FOOD

How can Dyspraxia affect food? you may ask, well these are just some of the aspects
Taste and Textures
Layout/Plate spacing
Cutlery

Dyspraxia is probably not something that most people would think affects food however as alot of people with dyspraxia have sensitivity issues this can have a very large siginificant impact on the food and the way we eat our food
the hyper or hypo sensitivity aspect of dyspraxia can have a huge impact on both the texture and taste of foods possibly to the extent not being able to eat a certain item at all or not being able to taste any particular item of food for me chicken is a food that has no flavour its like chewing on nothing and a lot of meats (on their own) are similar and take too long to chew and  quickly lose any of the flavour they may have had.

something that people probably notice more and probably associate more with autism but it also affects dyspraxia a lot is the order and layout of food on plates such as this food cant touch that food or sometimes not having the food on the same plate which for me is when having baked beans they have to go in a seperate bowl to the rest of my dinner and then when actually eating the food i tend to eat in some sort of order such as beans first then mash then sauages its not always exactly the same order all the time (sometimes it is with certain foods) but possibly more noticeable for me is that i always eat each item of food seperately so using sausage mash and beans as the example again i would eat mash then beans then sausages i pretty much never go back and forth.


then the using of cutlery when eating is something that people with dyspraxia may find difficult and dyspraxics may use and hold cutlery in very different ways that could be considered odd by others (fairly similar to pens aswell) i may have gone through this in my everyday/day-to-day life blog. i think the use of cutlery is often referred to as the stab and pull motion and i am aware that i definitely do this, i also always use my right hand for any movement aspect involving cutlery so using sausages as the example again i would cut a sausage with the fork in my left hand (and stab) and knife in my right hand but to then eat the bit of sausage i would swap the fork to my right hand.as well as this the shape of the cutlery i find can make a difference you can just about see that the fork in the above photo has a flat handle which is something i would always choose over a piece of cutlery with a round handle if that option is available.
i have seen that there are different types of cutlery available to help which have different shaped handles very similar to some pens which is something that could help some

CLOTHES

dyspraxia affecting clothes? and it is not just the fastenings (laces/buttons/zips) these are some of the other aspects that can cause issues
Textures
Weight
Material
Fit
once again this is another thing that i think lots of people wouldn't make the connection between other than laces, buttons and/or zips. which is another link between dyspraxia and sensitivity and these effects can be quite extreme and as mentioned above material and textures and even how heavy certain clothes feel can have a major impact and influence on the type of clothes people with dyspraxia can wear
the material and texture generally has a major impact (possibly the biggest other than fasteners) on clothing for dyspraxics sometimes to the point that we can be unable to wear certain types of clothing even if there is only a minor difference due to hypersensitivity it can feel like a major difference. for me personally i cannot wear jeans because the feel of them on my legs is quite rough and that is what prevents me from being able to wear them comfortably in fact the one time i can remember wearing jeans i actually had tracksuit bottoms on underneath (it was something like jeans for genes day at school?).
sometimes linked to the material of clothes can be the weight of certain clothes and how heavy/bulky they feel and this can very offputting and irritating especially if you generally wear quite lightweight clothing (this works the other way aswell). an example of this is i have a few quite thick and bulky hoodies/t-shirts that i very rarely if ever wear including some things that have been given to me for free.
something that perhaps can be linked to the two previous points combined with hypersensitivity is the fit of certain clothes as some clothes are designed to be very tight and others very loose and this may not have a really big affect as people get older i know that at points for me i have really disliked tight fitting clothing (perhaps this changed the more i got into cycling) and something that i still really dislike is short (trainer) socks i always wear mid to long length.
now moving onto the fastenings on clothes such butons, zips and the dreaded shoelaces as im sure many many dyspraxics (and parents) are all too aware can be incredibly difficult, frustrating and generally take longer to do and learn. with laces i myself learned to do them when i was 13 years old and this was a repeated process many times in the years before this. buttons especially if they are quite small can be nightmare to do up and certain fabrics can intefere with this aswell as it links to the motor skills difficulties that come with having dyspraxia and even as an adult if wearing a button up shirt i sometimes miss a button (this happend the other day with a bedsheet so its not just clothes) or have to have repeated attemps at the same one.

