at work before?

The job is an admin type role in a school office 5 days a week, if this helps with any kind of suggestions you may have to ask for?

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxgqdii43BiRrSOGwdDW0dUa162FL-sm8T?si=eFOCy5y2Z0ALKw70

Hopefully the link works 🤦😂 xx

I am someone who dont have good hygiene. For exemple: I dont care how often I shower or brush my teeth. I do it because I rationaly know I need it but I dont have an instinct telling me to do it. Does anyone else have it ?

I started working at this new job. It’s a pharmacy that also specializes in gift wrapping. The first couple weeks things were going well. I was doing well according to the person that was training me.

Then after awhile, after I started taking a third antidepressant on top of my two other antidepressants, I kept making obvious mistakes and forgetting small basic things. At first I thought it was the brain fog, and I reduced my third medication in half, but it’s still happening and I’m forgetting stuff.

Am I unsuited for this job or should I give it time?

So today I had a discussion with my line manager and coworker and apparently I'm not cut out for IT support because I lack any sort of coordination, like I find it difficult to cut CAT cables and put the cables in the correct order. I also said to my line manager that I don't feel safe to go up a tower because I am 'clumsy' and have a fear of heights and worried falling off. I have previously mentioned my dyslexia and dyspraxia but I have been told I have to manage it myself because I should be able to use the ticketing system, emails and teams. I also forget to respond to tickets, as soon as there is a noise I get distracted but I am not sure we are allowed to wear headphones in the office. I also start looking at the ticket I will start looking at a billion options and get too distracted by that to respond to the ticket or as someone asks me to do something I will do it and forget about the ticket I was working on.

I will do the cabling, it just takes a few hours.

All my life I have struggled with everyday life. Work and house maintenance. But especially work. I started doing stacking for Tesco and I was fired. Well. A soft firing. I was fired but the next day after telling them I have DCD another person said I can stay till the new year but then I’m screwed.

If I can’t do something as simple as move and pack boxes, what can I do? I don’t deal well with people either.

TLDR; I'm not diagnosed, but I had a severe speech impediment as a kid and had to go to speech therapy for over a year. I still stammer and slur my words, but I mostly confuse words with similar meanings or a similar sound. I also have a very strange accent, and I think part of the cause of it is me struggling to pronounce certain sounds. What is your speech like? Is this a relatable experience for dyspraxic folks, or is this likely the cause of something else?

Disclaimer; I don't have a dyspraxia diagnosis. I have a lot of traits of it, and I'll be describing one of the main ones in this post, but I'm also trying to get an auDHD diagnosis so I'm not sure if this could be caused by something else instead

My speech has always been very strange, especially when I first started speaking. I had a speech impediment so bad it was affecting my little brother because he'd copy me, and both the carers at my nursery and Reception teacher at primary school all brought it up as a concern. I was developing far quicker than my peers when it came to creative sk!lls like drawing, writing, sewing, etc. and was clearly intelligent, but my gross motor sk!lls and speech were developing strangely and notably slower according to my mother

I went to speech therapy once a week for over a year between the age of 5-6 and my speech is definitely better now. I apparently couldn't pronounce certain sounds (kkk/ccc, fff, and sss are the letters my mum remembers me struggling with. I specifically remember not being able to say spider, and I couldn't pronounce my own name which starts with a C). People couldn't understand what I was trying to say at all back then, even my own family members, so it was pretty severe. Now, in my early 20s, I think my speech issues are still present but less obvious

To clarify, all these issues can be more or less severe on different days. I find myself slurring my words sometimes (though not super noticeably it seems since no one ever mentions it), or stuttering/stammering quite a bit, and confusing words with similar meanings despite knowing exactly what I want to say. I played House Flipper with my friends on a particularly bad day and was constantly mixing up the words cleaning and painting, for example, to the point where my friends were correcting me after almost every sentence. I knew exactly what I meant, but it felt like my mouth just kept defying my brain. It makes it really hard to communicate effectively sometimes, and I'm surprised it hasn't gotten me into more trouble at work. I near constantly tell customers the wrong total when I've finished ringing up their shopping, often either mixing up the order of the numbers in the price (e.g. saying something costs £7.63 instead of £6.73) or just saying different numbers entirely. I always correct myself immediately afterwards, but it's frustrating how often I do this

This is more of a typical autistic trait, but I also have a very strange accent and I feel like it's partially caused by this issue. I'm often drawing out certain sounds more than I mean to in an effort to pronounce them, or struggle to pronounce some words correctly (e.g pronouncing water as "wadder" instead because I have to put more effort into pronouncing the T). While I think this trait could also be caused by undiagnosed autism, I think a lot of my strange accent is the result of certain sounds being more difficult for me to say correctly and consistently, which makes my accent sound like anything other than my actual nationality

I don't know though, because again, I'm not formally diagnosed and don't know if this is caused by dyspraxia or something else. I was just wondering how relatable this is? Has anyone else here gone through speech therapy? If you did then do you still have issues like this, and if you couldn't then do you think you would've benefitted from it? I'm curious about how many people have experienced something similar

Are you generally open and honest about having the condition? I’ve known I was dyspraxic for as long as I can remember, I deal with the issues but it’s second nature to me at this point.

To the point where even when it comes to stuff like employment, hobbies or general socialising, when I know for a fact I’m going to maybe not struggle but underperform with stuff, I’ll ignore it and just continue as is. Best case I’ll maybe apologise for poor handwriting or “being a bad catch”.

Do any of you openly say “it’s because I have dyspraxia”? And if so what’s the reaction to that? I have a lot of self-consciousness about it so I don’t like to admit it outside of mentioning it to medical professionals when it’s relevant.

