Dyspraxia Activist: 2015

Saturday, 17 October 2015

why they need to know 7 (us, dyspraxic people)

this is the 7th and final post in this series of posts for dyspraxia awareness week, this week and its a slightly strange one as it is for people with dyspraxia ourselves as it is important for us to understand how our dyspraxia affects us each individually.

for many people who know that they have dyspraxia over time we have come to understand what dyspraxia is and how it affects each of us individually as we understand that dyspraxia does not affect everyone in the same way however by us understanding how dyspraxia affects us individually we are able to find coping strategies for those areas that require them as well as finding other ways of doing things alongside being able to let those around us know our needs in different situations and this way we are able to plan for different situations and create routines for ourselves if needed and by letting those around us know how dyspraxia may affect us mean that those people can help when things dont quite go to plan.
but also if you want to try something but are afraid about doing so because of parts of your dyspraxia dont let it hold you back try different things then you will know whether you like them or not or if you like the other people involved if there are any and that way if you will know if you want to continue doing that thing or not and if you enjoy it keep doing it even if you're not that good you never know it may help you to relax and be away from certain things or people for an hour or so a week and over time you may become really good at whatever it is you enjoy doing and that may help you to cope with some aspects of dyspraxia better or differently and could potentially help you to build up confidence.
and lastly for this short there are positives to dyspraxia which i have written a blog on here http://dyspraxiactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/lets-focus-on-positives.html it is not a negative and there is no reason to hide who you are being different is a good thing.

many of the Dyspraxia organisation will have more in depth information on helping a child with dyspraxia and other details on how to support a child with dyspraxia

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

http://www.cyclesuk.com/ specifically there maidstone store providing me with disount on equipment etc and great customer service (also i believe the first company to support me)
Sheppey FM http://sheppeyfm.org.uk/ local radio station that helped publicise the ride
http://www.endurasport.com/ cycling clothing
http://www.jenwoods.co.uk/ a local printers in Swale,Kent
http://www.hlgraphics.co.uk/
and chek out these hotels, B&B's etc. if you are thinking of going on holiday in any of these area's
http://www.irondukebrighton.co.uk/ in brighton
http://www.swallowsrestselfcatering.co.uk/ in weymouth
http://www.torbaycourthotel.com/index.php in or very near Torquay
http://www.parkhotelpreston.co.uk/ in Preston
http://www.etruriatownhouse.com/ in Kilmarnock
http://www.thebridgehotelscunthorpe.co.uk/ in Scunthorpe
http://johnogroatsbnb.com/ in John O'Groats
http://www.the-beeches.co.uk/home in Bristol
http://www.dornochcastlehotel.com/contact/location/ in the Dornoch/ Bonar Bridge area
http://www.rezarefarmhouse.co.uk/ in Rezare, Launceston, Cornwall close to Tavistock
http://www.lionandpheasant.co.uk/ in Shrewsbury
http://www.thegeorgehotel.co.uk/ in Inverary, Scotland
http://www.scottishguesthouse.com/contact-pitlochry-guest-house.html in Pitlochry
http://www.albahillsguesthouseedinburgh.com/ in Edinburgh
http://www.trapinn.co.uk/newtrap/ in Alnwick
and finally in hitchin where the dyspraxia foundation are based http://chartridgevenues.com/hitchin-priory/

also thank you to the two universities that allowed and were going to allow me to use room in student accomodation http://www.solent.ac.uk/home.aspx (my old uni) and https://www.dur.ac.uk/ and i also forgot to mention ther place where we had our emergency stop which was the ivydene guesthouse http://www.bedbreakfastcornwall.com/west-cornwall/helston/ivydene-guest-house/ which was very nice

Friday, 16 October 2015

why they need to know 6 (friends and family members)

this is the 6th post in this series of short posts on why different people need to know about dyspraxia and how it might affect and todays post is on th general public but may include family and friends of people with dyspraxia who do not have the condition themselves.

