KissOfMarmaladeSky
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 25, 2010
Posts: 532
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 Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Callista wrote: | It's a medical term for clumsiness.
Incidentally, does "dyspraxia" refer to both fine and gross motor skills, or is there another word for not being able to manipulate small objects well?
I don't have dyspraxia, incidentally; though I can't dance or play sports nearly as well as the average person, I can ride a bike and swim well, and I'm not really tripping over my own feet. I would say I'm on the "low end of normal" when it comes to coordination. |
I thought dyspraxia only reffered to fine motor skills and that ataxia was the term for clumsiness...oh. I was going to say that I had a mild case when I was five or so---it was a struggle getting my hand to form the letters, although I knew what the letters were---but now, it only hinders my shoe-tying, buttoning, and just general finger skills. I hate dyspraxia, so....yeah. |
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Louise8
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Oct 05, 2010
Age: 26
Posts: 35
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| Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm not actually new. Just lost my username and password. I have severe dyspraxia and it is definitely not just fine motor. In my case it affects my gross motor much worse than my fine motor. |
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lostD
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 31, 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 560
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 2:02 am Post subject: |
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| KissOfMarmaladeSky wrote: | | Callista wrote: | It's a medical term for clumsiness.
Incidentally, does "dyspraxia" refer to both fine and gross motor skills, or is there another word for not being able to manipulate small objects well?
I don't have dyspraxia, incidentally; though I can't dance or play sports nearly as well as the average person, I can ride a bike and swim well, and I'm not really tripping over my own feet. I would say I'm on the "low end of normal" when it comes to coordination. |
I thought dyspraxia only reffered to fine motor skills and that ataxia was the term for clumsiness...oh. I was going to say that I had a mild case when I was five or so---it was a struggle getting my hand to form the letters, although I knew what the letters were---but now, it only hinders my shoe-tying, buttoning, and just general finger skills. I hate dyspraxia, so....yeah. |
There are many types of dyspraxia (even one which only affects speech) actually, therefore, you can have severe dyspraxia while still having areas in which your symptoms are mild or nonexistent. Especially since no dyspraxic is the same. 
(And it's believed that up to 90% of dyspraxics have an overlaping condition, which could explain why many of us just feel like we have autistic characteristics or ADHD even though these characteristics are "common" or "probable" among dyspraxic people.) |
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KissOfMarmaladeSky
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 25, 2010
Posts: 532
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:14 am Post subject: |
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| lostD wrote: | I have dyspraxia though it seems to be milder than some of you.
It took me years to learn how to tie my shoelaces and I still cannot do that like most people (my father taught me a easiest manner of doing this because he saw I was unable to do otherwise)
I do it almost like the second try on this video and most people are expected to do it the first way.
But I can type, write somewhat properly, draw (even though I tend to put things in the wrong place, I've learned), walk almost properly (I do not feel so often though it happens and I cannot walk in a straight line, I zig zag), I could ride a bicycle though I have not done that in years.
However, I can swin but badly (I won't drown but I cannot learn the swimming movements. I do poorly at sports and cannot dance because I cannot repeat a sequence of movements at all, and when I do something, I usually do it the wrong way. I also had trouble driving especially reverse because I turn on the wrong side, I break a lot of things, couldn't do jumping rope, fall a lot in the stairs (I can almost only crawl on all fours to walk upstairs XD).
And when I look in the mirror, if I have to touch the right side, I tend to touch the left side. But I have learned a lot with the years.
It was worse when I was a kid but my parents did not pay attention to it though their were suspicions, so I got diagnosed at 20. My doctor thinks it's a severe case with coping skills because the areas in which I do poorly are really... bad, but also because of my ASD or ADHD characteristics which, according to some people, can be a sign of dyspraxia. |
Oh, wow, that sounds like me! |
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puddingmouse
exclamation mark!
Joined: Apr 25, 2010
Age: 26
Posts: 7074
Location: Mega City 3
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 1:56 pm Post subject: |
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I only have a dyspraxia Dx. I know another person with dyspraxia who has autistic traits. I've been clumsy all my life and got used to it/found ways of adapting. What I find more difficult to deal with is my aspie traits. The worst part of dyspraxia stops when you leave school and no longer have to do textiles, craft or sports. I couldn't tie my shoelaces until I was eight and I can't sew on a button. I can write legibly if I really concentrate. It's the fact that I'm quite intelligent but can't do basic tasks sometimes, that's a bit annoying.
I think I only got Dxed with dyspraxia because my teachers cared more about how much my handwriting sucked and the fact that I couldn't run. They didn't care so much that I had almost no friends and was constantly teased into meltdown. They were very practically minded  Even now, they tend to focus on the clumsiness of dyspraxic kids more than the social problems, which are the ones that stay with you into adulthood.
As far as I know, dyspraxia affects fine and gross motor function differently, depending on the person. It can also affect speech and planning in some people, but not with me.
