everyday or day-to-day life as a dyspraxic person can sometimes be annoying, funny, frustrating, forgetful and possibly even dufficult and occasionally just normal/average.
you can often see around in leaflets or online that one of the more common things to come up is women and make-up and how something that most people consider a fairly easy and simple task a person with dyspraxia can find incredibly difficult, the same can be said about quite a lot of other daily tasks that are considered simple by most people yet many of these can actually require quite a lot of fine motor control. sometimes people can just forget to do a certain thing which can be quite common it certainly is for me for example sometimes i can forget to brush my teeth and i might not even think about it and i can get through the day and at a really random time like driving somewhere i then think oh i havent brushed my teeth yet today the same could be said for not having breakfast occasionally, alot of people have probably had similar situations sometimes when youre going out a realise that you have forgotten something.
also for alot of people with dyspraxia eating or using cutlery especially is something that can be difficult although there are different types of cutlery that you can buy made of differnet material or different shapes such as being ergonomic so they fit to the hand or encourage the 'correct' grip for me personally i dont find using cutlery hard but i know that when i use cutlery i use it quite diffferently to most others i know such as the dominant task i will always use my right hand so for cutting with the knife i will use my right hand and then will swap the fork to my right hand for eating and when i am cutting i tend to stab the item i am cutting with the fork then cut with the knife in my right hand however i do prefer to and find it easier to use cutlery that has flat handles and not rounded handles.
and then there is shaving although as a man who likes and often has a beard/ facial hair, i dont shave that often but when i first needed to start shaving my dad actually helped alot (did most of the shaving for me) however when i do shave now i mostly use and electric shaver/trimmer although i am never able to trim the beard to certain length when i try to so i just shave most/all off and using an electric shaver is easier than using a razor however i have found that you kind of get used to using a razor after time if you are careful although it can still take time as you are having to look in a mirror whilst doing some weird face contortionism and use a razor and make sure you dont miss any spots which i do as i only use my right (dominant) hand when shaving and making sure you dont apply too mush pressure.
Sunday, 6 August 2017
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Exams
we are coming into exam time at the moment (in the UK atleast) for people in school or college etc. i thought it a good time to write a blog about dyspraxia/ dyspraxics and exams but also for other as i know exam time can be difficult for a lot of people not just those with learning difficulties
but im going to start by saying that in my experience exams have never seemed to be an accurate or efficient way of testing knowledge or skill to me atleast they have always seemed more like a memory test especially with subjects that dont have definitive answers like english etc.however i can see that subjects like maths (and to an extent) science the correct answer is always going to be the correct answer so is perhaps a slighlty more accurate way although it is still a test of memory (how tu do certain aspects of it)
but in terms of preparing for exams revision is important even if it is just quick testing of yourself but dont just sit revising (reading) for hours take regular breaks when you need to otherwise i found you can just start getting bored and stop taking stuff in and by testing yourself you can find what you are not so good or confident at and focus a bit more time to those things although you should contine to work on the other things aswell. revising is just like anything else in that most importantly you need to find what works for you whether that is taking tests, reading up on things or leaving notes around the house.
getting the correct supports in place is something that is also incredibly important especially for those with learning difficulties if neccesary this could be variety from having extra time to using a laptop or a scribe/reader. for my exams i had a scribe from GCSE's through to university and it helps if you can be in a different room which i wasn't for GCSE and sixth form. i have mentioned some of this in a previous blog here http://bit.ly/2qiOAfx
but im going to start by saying that in my experience exams have never seemed to be an accurate or efficient way of testing knowledge or skill to me atleast they have always seemed more like a memory test especially with subjects that dont have definitive answers like english etc.however i can see that subjects like maths (and to an extent) science the correct answer is always going to be the correct answer so is perhaps a slighlty more accurate way although it is still a test of memory (how tu do certain aspects of it)
but in terms of preparing for exams revision is important even if it is just quick testing of yourself but dont just sit revising (reading) for hours take regular breaks when you need to otherwise i found you can just start getting bored and stop taking stuff in and by testing yourself you can find what you are not so good or confident at and focus a bit more time to those things although you should contine to work on the other things aswell. revising is just like anything else in that most importantly you need to find what works for you whether that is taking tests, reading up on things or leaving notes around the house.
getting the correct supports in place is something that is also incredibly important especially for those with learning difficulties if neccesary this could be variety from having extra time to using a laptop or a scribe/reader. for my exams i had a scribe from GCSE's through to university and it helps if you can be in a different room which i wasn't for GCSE and sixth form. i have mentioned some of this in a previous blog here http://bit.ly/2qiOAfx
Monday, 1 May 2017
Memory
memory and dyspraxia is something that many people dont seem to understand. how someone could forget something they've only just been told and poor short term memory is a common trait among many but not all dyspraxics.
as just mentioned short term memory is said to be poor amongst dyspraxic people but they tend to have quite good mid to long term memory and that kind of describes me a little bit i often tend to forget things sometimes even though i repeatedly tell myself to do them for example fairly recently i needed to re-send an email and everytime i went on to my laptop i could never remmebr to do it even if i was on my email and it eventually took about 3 or 4 days to do it yet i can remember some things in quite a lot of detail from 10+ years ago whether they were quite memorable events or sometimes even just some other random things.
when it comes to very short term memory i do think that if its a single instruction without much interuption then its all ok but if theres more than one thing to do and more than one instruction then im likely to forget some part of it which is something that is quite common among dyspraxics which is why when you see things about learning disabiloity and teaching teachers are advised to simplify their instruction and go through any steps that may be needed one at a time which is something we could potentially do in everyday life as well.