having a basic understanding of what dyspraxia is will help everyone because it will hopefully mean that there will be less judgement of people who do something in a different way but the main reason in why a basic understanding of what dyspraxia is for many people is that you are likely to have a friend who has dyspraxia and/or any other learning difficulty it will help you understand that friend better which means that you may become closer friends over time and if a dyspraxic person knows they have friends that understand how dyspraxia effects them they are then able to be themselves around those people and not worry so much about some of the potentially embarrassing parts of their dyspraxia when they happen such as dropping some food on themselves whilst out having dinner and being comfortable around friends can only be a good thing.
however after saying that people do need to spend time alone sometimes and this may happen more often with people with dyspraxia or other learning difficulties as they may not always be comfortable around new people or in new places so understanding when someone needs that time alone or needs any form of help navigating their way around a new place especially when there seems to be some link between dyspraxia and aspects of anxiety.

for family members it can be very similar but possibly more often and in many different scenarios and being aware of when someone needs to be alone can be very important a time to be worried may be if someone does something they enjoy doing everyday or every week at the same time as part of a routine and then they suddenly stop for very long periods of time and dont want to do that thing they have always enjoyed because it may mean their could be something wrong.
also family members normally parents or guardians especially of school age children understanding how your child feels at school and is coping at school is very important and if a school mentions they suspect a child of having some form of learning difficulty and are trying different learning aids try and keep track of which ones are working and which are not so that their next teachers have something to go on but also dont be afraid to go back to something that may not have worked with one teacher but it might work with another something such as having a scribe is a good example with this. and as many parents with dyspraxic children will know is that you have to be very persistent with some schools to get them to attempt to put any form of support in place.
something i would like to finish this post on for everyone who knows someone with dyspraxia (most people probably do) is that by taking a little bit of time to go through some of the dyspraxia websites there are many aspects of dyspraxia that are similar to having separate conditions so there may not be a need check if they have difficulties with attention, sensitivity or perception because they can be apart of the dyspraxia itself depending on the extent.

many of the Dyspraxia organisation will have more in depth information on helping a child with dyspraxia and other details on how to support a child with dyspraxia

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

Thursday, 15 October 2015

why they need to know 5 (Medics)

this is the 5th post of the week for dyspraxia awareness series of short posts about why differnet people need to know about dyspraxia and this one is on medics which is probably a little bit strange, then again we dyspraxics are clumsy so we might fall over a break a leg (i have actually done that).

dyspraxic people can often have issues with sensitivity and perception so be aware that someone who has dyspraxia may react in extreme ways to certain feeling due to their sensitivity or be the complete opposite and not react at all.
and perception and sensitivity difficulties combined means that the 1-10 pain scale may not work/ be the most effective on some people with dyspraxia.

there is thought to be a potential link between dyspraxia (or other learning difficulties) and mental health aswell which has been blogged about here by rosie from think outside of the carddboard box blog on world mental health day
http://thinkoutsideofthecardboardbox.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/world-mental-health-day-wmhd15.html

if a gp you should be able to assess whether a child has dyspraxia then be able to recommend someone that can assist the child at the early stages after being diagnosed such as an occupational therapist.
if someone comes to you regarding a potential diagnosis dont keep getting them to repeat the same process over again otherwise it just wastes time address it as soon as possible.

many of the Dyspraxia organisation and other medical info websites will have more in depth information on helping a child with dyspraxia and other details on how to support a child with dyspraxia

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

why they need to know 4 (sports coaches)

this is the 4th post for this weeks series of short posts and focuses on sports coaches and to an extent probably PE teachers

from last years dyspraxia awareness week a survey suggested that the majority of teenagers with dyspraxia avoided participating in sports especially team sport and it is thought to be the same across the majority of people with dyspraxia which is why i think that sports coaches need to know about it as if they are coaching someone with dyspraxia it may be that they want to improve their co-ordination, they may have had negative sporting experinces in the past or they are dealing with someone who does really enjoy sport even if they are not brilliant at it and this post provides some tips for sports coaches.

dont think you know everything about the sport and coaching
and dont single them out

someone with dyspraxia could well find kicking or throwing a ball the 'correct' way difficult and they may be repeating the same mistake multiple times after being shown the correct technique in this situation you need to be able to offer a way of doing something differently that has the same or very similar results this way over time they will build up confidence knowing they can do something and may then try the original technique themselves away from the pressure of being watched by others

something that is probably more related to PE teacher rather than coaches is that if a child does have a passion for a sport but is not good at playing or is not particularly happy when playing is to see if they would enjoy a different aspect of the sport such as coaching themselves and that way you are able to develop more coaches and that can often happen as coaches arent always the best players

many of the Dyspraxia organisation will have more in depth information on helping a child with dyspraxia and other details on how to support a child with dyspraxia

the links to my previous blogs from this week
http://dyspraxiactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/why-they-need-to-know-1-primary-teachers.html

http://dyspraxiactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/why-they-need-to-know-2-secondary.html

http://dyspraxiactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/why-they-need-to-know-3-university.html

