i've decided to write this blog after seeing the latest video from Krystal on the Paralympics and some disabilities not being included which you can see here http://bit.ly/2d88WQ8
im going to start by also linking to the article by the Guardian that krystal mentions in her video http://bit.ly/2cHmVOv it wasn't until i first saw this article a year or so ago that i was aware there ever was any sporting competition/category that allowed people with dyspraxia and similar conditions to compete against each other which is the S17 category.the dyspraxia foundation also put out a statement urging the international Paralympic committee to reconsider their decision http://bit.ly/2cI0d98
from what i understand from the article in the guardian,this category has not been included in the Paralympics but has been in other national and international disability events, but now the S17 category in the view of the international Paralympic committee (IPC) does not exist and in the article it is mentioned that the amateur swimming association and British swimming are not including/supporting this category anymore due to the fact that these disabilities are not internationally recognized e.g. Britain being the only country that recognizes these conditions as disabilities. however other sports may have different views and may be able to support a category for these conditions in their sport for example the football association in England has a section for learning impairments but these impairments have to impact sporting performance in some way i do believe in football atleast at an amateur level learning impairments are included in the cerebral palsy 7-aside game sometimes.
in my view this exclusion of disability seems wrong and especially so from the IPC as a comment in the article says the Paralympic legacy is inclusion and this seems to be exclusion especially as there is no event for those with dyspraxia and/or similar conditions to compete against each other as the special Olympics also does not have a category for dyspraxia or any SpLD and Asperger's (high functioning autism) and eligibility to the special Olympics is very similar to the Paralympic category of S14 for athletes with learning disabilities but is judged on IQ and as Krystal mentions in her video many people who are neurodiverse actually have quite high IQ's so those who were eligible for the S17 criteria are not likely to be eligible for the S14 category or the special Olympics whose criteria you can see here http://bit.ly/2cIkPwk
however having said all of this due to the nature of conditions such as dyspraxia and similar conditions such as they can affect different people to very different levels plus how common they are. this means that there is a good possibility that there are elite able bodied and para-athletes that may actually have dyspraxia (whether they are aware of it or not) but many sports have a culture of making sure there are no signs of weakness shown or anything that could be considered a weakness this leads to people not being open about it (especially during their careers) so there ends up being no role models for young aspiring athletes/sportspeople in the same situation causing a vicious cycle although i did recently see something about a rugby player being open about having dyspraxia which may over time become very helpful.
hopefully this blog has made this situation as clear as possible and ive tried to link to as many of the documents that ive used as well as using my experience having looked into this before.
Thursday 22 September 2016
Friday 16 September 2016
Dyspraxia and its links to other diversities (co-occurring conditions)
this blog post is going to focus on the other difficulties/disabilities that often seem to occur alongside dyspraxia with brief overviews of them.
i am going to start by saying there is some thought that it is extremely rare for Dyspraxia to occur in isolation as well as some thought that certain condition wont or shouldn't occur alongside dyspraxia due to similarities in my opinion i thin k there may be some truth to be both opinions and i wouldn't say it was definitive either way especially due to the wide array of things that can be apart of dyspraxia which could cause confusion over whether someone has multiple conditions or whether the difficulties they face are a part of their dyspraxia.
probably the most common or the most well known of the difficulties to occur alongside dyspraxia is Dyslexia which is predominately a difficulty with language and words there is also Dyscalculia which is a difficulty with numbers/maths and is sometimes referred to as number Dyslexia as well as Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Dyspraxia there is Dysgraphia which is a difficulty with writing, mostly handwriting.
