Dyspraxia/DCD

Dyspraxia is estimated to be quite common yet almost no one in the USA has heard of it. In fact Developmental Coordination Disorder (the name recently adopted in the USA) is just that recently adopted.

This condition is life long yet there is little support or identification of kids amd even less for adults.

Some kids grow out of it- most manage to mask the coordibation issues that are most obvious in childhood but continue to struggle in different ways as adults. Adulting is just hard for us we struggle with things that most people find easy yet we don't look obviously disabled so people don't recognize how nervous we are and how hard we are working to not be a walking disaster all the time - because our coordination is still really really bad and we are still really clumsy and awkward and perpetual screw ups in many areas we just learned how to somewhat compensate.

We still spill, lose, knockover, drop stuff a lot, we put way to much effort in to look kinda normal, we still probably have awful handwriting, we still get lost a lot more then most. We just worked so hard learning to compensate and cover it up that it's not so obvious anymore so we can pass.

Having highly traumatic childhoods are sadly common for those with undiagnosed/unsupported Dyspraxia. And they leave a mark. Many of us come out of child hood with huge self-esteem issues, imposter syndrome, mental health issues - we struggle, we drift through life, we rarely reach our potential. We are thrown away. We just don't have the tools or foundation to succeed because the only thing we learned was how to pass and hate ourselves - the world is always beating is up so it's just how it is right?.

DCD is not a new condition it has just had a lot of names, some of them very hurtful.

It is common for those with Dyspraxia to also have leanings or outright diagnosis with other forms of neurodiversity.

Some of Dyslexia, most have *either* ADHD or Autism some have both.

Dyspraxia has so little exposure in this country that I was told to just "take" an Autism spectrum label despite very very clearly not belonging on the Autism Spectrum unless it is seen to encompass someone who is in many ways the polar opposite of Autistic.

Rather then having restricted interests I have an abundance, I neither require nor desire an over-regimented world. I make eye contact. I can be quite social although like many with dyspraxia I was bullied a lot and ran into social problems for Dyspraxia and ADHD related reasons rather then Autism ones.

I fit on the ADHD side of thing the only thing I have in common with Autism is being Neurodiverse and that *some* with Dyspraxia do fit on the Autism spectrum.

Dyspraxia can have diverse presentations also. It's cardinal signs in childhood are clumsiness, struggling with right and left, amounts of force to use, difficulty tying shoe laces, problems with handwriting, problems with coordination, spacial perception.

Secondary mental health issues are common because we often have really bad childhoods, maybe we are also prone to it but the horrid experiences do not help.

Some reasons we tend to have social difficulties as children - Difficulty regulating and recognizing how far away to stand, bumping into people, dropping stuff, seeming carelessness with other's belongings, , often bad at sports/last picked on the playground, difficulty with physical sequences, may have difficulty regulating volume of voice (to soft or two loud), *some* also have difficulties with speach itself, may have joint laxity/hypermobility/and or low muscle tone, poor sense of time, poor spacial perception, poor organizational skills, some have poor balance.

Because we struggle with these things we may have poor fitness, no self confidence, few successes in life, we may be labelled with the R word (I was) for the early coordination problems and schools may refuse to educate as (happened to me).

This is not an exhaustive list and again many of us also have either ADHD or Autistic overlap/cocurrance.

Because of the misunderstandings and challenges of Dyspraxia we grow up bullied, misunderstood, frustrated, often friendless - we don't really get the opportunity for proper socialization and the foundation to be part of society properly.

As teens and adults we are awkward, bad at "basic: stuff so why would anyone give us a chance to show them how we can shine and how capable we actually are - many of us don't even know.

Many of us are actually very smart and capable but the things we are good at are just nonsensical to society and we learn differently.

With support and understanding we are wonderful capable people but by the time we reach adulthood those who don't get support have no foundations and are covered in psychological scars.