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Why they need to know 3 (university lecturers)

this is my 3rd post in this series of short posts of why and what differnet proffessions needed to know about dyspraxia for dyspraxia awareness week
todays one is on university lecturers so is likely to be shorter than the others as lecturers/tutors dont have as much direct involvement in the learning process compared to school teachers.

to start with make sure that you know if there is someone who has dyspraxia or any other learning difficulty within your lectures or more importantly the seminars due to having a little bit more involvement during seminars however with lectures many people with dyspraxia may be using a dictaphone or some sort of recording device so it help them and you to know who these people are as you may be able to assist by using some sort of microphone or having the dictaphone on you whilst delivering the lecture and that way there is less likely to be any background noise from other people talking, coughing or sneezing as dictaphones can be extremly sensitive to any noise also if you are aware of who records any of the lectures you will be able to inform them of any situation such as a guest lecturer who doesnt wish for anything that they say to be recorded however that situation should not need to happen.

if you know someone has a specific way of doing something do not try to change it as they will have got used to that even if it does take longer than other ways

related to the equipment that someone may use if someone does use a dictaphone or have scribe for exams as an example you should be able to make it clear that the other students either do not need to know or if the student with a learning difficulty is ok with it explain to the other students so they do not constantly ask why someone has a scribe or uses a dictaphone or any other learning aid.

suspecting someone of having a learning difficulty can be very important at this stage of learning as many people go undiagnosed for long period of time or throughout their life so if you suspect a student of having any sort of learning difficulty recommend that they go and see the disbaility support people at the university and go to see them yourselves prior to the student to discuss with those poeple why it is you suspect a learning difficulty so that they can then best help the student to potentially get a diagnosis and put support in place to help them with their learning and achieve the best that they can.

many of the Dyspraxia organisation will have more in depth information on spotting someone with dyspraxia and other details on how to support them.

you can see my previous two posts from this week by following these links
http://dyspraxiactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/why-they-need-to-know-1-primary-teachers.html
http://dyspraxiactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/why-they-need-to-know-2-secondary.html

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

Monday, 12 October 2015

Why They Need To Know 2 (secondary school teachers)

this is the second of my series of short blog posts for dyspraxia awareness week and this blog post is going to focus on why and what secondary school teachers need to know and understand about dyspraxia and how it may affect affect their proffession.

the secondary school age groups normally from 11 years old up to 16 or if sixth form or college 18 years old is when young people are developing a lot more and going through a lot more changes as well as doing some of their most important learning that may well affect their career choices so it is a very important time to help people develop and achieve their full potential and adding dyspraxia into this is likely to make it harder for many people.

starting with the early age groups at secondary school for those people that have managed to get a diagnosis prior to attending secondary this may help teachers to understand different things about those children and be able to help them if they are struggling with things such as the change in schools as many people with dyspraxia settle into routines as a coping strategy and changing anything about that routine may upset them and the negative aspects of dyspraxia may become more obvious due to this and one of the ways teachers can help someone is by helping to create a new routine with that child and their parents as well as being that person they can trust to talk to when they are struggling and this may help to make the school and environment that child feels comfortable in and also make sure that if they have ever had any learning supports in place whilst at primary school try and get hold of that information so that it can be carried on in secondary school or adapted/change to suit any other/extra needs that may arise during secondary school

teachers make sure that you are aware of which children in your classes have any form of learning difficulty as it will help you to teach different people in the different ways in which they learn and how it affects those different children this may also help you to if you suspect that another child needs any extra help if they show similar signs as you will be able to put that support in place although not all dyspraxic children will show the same or even similar traits as it may effect them each completely differently and if all of the teachers follow that if one suspects that one of their students may have dyspraxia they will be able to discuss it with their colleagues who teach the same student and they may be able to put the same supports in place in every lesson to see if it works or not.