I know some people who have an AS diagnosis (not a dyspraxia one) who wear velcro shoes. I guess there is often a crossover, but not all dyspraxics have AS and vice versa. |
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lostD
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 31, 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 560
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| Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 2:17 am Post subject: |
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What do you think about specialists you claim that autistic characteristics are common in dyspraxia without it being a sign of autism ?
Characteristics such as :
-difficulties to understand body language and use of facial expressions
-lack of social skills
-obsessive behaviours
-meltdowns (acutally common in most disorders)
And do you have any sensory issue ? I do but I do not know if I should think that it is because of my dyspraxia or an autistic trait.  |
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Louise8
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Oct 05, 2010
Age: 26
Posts: 35
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| Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| I know four people in real life with dyspraxia. All of the have trouble with social skills. Only one of them are diagnosed with an ASD but I will not use her as an example. None have held down a job yet. One hides in his room most days, does not shower, does not brush his teeth, has sensory problems that going out side is difficult for him. He finds crowds impossible but he makes normal eye contact and can understand sarcasm. One says he could do the social rules thing if he wanted but he does not understand the point of it all. All are very clumsy, all have sensory difficulties. All were late at meeting some of there mile stones, especially in motor skills and talking. All have herd of the term NT, none believe it applies to them. All have big differences in there sub scores on IQ tests. I think that is interesting because I thought that was a more ASD thing. All 3 (not including that other one with ASD) are into computers and 2 are obsessive about programming. One in particular spends all his time in front of a computer screen or reading books about computers. He becomes annoyed if any one enters the room because they are a distraction from his programming. He will tell them to go away. It is he out of the three with the best social skills but he just prefers to be alone. |
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Fudo
The Immovable One
Joined: May 05, 2009
Age: 24
Posts: 4678
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| Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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a paediatrician suggested i might have dyspraxia at around age 5. but nobody followed it up, so i'm unsure.
i can definitely be clumsy.. :/ |
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ilivinamushroom
Sea Gull
Joined: Sep 30, 2009
Posts: 215
Location: southern oregon
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| Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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| I have dyspraxia , I do not drive, typing is hard and I have wooden and plastic dishes (broke most the ceramic ones). My son also has it and tries his best at PE and riding things with wheels , he ends up tripping alot though and has poor concept of his body in space. We are both also dx mild aspergers. The behavioral optometrist did a eye tracking and walking test to dx the dyspraxia. |
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lostD
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 31, 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 560
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| Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:48 am Post subject: |
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| Louise8 wrote: | | All have big differences in there sub scores on IQ tests. I think that is interesting because I thought that was a more ASD thing. |
Actually, discrapencies in the sub scores on IQ tests are quite common among people who have a learning disability too. Some specialists make people take an IQ test in order to diagnosed dyspraxia and most dyspraxic have a higher score on Verbal IQ than on Performant IQ just like people with NLD or Asperger.
Furthermore, your friends could be undiagnosed with Asperger while still having it.
| Fudo wrote: | a paediatrician suggested i might have dyspraxia at around age 5. but nobody followed it up, so i'm unsure.
i can definitely be clumsy.. :/ |
Perhaps you should seek a diagnosis now, at least if you feel that it could help you or that you need one. |
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Claire_Louise
Blue Jay
Joined: Aug 31, 2010
Age: 18
Posts: 99
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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| lostD wrote: | What do you think about specialists you claim that autistic characteristics are common in dyspraxia without it being a sign of autism ?
Characteristics such as :
-difficulties to understand body language and use of facial expressions
-lack of social skills
-obsessive behaviours
-meltdowns (acutally common in most disorders)
And do you have any sensory issue ? I do but I do not know if I should think that it is because of my dyspraxia or an autistic trait. |
Hi LostD,
I have only a dyspraxia dX, but I know I'm HFA - I am absolutely SURE.
To any 'specialists' that say that autistic characteristics can happen in dyspraxics without it actually being autism, they are plain wrong. What about the people dXed in the opposite order? (autism, then dyspraxia)
Should their autism dX suddenly be ignored???
Also, I was 'diagnosed' by a speech therapist, who looked at my speech delay, didn't even consider autism, didn't even look for symptoms of it, just, in a couple of minutes, pronounced "dyspraxia", so, no more help for anything once I had my speech. And the school don't care because I'm above average intellectually.
I just wish wish wish I had a dX, because, yes, I have sensory overload, which happens while wearing my horrible school uniform, and also in loud classes, where I have shutdowns frequently. It gets very stressful.
Oh, and social situations are a shambles. (literally)
Well, that was my random rant  |
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lostD
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 31, 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 560
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| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 6:03 am Post subject: |
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Hi !
Sensory overload and speech delay are pretty common among people who have dyspraxia apparently (I only have the sensory overload though it was not so bad when I was younger, perhaps because I was always ranting and inattentive, therefore I avoided the "crisis").
However, I do agree with you, I think that many autistic characteristics are getting ignored with specialists once one is diagnosed with a specific learning disorder. 