some tips to help with remmbering to do things could be to have notes as reminders around the house or a list of things to do and tick them off as they are done or even setting a range of alarms/reminders on phones etc.
as just mentioned short term memory is said to be poor amongst dyspraxic people but they tend to have quite good mid to long term memory and that kind of describes me a little bit i often tend to forget things sometimes even though i repeatedly tell myself to do them for example fairly recently i needed to re-send an email and everytime i went on to my laptop i could never remmebr to do it even if i was on my email and it eventually took about 3 or 4 days to do it yet i can remember some things in quite a lot of detail from 10+ years ago whether they were quite memorable events or sometimes even just some other random things.
when it comes to very short term memory i do think that if its a single instruction without much interuption then its all ok but if theres more than one thing to do and more than one instruction then im likely to forget some part of it which is something that is quite common among dyspraxics which is why when you see things about learning disabiloity and teaching teachers are advised to simplify their instruction and go through any steps that may be needed one at a time which is something we could potentially do in everyday life as well.
some tips to help with remmbering to do things could be to have notes as reminders around the house or a list of things to do and tick them off as they are done or even setting a range of alarms/reminders on phones etc.
Friday, 14 April 2017
Sensitivity
sensitivity or hyper/hypo sensitivity is something that can and does impact on many dyspraxic people quite a lot and in this blog post im goign tot go through what it means and how people can be affected.
to start with all the aspects of sensitivity can be affected by dyspraxia such as taste, touch,sight, smell and sound. all these senses are quite clear to most people but those who have dyspraxia can have very different reactions to the same or only slighlty differring situations and thats where hypo and hyper sensitivity comes in hypo-sensitivity means someone may not react at lot less if at all compared to someone else and hyper-sensitivity is the exact opposite and someone feels something very strongly and it can be quite extreme either way. the same person can experience both ends of the scale as well for example somehting fairly minor like a little bending of the finger hurt quite a lot but something severe a broken leg (tibia-shin bone) didnt really hurt at all.
this can often affect clothing some people may not like the feellof certain clothes or if the fit is not just right it can prove difficult to wear certain items for me one is jeans which ive never worn.
it is not just touch/feel that is affceted often light has an impact aswell such as when a light is turned on in the dark which can hurt the eyes sometimes or they struggle to see and visibly have to adjust and its not always that extreme it can just be the differnece in light in different room/buildings. this is something that happens to me sometimes often when ging from outside to inside.
tatse and textures is something that a lot of dyspraxics can have trouble with as well potentially even not being able to taste the flavours of certain foods but the texture often causes the biggest problem even making it almost impossoble to eat certain things but i'll go through this in another blog.
to start with all the aspects of sensitivity can be affected by dyspraxia such as taste, touch,sight, smell and sound. all these senses are quite clear to most people but those who have dyspraxia can have very different reactions to the same or only slighlty differring situations and thats where hypo and hyper sensitivity comes in hypo-sensitivity means someone may not react at lot less if at all compared to someone else and hyper-sensitivity is the exact opposite and someone feels something very strongly and it can be quite extreme either way. the same person can experience both ends of the scale as well for example somehting fairly minor like a little bending of the finger hurt quite a lot but something severe a broken leg (tibia-shin bone) didnt really hurt at all.
this can often affect clothing some people may not like the feellof certain clothes or if the fit is not just right it can prove difficult to wear certain items for me one is jeans which ive never worn.
it is not just touch/feel that is affceted often light has an impact aswell such as when a light is turned on in the dark which can hurt the eyes sometimes or they struggle to see and visibly have to adjust and its not always that extreme it can just be the differnece in light in different room/buildings. this is something that happens to me sometimes often when ging from outside to inside.
tatse and textures is something that a lot of dyspraxics can have trouble with as well potentially even not being able to taste the flavours of certain foods but the texture often causes the biggest problem even making it almost impossoble to eat certain things but i'll go through this in another blog.
Sunday, 26 March 2017
Travel/New Places
i thought of combining this blog with the public transport one but felt it best to do this on its own because as dyspraxics newplaces and new situations can be quite daunting and not just the travelling part of it although that can have a large impact.
as i said travel can be large part of some difficulties when going to new places because of short term memory and sense of direction as well as spatial awareness which can make it diffcult travelling not just too a certain place but possibly even exploring new areas however new technology such as phones satnav etc. make it a lot easier and the internet something like google maps street view is something that has helped me alot as you can sometimes see 'markers' on street view things like signs, a certain building etc. that you then recognise to reassure yourself or use as refernce points when travelling.i actually used google street view to plan most of the cycle i did almost 2 years ago (streetviewed over 2000 miles)
something that isnt noticed that much i find is that you become a bit more aware of your self when in new situations and have to focus a bit more on things very simple such as sometimes even walkingso that you dont walk into something or someone whereas when you are somehwere you know you ont really have to think about certiain things as much
as i said travel can be large part of some difficulties when going to new places because of short term memory and sense of direction as well as spatial awareness which can make it diffcult travelling not just too a certain place but possibly even exploring new areas however new technology such as phones satnav etc. make it a lot easier and the internet something like google maps street view is something that has helped me alot as you can sometimes see 'markers' on street view things like signs, a certain building etc. that you then recognise to reassure yourself or use as refernce points when travelling.i actually used google street view to plan most of the cycle i did almost 2 years ago (streetviewed over 2000 miles)
something that isnt noticed that much i find is that you become a bit more aware of your self when in new situations and have to focus a bit more on things very simple such as sometimes even walkingso that you dont walk into something or someone whereas when you are somehwere you know you ont really have to think about certiain things as much
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