children with dyspraxia may not fully understand something and this may require the teacher to repeat the same thing multiple times in this situation don't judge the child for this just try to explain it in a different way as people with dyspraxia often have slightly odd ways of explaining things themselves which may mean that for them to understand something a slightly strange way of explaining it may be required for them to fully understand. it could possibly be best to do this 1 to 1 but that is something that needs to be figured out over time as once you understand the way in which different students learn you can find what the best way is to be able to teach every student at the same time

and the older age groups especially when it comes to GCSE exams if they do have support in place such as having a scribe or reader then make sure that the child is comfortable with that person and is comfortable having that support in place otherwise it may just be worse than having no support which is why you need to try different ways throughout their time in school to know which helps them learn better and portray whatever it is they are thinking in an exam or coursework dont just give them a laptop and leave it at that some people will be helped by having a laptop some wont as dyspraxia affects everyone differently.
and finally for those people with dyspraxia who are at sixth form/ college and have had their diagnosis of dyspraxia prior to the age of 16 and these people wish to go to university help them to get re-assessed as to get support and equipment at university you have to have had an assessement after the age of 16.

remember that your job is to help people learn.
teach their way not yours

many of the Dyspraxia organisation will have more in depth information on spotting a child with dyspraxia and other details on how to support a child with dyspraxia
you can see the first blog of this series focusing on primary school teachers here http://dyspraxiactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/why-they-need-to-know-1-primary-teachers.html

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

Sunday, 11 October 2015

Why They Need To Know 1 (primary teachers)

this Blog is the start of a series of small blog posts for this week (Dyspraxia Awareness Week).
and this series on why people, especially those in certain proffessions, need to understand what dyspraxia is and how it may affect them in their role and the specific knowledge related to their role.

the first post in this series is going to focus on primary school and at these ages (post 5 years old) is the stage where the differences can often become more significant or obvious due to being surrounded by a large group of peers and post 5 years old is the age which dyspraxia organisations say is better to look into diagnosis as the chidlren and more developed at this stage

i would say that when it comes to primary school teachers they should be aware of dyspraxia and should be able to spot if a child may have it especially because at the primary school age it is unlikely for a child to have been diagnosed so that if a teacher does suspect a child may have dyspraxia or any other learning difficulties it will help to establish what support can be put in place and allow time for multiple ways of supporting a child's learning process to establish what the best one(s) will be for that particular child. and even if a child does not have any diagnosis or is not suspected of having dyspraxia but has some Dyspraxic traits putting some learning supports in place may still help them as well as potentially help to establish the differences or the possibility of other separate conditions from dyspraxia.
a couple of small tips on what may work when supporting a child that does or may have dyspraxia is to not let anyone single them out it may stop them from engaging in any support provisions that are put in place in fear of bullying.
remember that no two dyspraxic people are the same any provisions you put in place for one child with dyspraxia may not work for another.
and finally a big one that the majority of dyspraxics probably have experience with is the thought from teachers that poor handwriting = poor work which is not true and if their focusing on handwriting the task may not get completed as the focus is not on the task which it should be.

many of the Dyspraxia organisation will have more in depth information on spotting a child with dyspraxia and other details on how to support a child with dyspraxia

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

Thursday, 10 September 2015

starting university (back to school, college)

i thought that this would be a good time to write a post about going to uni or back to uni, school college or work as i have seen a couple of other posts about on social media other people blogs or youtube channels especially with university as it is the most fresh in my memory as i have recently finished my degree Graduating with a 2.2 and that many people are probably starting very soon.

first off independant living for many people who are going to university this will be the first time that you will be living on your own to an extent (most likely to have house/flatmates) and in control of every aspect of your life and for me when i started uni it was like this but i also found that setting a routine which i have mentioned previously helped me when i had sunday as my cleaning day and that stayed like that for most of my first year.
another couple of tips for the very beginning of university especially if your staying in halls of residence is to get there quite early so that its less busy and you will be able to find your way around the halls find out how to get to your university and explore the area a little bit and a bonus the fridge/freezer and cupboards in the kitchen are not likely to be full so you can find the space for all your food to go easily and that way it will probably be easier to keep everything organised and tidy.