My dyspraxic uncle was strange when he was a child. It was not called dyspraxia at the time but he went to a centre and saw a psychologist for years because of his motor skills and because he had some sort of social phobia (he wouldn't go outside, only made friends with younger children and had almost no friends, seemed to live in his own world).
He now seems perfectly NT (well, at least for my family, and he has a job which requires spatial skills, and even worked as a waiter so I guess he really improved during these years) but my grandmother said I was a lot like him, except that I had to work on my own with this problem while he had help as a child.
He still have sensory issue, only auditory though he did not like to be touched as a child.
He even had a "special interest" but almost every males in my family has this one : technology and computers; and he does not have obsessive behaviours about it I think (compared with my brother).
I guess everyone is different. But I can definetly see some people in my family who have some autistic traits (perhaps they are on the broader autism spectrum or have some genes) like my parents, my brother, my dyspraxic uncle, my grandfather and his father.
Mother : memory issue, extraverted but apparently lack of social skills (tend to be rude), some OCD behaviours, always had a strong interest in medical facts, physical disabilities and elderly health, nothing else.
Father : gifted, obsessed with computers and technology, see patterns in numbers, do not seem to feel the need to have a real "social life" or friends, paradoxically he tends to be naive when he reads something (he's the kind of person who would read "10% of students are failing" and would not see the reasons behind for example, I'm not saying that this is an autistic trait but it sounds like "taking things litteraly").
Brother : Did not have any friends until he turned 9 (when we moved, that's also when I stopped having friends), strongly interested in computers and technology (he is building a robot and already tried to figure out how his game boy worked as child), "cold and distant", lack of social skills (tend to be rude, misunderstood, etc). It got better when he started working (I understand why now, it's because you have to learn how to act "normal").
Grandfather and his father : Only interested in one thing, new technology (for their time, never liked computers but did love telly), built radios, my grandfather was obsessed with trains, could not stand change (his father could) but did not lack of social skills yet. Just a "special interest" and a tendency to have obsessive behaviours.
However, there are dyspraxics and dyslexics (and ADHD) among my family (apart from my uncle) who do not display these characteristic at all. They are highly social, never had problem with making friends, no strong interests, no obsessive behaviour, even no sensory issues, they just have difficulties with reading/writing or spacial skills (my dyslexic/ADHD cousin is a great example of that and none of her parents display any autistic traits, her father is mildly dyspraxic and her sister and mother are NTs).
Therefore, I tend to think that those of us who display autistic characteristic are either on the BAP or have HFA (or Aspeger). I am not qualified to make a diagnosis but I would definitely considered myself has being on the BAP, not everything is the consequence of my dyspraxia but it would be great to know if people with severe dyspraxia can have no other autistic traits than sensory issues and speech delay for example.
Some specialists (or so-called specialists) seem to create a continuum which goes from dyspraxia to autism with NVLD in the middle (since they claim that dyspraxic people can be "nvld"-like or asperger-like). 
| Quote: | | Should their autism dX suddenly be ignored??? |
In my country, I've seen some "specialists" who did not want to diagnosed more than one disorder at the same time. It happened with my cousin, she only has a diagnosis of dyslexia though she was told she also had ADHD, but the specialist did not want to give her two different diagnosis so he said that it was "a consequence of her dyslexia", just like a "common characteristic" instead of an actual condition which can co exist with other conditions.
One of my friends who have depression (along with a physical disability) cannot have any other diagnosis (I do not mean autism or learning disorder, but you know things such as ocd, bipolar, etc) because her psychologist do not wish to add another disorder to the list, everything is "a consequence of her depression" (and if it was not, then she would no longer be considered as depressive by her psychologist).
Luckily, not everyone is like that but it seems to be pretty common to only take into consideration one disorder from what I've seen. I know a girl who has Asperger and Dyspraxia (and dyscalculia by the way) but she does not have an official diagnosis of Dyspraxia because "dyspraxia should not co-exist with Autism, if one is autistic with dyspraxia, one will only be autistic).
You know, that how we get the "I was misdiagnosed" threads, though it can happen, sometimes it's just that specialists replace the older diagnosis with a new one when it was comorbid. |
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Sydney
Raven
Joined: Nov 03, 2008
Posts: 115
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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| dyspraxia makes things hard. more hard than autism I think. |
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lostD
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 31, 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 560
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Do you think that it is common to be stimming when you have dyspraxia ? My uncle used to stim (don't know if he still does something close to stimming now) a lot when he was a kid and I still do it but my other uncle who has the mild version of the condition (though the severity of one condition usually depend on the way the doctor sees it) does not do it at all. |
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Greensmith
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: May 18, 2009
Age: 25
Posts: 57
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| Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Technically I don't have dyspraxia. I have NLD, which has resulted in a lot of the same symptoms. I have difficulty telling where things are in relation to other things, as well as general difficulty with motor skills. Also, my gait is weird, like I'm wearing a heavy invisible parka. |
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