I'm glad you found us Riddles! I too found this place when i needed it most. What a relief it was! A place where people understand and don't critisize (well not in THIS group anyway) :) I hope that you find as much support and comfort here as I have!

I think its great you are raising awareness. I have a huge issue with that. I almost never disclose my dyspraxia to employers or anyone because I cannot explain exactly what it is. I say it is to do with co-ordination and they say "well why don't you walk funny or anything?". From what you say you have already looked at some resources to make this pack but do you have any support from doctors or therapists? Are you a student or working? Either way, there is probably someone who is a disability support officer or similar who can help you, and you have our support here too. I am sure you have strengths as well and do not forget those.

Thanks for that Lizzie, I'm a student. I dont get any support from doctors or therapists because I go to them, ask them for help, hoping they'd understand and they don't know how to help me. So it got me thinking, if they don't know how to help me, then it would seem the only people capable of helping us is ourselves, parents may partially understand but I think you really do have go out on a limb and look at any resource you can. I mean the information I have collected isn't brilliant but I have just about had enough of going to interviews and people just don't have a clue and by the time you've finished you needn't have gone because they won't or don't take you on. I prefer to be honest, so as soon as I finish at college I'm going to send out a pack to each and every single employer that I can. It might cost a bit, but its got to be done, people who should understand dont, ie the doctors so its up to me and people in our situation to go out and do it. I feel this is my duty, its like dyslexia, it took a while for that to be realised but they realised it, now its dyspraxia's turn.

Soz for the rant, sometimes its hard to remember your strengths, but sooner or later you click I think, I've come to understand an awful lot about myself since I have been at this college. Now I know that I could walk into an interview and be able to provide them with strengths of dyspraxia, not weaknesses because there may be many weaknesses but there are just as many strengths.

Thanks people

Riddles

I am a new member to this site and I feel that my experiences of Dyspraxia are quite similar to yours. In fact I am still waiting to be properly diagnosed - when I went to the doctor in my late teens, early twenties, to find out if that was what was wrong, I was told that I had a minimal cerebral dysfunction and that she didn't want to provide me with a full diagnosis in case it disadvantaged me. She was also still in the frame of mind that dyspraxia or 'Clumsey Child Syndrome', as it was often reffered to as back then, only affected children. There seems very little research going into Dyspraxia and a lot of the knowledge that seems to be out there, seems to come predominantly from those of us who suffer from it (even within the medical profession) and that is very dependent on both our awareness of our problems, the perception of those problems and our ability to communicate this to someone else. I also find so many areas of life that my Dyspraxia affects enough to make me worse at than people without it, but not so badly that I cannot do the activity at all. You then realise that, although employers are not allowed to discriminate against people with disabilities, that that idea is based upon there being some equipment or role that can help the disabled person function just as well as any person without that condition. This makes it very hard to sell yourself in a job interview, where every firm is operating a natural selection of wanting the absolute top people in each and every role. I have recently finished a job that I was working at for nearly 6.5 years. Most of the time I gave my project and team lead a written document explaining my dyspraxia to them. This caused me to be moved around a lot, be demoted permenantly in job role and moved to activities which weren't remotely suited to my aptitudes and leaving me with very little experience of anything to sell to another employer.

Sorry for going on quite a bit!

Hidi2

Hi, I actually have some information on this, it might actually be worth a read, I'm not sure how I could get you to see it. Does anyone know if you can put documents into your profile, or is it a case of having to email people stuff, I mean its not crystal clear, but it is a little information, if nothing else. Does anyone know? Is anybody interested?

Riddles

dont know riddles, how about copyin the document with the right hand click on mouse, and paste it on as an answer? if you need step by step guide then let me know xx

Hiya Riddles, Im Narda and new to the group. I have a 17 year old son with Dyspraxia,could I please ask you..what was it like at that age growing up with this illness? I really hope you don't mind me asking, its just Im really trying to understand what he may be going through.

Hi Narda, let me try and help you understand. I have recently come to the understanding that people with dyspraxia are slower to mature. So try to imagine what it was like for you as a teenager, say 13 or so. The worlds out to get you, and nobody understands. Thats how it was for me. Its possible your son is in the same situation.

I hope that helps

Riddles