Hey everyone
Today I'm beginning my new 'series' about DCD and sensory
processing and a few other things that have affected me in the past. There'll
be four blogposts which are quite long so I hope you's don't mind and I'll be
posting one a week. Before I start I want to make it quite clear that I'm not 'attention seeking' or anything
like that in any of these blogposts. This week I'm covering the basics of DCD,
etc. and also about diagnosis. I'll explain in more detail in the next
blogposts but I'm going to quote parts of the article I wrote for kiss magazine
last year about dyspraxia to explain briefly cos I'm lazy.
"I have dyspraxia or to be specific Developmental
Coordination Disorder & I also have Sensory Processing Disorder. Dyspraxia
for me means that I can't catch a ball or do tumbles & I have a fear of
running but it's also much more than that. I find it awkward to make eye
contact and sometimes make silly mistakes"
"Because of my SPD my nerves are never at zero. After
something upsetting happens a non-SPD's nerves will go back to zero after a
while but mine build up until I have a meltdown where I scream and shout."
"Dyspraxia's a hidden disorder it used to be known as
clumsy child syndrome"
"As many as one in thirty kids can be affected by
it."
So that's alot to read and write ! As you can tell dyspraxia
affects me very single day and it is affected me now as I wrote this because my
hand is sore and tired from writing. It's almost midnight I must add hashtag
nightbird.
All dyspraxics are different I doubt any two are the exact
same ! For example one of my very good friends is both dyslexic and dyspraxic
and might as well be the complete opposite to me ! We were at her house one
time and she was climbing one of her friends and I was like no way cos I was
afraid I would fall from the tree or the tee would fall down on me if I walked
near it ! Rather than ramble for years in the next few blogposts I'm going to
write three long paragraphs for you know about how I found out I was dyspraxic
and briefly how this has affected me in my life
My parents had never heard of dyspraxia because it wasn't
and still isn't as 'high profile' as dyslexia, ADHD, etc. and is of course a
hidden disorder ! As a baby and toddler everything I did turns out to be a
sign of dyspraxia and SPD ! I didn't walk until I was two and didn't run until
I was tree ! Apparently in my playschool (kindergarten.) at the start of each
day I would stand at the back of the room and scan the room for like a half an
hour. I do remember though having very poor social integration skills and this
is where my low self esteem and social anxiety began. I junior infants (five
years old.) I used to be told off for not being able to catch a ball which I
still can't do and I also got told off for not being able to hold a pen
properly ! In senior infants I formed my own way of holding a pen which I'll
add a photo of in the next post & eventually the teachers gave up telling
me off and trying to teach me how to hold it which was pointless. Throughout
primary school my coordination worsened (in my opinion.) and so did my social
skills and social anxiety
although my school never suspected a thing !
2010 in Fifth Class my second last year of primary school I
found out I was dyspraxic more less. The story goes that for the six weeks of
every school year us students were blessed (cough sarcasm cough.) with the
'such fun' of swimming lessons where we watched the teachers with their coffees
in the coffee shop from the cold swim pool and got changed out of our togs even
slower as they knocked on the changing room doors yelling to hurry up. Pleasant.
Anyway so there was a 'big pool for 'advanced swimmers' & a 'small pool'
for those who 'swam' around grasping red floats and the three inch high baby
pool for .... Babies. Myself and two of my friends were alway in the 'small
pool' and laughed it off but one week our teachers bribed everyone in our two
fifth classes to move up to the big pool and everyone went except for me. I
just kinda sat there in the small pool just chilling with the Senior Infants
who were five years younger than me smart brats yelling at me "Look at that she's in the small pool an she's a big girl hahh" "our John is in the
big pool and he's younger than you" today they would've got a slap and
middle finger salute from me. The instructors wouldn't let myself or my friends
go over to each other at 'fun time' so I just swam in the baby pool which is
still the only pool I can swim in.
So I went home & blubbed and cried to my mam what
happened so she rang our doctor because she knew something wasn't right and hey
ho "I think your daughters dyspraxic" but of course I wasn't fully
diagnosed until two years later which I'll get to in one moment now.
So to speak of the years after, My teacher who I had for
both fifth & sixth class was very fair because she allowed me not to go
swim lessons which was compulsory. My 'problems' with dyspraxia seemed to
affect me less in Sixth class and even my social anxiety became a distant
memory but at the end of the year when I finished primary school I decided to
go to the new secondary school where nobody in my class were going. This was
pretty much the worst mistake I've ever made and the worst year ever too. I'm
not going to lie, I was bullied last year I didn't fit in at all and I went
through very bad depression. Also in First Year I was diagnosed with Dyspraxia
& Sensory Processing and also found out that I had scoliosis because I have low muscle tone which is quite common in dyspraxics. Luckily at the
start of summer my parents decided to move me to the original school I was
suppose to go to where all my friends where which was the best decision and
I've had a brilliant year in this school.
Things are ok right now but even when things are really bad
all there is to do is put a smile on my face and think positive and remember
that things could be much worse. I know this probably sounds weird but I also want to say that if you ever want to talk to someone who doesn't know you personally and won't judge you you can email me if you want. I'm obviously not qualified as a counsellor or anything hah but I'm a good listener (I think.) even though I'd be reading not listening but anyway, My email address is at the bottom.
I hope you's enjoyed this blogpost and I'll see you's soon.
The next blogpost in this series will be about DCD and coordination issues.
Grace x
That was a brilliant post Grace, you're so brave writing so honestly about DCD, it's so personal. Keep up the amazing work! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Aveen :) xx
DeleteAmazing post, so inspiring, 'just put a smile on your face and think positive'. I love the way you do that. xox :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Jane :) xx !
DeleteThis was such an inspirational post to read grace! I thinks its brilliant how positive you are and I'm already looking forward to your next post in this series :) x
ReplyDeletehttp://theressomethingaboutalice.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks so much Alice :) xx
Deletexxx love you
ReplyDeleteLov you too mammy xx
DeleteThis is such a great post, and very brave of you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much :) xx
DeleteI remember seeing your post in Kiss last year and never heard of dyspraxia til I asked my mammy. This is such an intersting and inspiring post! A person in mmy class that I've known since baby infants has scoliosus too, and I know it can be sore. You're so positive about everything and I really can't wait to read the rest of your posts on this! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kate :) I can't believe it's a year since that ! Scoliosis is really sore at times but I think I've been let off easy cos my curvature doesn't seem to be as bad as others :D xx
DeleteHeya my lovely! I love your blog and would love if you could take a look at mine.
ReplyDeleteThank you
Lydia
xoxo
Blue-slushy.blogspot.co.uk
Wow grace, this is just an amazing post, it's so inspiring and interesting, well done and keep doing what you are doing :)xx
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Gaby means alot :) xx
Delete