when it comes to actually starting University (this may also apply to starting a new school as well) there will likely be people around the University to help you with finding where it is that you need to go and those people are probably going to be there for at least the first week or two although if you are worried about not being able to find your way to lectures give yourself time and go a little bit early or if you have a finalized timetable before your lectures start then you can go to the university and find your way around so that you know where you are going when you do start also at this time you could find the disability support people within your university if its the same as mine you will probably have to go there with some student finance documents if you know that you are entitled to get help through DSA (disabled students allowance) but they should also be able to help with getting DSA if you are entitled to it but have not yet received it as well as potentially being able to help you get a diagnosis of dyspraxia or other neurodiverse conditions if you feel that you may have them and have not yet got a diagnosis (there are quite a lot of people with dyspraxia that got their diagnosis whilst at university)

the social aspect of going to university this is the part of uni that i think there are quite a few people not just those with dyspraxia (and not all dyspraxics) aren't as comfortable with because in this sense it is often nights out partying and drinking lots of alcohol and from my very minimal experience these environments are often loud, crowded and either very dark or very bright or a mix of both but to get to the point you do NOT have to go partying, clubbing etc. if you do not want to, i almost never went to the nightclubs or anything like that the only couple of times i did was with the uni handball team that i played for (to be honest that sort of thing definitely not for me) but this also bring me onto another way of meeting new people and being sociable which is the opportunities to join sports clubs or societies there may even be a society for people with learning difficulties at some universities but you should be able to see this at freshers/sports fayre before the start of uni where all of the societies and sports clubs are likely to be so you will have the oppurtunity to talk to people already involved and may even find a new thing that you may enjoy and that way you will know that the people you meet are also interested in the same things as you

and lastly if you are thinking about attending uni and your original diagnosis of dyspraxia was before the age of 16 you will need to get another diagnosis to be able to get the DSA so you have the required provisions whilst at uni.

also you can check out some other info about uni, work, school and college from others
Rosie's blog http://thinkoutsideofthecardboardbox.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/new-academic-year-new-beginnings.html
and Krystal's video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYT0a0-f5iM

also i have just created a facebook page so that it is easier for people to follow my blog posts here https://www.facebook.com/dyspraxiactivist?ref=aymt_homepage_panel so please go and like it thank you

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did a couple of months ago and the justgiving page will probably stay up for a little while https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone

Friday, 28 August 2015

lets focus on the positives

this post has stemmed from something i saw on one of the Facebook dyspraxia support groups quite a while ago now which basically said that when we talk about dyspraxia we often say that we are bad at organisation, have bad co-ordination and we seem to focus on what we cant do or what we struggle to do if they're the right term to use

so i am going to focus on the positives for this blog
starting with something we know but don't really notice which is that we think in different ways to most other people and although it may not sound like a positive at first but it is because it means that we are more likely to come up with different ideas or different solutions to problems and these differing ways of doing things can give you an advantage over at lot of other people because it means that you could be an innovator, entrepreneur or even an inventor and you often see the creative fields of work being presented as an option for young people with dyspraxia which is because the traits i mentioned are suited more to creativity, not that you cant use any of them in any other fields especially the different ways of solving problems, also for the inventor type or creating new things you often see that inventor and entrepreneur have often failed first time round or at some point which sort of leads into my next positive/ advantage of dyspraxia

which is determination and it is something that is nearly always mentioned when talking about the positives of dyspraxia and rightly so as even when there are people or things that try and stop us we will always try our best at everything we do and personally i found especially during education that we still make sure we get things done even if we do not necessarily enjoy doing them and even better is that if we find something that we do enjoy and are passionate about it we never give up until we have completed it to the best of our abilities another thing that i personally find myself doing is always trying to prove people wrong when it comes to their expectations in such things like grades at school.

remember to always
-enjoy what you do
-work hard
-never give up
and it is ok to be different
DYSPRAXIA IS NOT A NEGATIVE ITS A POSITIVE
i am sure there are many more positive sides of dyspraxia (as ive only really talked about two) so please share them in the comments below and maybe in the future i will do a post including all of them
also if you would like to check out Rosie's blog on thinking differently here http://thinkoutsideofthecardboardbox.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/a-different-way-of-thinking.html

and as usual finishing with detail from the cycle challenge i did last month and the justgiving page will still be up for about another week https://www.justgiving.com/Eben-Fletcher/, and i should probably continue to mention all those companies that supported the challenge atleast for the next few posts

i hope i have not forgotten anyone