My 7yo, diagnosed ADHD, SPD and Neurodevelopmental Disorder NOS (referred for DCD assessment) struggles to brush teeth. It's to the point and adult molar may have to be pulled. They've stated it's too hard to bend/twist hand arm to reach back teeth, teeth hurt, probably from constant cavities, toothbrushes are too big ect. We've tried mouthwash, different toothbrushes toothpaste but I'm at a loss. Any suggestions

I'm planning to start driving lessons soon and was wondering what others have found helpful in terms of any tips, or accomodations provided by the driving instructor/examiner that were beneficial? Doing automatic rather than manual is a given I think!

Hi, I work in IT. I had a day yesterday where I was walking all day and didn't get much of a chance to sit down. For some reason, maybe the need to focus, I felt completely exhausted. My coworker turns round to me after being ill yesterday and said if the walking around all day did exhaust me, I should find another job because in IT sometimes you need to be walking around all day.

Discord Server Link: https://discord.com/invite/ffmGsn9fKK

Hi everyone, Happy November! (Only 52 days until Christmas!) The Dyspraxia Digest is a new thing we are doing as a mod team to improve communication between us and you. Every now-and-then, we will make a post detailing our plans and most recent changes to the subreddit, alongside any major Dyspraxia news! So, without further ado, let's get started!

The r/Dyspraxia Rebrand

As you may have noticed, in August, r/Dyspraxia was acquired by a new mod team as the old one was inactive. To mark a new beginning, and for some important backend reasons , I have decided to rebrand the subreddit! The first thing you may have noticed is the new icon. The design remains faithful to the old one, but in a higher resolution and more cartoon-like. The icon has been rebuilt from the ground up so now I can directly edit it, allowing me to add a Santa hat during Christmas, for example. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

The subreddit also has a new banner, alongside refreshed post and user flair.

The Discord Server

https://preview.redd.it/62xq2wr7nxyd1.png?width=1384&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b32efbcb8a11116916a89b1c7ec7f49bc0c0adb

I have seen several posts asking for a discord server, and many linking to the (somewhat inactive) Dyspraxia Lounge one. I have decided to create an official discord server for all things Dyspraxic, accessible here.

The server is a space to work alongside the subreddit for day-to-day discussions about anything, whether it be life as a dyspraxic, current world affairs, or the new Fortnite season. All are welcome, even non-dyspraxics!

Updated Community Guide

Our community guide now contains shortcuts to the new Discord Server, as well as to the latest digest and the "Am I Dyspraxic" megathread! You can access it from the sidebar at any time!

Looking for More Moderators

Last month, I hired 2 moderators. The team has been fabulous, but we need some more help!

What you will be doing:

• Keeping the server a safe place for all, while having a fair judgement.
• Making and suggesting changes to the subreddit and discord server.
• Having lots of fun!

Requirements:

• You MUST be 16 or older to apply.
• You must have a decent amount of community karma (this is subjective to the average of applicants).
• You MUST have a discord account.
• There will be an interview process if there are many applicants.

To apply, either shoot me a DM, or respond to this post with "I'm interested in moderating."

And that's a wrap-up for this month's Dyspraxia Digest! Stay tuned for more news in the coming months!

I'm not sure if it's a lack of confidence or just being overwhelmed but I always seem to find something as simple as asking a group of friends if they want meet up and do something very difficult. I'm never sure how far ahead to organise things and how often to remind people and whether I'm being annoying or not. Curious if other people have the same issue?

View Poll

Does anyone else find their short term memory worsens with age?

Im only 28, but feel its got so so much worse in the past 4 years - examples;

• having a thought and saying it to my spouse, then 3 minutes later having the same thought and saying it again not realising ive just done it

-struggling to remember passwords or codes more

• brushing my teeth and then forgetting that ive done them and spending a good hour trying to work out if i brushed them or not 😂

I find it so frustrating, and praying it doesnt get any worse.

I recently got a divorce and so am in charge of my household.

I am doing ok so far in my own, but I can’t put air in my tires.

I have been told this is really simple but I tried with the bikes and it was a fail, and now my car tires need air. And the prospect of trying seems really out of reach.

Sometimes I feel like people just think I am lazy or too girlie to get my hands dirty but this is one of the tasks that seems incredibly hard.

Am I alone in this? Who helps you? I am guessing I will need to ask someone.

idk if this is an official symptom of dyspraxia but having done research, it seems to be a comment trait for those with dyspraxia to not have a dominant hand. i’m not talking about ambidexterity, since that implies not having a preference, and being able to use both hands for practically everything equally as good. i’m talking about essentially struggling to decide which hand you prefer. there’s things i can do better with my right hand while other things i find i do better with my left. is there a name for having sort of a cross-dominance or otherwise struggling with “choosing” your preferred hand?

hi, so i want to be a music teacher in secondary school and it requires to know to play an instrument : the thing is that i have a really bad dyspraxia, i tried to learn guitar before but since 2017 i couldn't go further than some easy chords and a chaotic rythmic pattern. i tried to learn on my own, watched lots of tutorials, tried to do more complex things and impossible my fine motor skills and coordination skills are pretty bad, the reason why i would never try piano btw, i'd be unable to play both hands at the same time; anyways, any idea ?

I am in my first year in mechanical engineering; I'm doing some prerequisites before I can take engineering classes. I would like to know if anyone has any tips on how I can study better or more efficiently. Another thing is how I can study for more memorizing classes like bio and econ.
Thanks

The instruction is kind of what is in the title but - in all your dyspraxic chaos and difficulties....what's a positive in life for you, right now? Can be dyspraxia related or not.

For me - I see to have mostly made it through a year on the road and aside from (1) thing kept everything I cared about in terms of physical objects and personal items safe.