Autism or Autism spectrum disorder is another it is also the one that creates confusion as it is the disability that some suggest shouldn't occur alongside Dyspraxia due to how similar some aspects of both conditions are (however some people are diagnosed with both) there is also question marks over whether dyspraxia is or should be a part of the autistic spectrum. Natalie (the blog with one post) has done a blog on this http://bit.ly/2cOcPNu
another condition that often occur alongside Dyspraxia is sensory processing disorder which seems quite self explanatory as a difficulty with processing senses, this is another difficulty that could be causing confusion due to sensory difficulties already being quite a large part of dyspraxia for some people.
hyper and hypo flexibility is something that can occur on its own as well as many dyspraxics having it as well and this affect the range of movement you have in your joints with Hyper meaning more than the normal range of movement and hypo meaning less than the normal range hyper-flexibility may be more commonly referred to as double jointedness.
ADHD (attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder) is something that often occurs with many neurodiverse conditions including dyspraxia and is difficulty or poor attention span and this sometimes leads to hyperactivity however not all the time and this hyperactivity is not always obvious it could be just fidgeting such as moving tapping of the foot or hand.
there is also verbal dyspraxia which is difficulty with speech or making certain sounds or controlling volume and pitch of voice this is sometimes referred to as apraxia of speech which is slightly confusing as there is a difference between apraxia and dyspraxia, which is that Dyspraxia is a developmental disorders whereas Apraxia is Acquired dyspraxia this could potentially happen after a stroke for example.
a final thing to note is that it is suggested that people who have learning/neurological difficulties such as these mentioned in this post are alot more likely to suffer with mental health difficulties especially if they are not supported.
i hope that this blog has helped some people understand some of the things that can occur alongside dyspraxia and a very small amount of what these conditions are.
i am going to start by saying there is some thought that it is extremely rare for Dyspraxia to occur in isolation as well as some thought that certain condition wont or shouldn't occur alongside dyspraxia due to similarities in my opinion i thin k there may be some truth to be both opinions and i wouldn't say it was definitive either way especially due to the wide array of things that can be apart of dyspraxia which could cause confusion over whether someone has multiple conditions or whether the difficulties they face are a part of their dyspraxia.
probably the most common or the most well known of the difficulties to occur alongside dyspraxia is Dyslexia which is predominately a difficulty with language and words there is also Dyscalculia which is a difficulty with numbers/maths and is sometimes referred to as number Dyslexia as well as Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Dyspraxia there is Dysgraphia which is a difficulty with writing, mostly handwriting.
Autism or Autism spectrum disorder is another it is also the one that creates confusion as it is the disability that some suggest shouldn't occur alongside Dyspraxia due to how similar some aspects of both conditions are (however some people are diagnosed with both) there is also question marks over whether dyspraxia is or should be a part of the autistic spectrum. Natalie (the blog with one post) has done a blog on this http://bit.ly/2cOcPNu
another condition that often occur alongside Dyspraxia is sensory processing disorder which seems quite self explanatory as a difficulty with processing senses, this is another difficulty that could be causing confusion due to sensory difficulties already being quite a large part of dyspraxia for some people.
hyper and hypo flexibility is something that can occur on its own as well as many dyspraxics having it as well and this affect the range of movement you have in your joints with Hyper meaning more than the normal range of movement and hypo meaning less than the normal range hyper-flexibility may be more commonly referred to as double jointedness.
ADHD (attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder) is something that often occurs with many neurodiverse conditions including dyspraxia and is difficulty or poor attention span and this sometimes leads to hyperactivity however not all the time and this hyperactivity is not always obvious it could be just fidgeting such as moving tapping of the foot or hand.
there is also verbal dyspraxia which is difficulty with speech or making certain sounds or controlling volume and pitch of voice this is sometimes referred to as apraxia of speech which is slightly confusing as there is a difference between apraxia and dyspraxia, which is that Dyspraxia is a developmental disorders whereas Apraxia is Acquired dyspraxia this could potentially happen after a stroke for example.
a final thing to note is that it is suggested that people who have learning/neurological difficulties such as these mentioned in this post are alot more likely to suffer with mental health difficulties especially if they are not supported.
i hope that this blog has helped some people understand some of the things that can occur alongside dyspraxia and a very small amount of what these conditions are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)