Tiredness/Fatigue

this blog is about how people with dyspraxia can often feel tired alot of the time.
dyspraxic people can often be tired much of the time, it may not be that they are so tired they are struggling to stay awake it may be that they feel tired a lot of the time which is often what its like for me.
the reasons for this could be fairly simple/ normal lack of sleep or food, long day working etc. however people who arent affected by these things may still feel very tired and others may wonder why but people who have dyspraxia have to work harder just to do the 'simple' stuff the things that others dont even think about. so as dyspraxics we thinking about about things as simple as walking, stairs, conversations and where are brain can go into overdrive and we end up overthinking things.for example when i carry a cup all of my focus is on carrying that cup (attempting not to spill a hot drink over myself) and walking and when going up stairs (usually in public adapted to the stairs in my house) im looking at each individual step to make sure my foot is fully on the step and as far as im aware these are things that people who are not neurodiverse just do without thinking
so it is more mental exertion lots of focusing in little things that uses up more energy than anyone could think that doesnt mean to say it is just the thinking about doing things that causes us to be tired it is a combination of the mental exertion combined with any physical exertion that can also often be repeated.
and when tired the physical aspects of dyspraxia can become more pronounced i always find that when im really tired i tend to be a bit more clumsy than usual.
it is possible for neurodiverse people to adapt to these situations and be more resistant to fatigue but this will happen gradually and over time and there will always be a limit for different individuals and as always not all individuals will be affected in the same way.

timekeeping

timekeeping being late, planning etc. all seem to be traits that are very common among many people with dyspraxia.
often you see that dyspraxics often find themselves being late for things.
when looking into it the diffuclties with planning, organisation etc are definetley going to be contributing factors in timekeeping and possibly even difficulties with learning to drive and sometimes understanding the timetables for public transport can be quite difficult.starting with planning a journey and for certain things to happen at certain times that can be helpful for those of us with dyspraxia so you know how long you have to get somewhere can work for public transport however for me i always get lost in larger train stations i have in the past actually totally forgot about some stuff that was fairly regular once it was actually my driving lesson and i had no idea that i was meant to have a driving lesson then even though they were always on the same day at the same time
now i am quite the oppsoite of this however i tend to arrive very early for things for example when im planning to be somewhere at 320 and the journey takes approximately 40 mins i will leave at 2 oclock not 240 and that gives me roughly 30 or so minutes just in case of traffic or getting a little bit lost if its somehwere i have not been before and i tend to do this give myself extra time for pretty much every journey even if i do it fairly regularly. the one down side to this is that you often end up wasting that extra 30 or so minutes not doing anything (i have actually written parts of these blogs in those situation sometimes). but my view is its better to be early than late however sometimes you have no control over what happens such as traffic or public transport running late or not at all and although its annoying and can ruin any plans, you have to accept that there is nothing you can do and try not worry or stress

Social Media and dyspraxia

i have recently written a couple of blogs on celebrities that have dyspraxia and the coverage of dyspraxia in the (traditional) media so in this blog i thought i would talk about social media and the role that does and can have for support or increased understanding and awareness of dyspraxia.
there are quite a few different formats/channels of social media available aswell and this creates a lot of options.
for instance there are a few different people who do blogs and videos which tend to provide information with personal experiences which in my view helps to showcase that dyspraxia can have such a varied affect and you can find many of these via this link from the dyspraxia foundation https://www.dfyouth.org.uk/youth-focus-group/youth-blogs/  as well as seeing them shared around social media pages, groups etc.
talking about pages and groups, there are a wide range of differing groups on facebook that can help people to offer support or advice aswell as seek that help and these groups can be targeted to certain groups (Peers) of people such as groups for adults, youths and even parents as well as groups that are all inclusive.
and not forgetting that social media is a great tool for sharing upcoming events or related 'activities' helping to give you a wider audience to promote too.
social media as a tool can be very good and helps many people alot but the advice you seek through social media groups etc. is personal experiences, opinions etc. and is not to replace seeking professional advice if needed. and obviously when communicating with others that you may have never met you need to be safe which the dyspraxia foundation youth website has a full page on that with links to other organisation which you can see here. (good advice for all not just youth)
https://www.dfyouth.org.uk/online-safety/