Learning to drive..... attempting anyway.

Hello and welcome to my latest blog. I hope everyone is well and ready for Christmas which is soon to be upon us. In this issue I talk about both my positive and negative experiences which occurred in the time frame between leaving school and starting at university. The famous dyspraxics section also continues, this time taking  a look at famous photographer David Bailey. As usual I hope you enjoy the blog and feedback is welcomed.

Learning to drive.

Taking driving lessons was a challenge which was always likely to  prove particularly problematic, and so after I had turned seventeen as  I looked ahead to my first lesson my emotions were a mixture of optimism and uncertainty. As it happened the first lesson was fairly positive admittedly not getting out of second gear meant progress was slow but all in all I considered the lesson a success. It was to prove a rare high however as the lessons progressed in difficulty so my struggle intensified. I struggled with the gear changes and clutch control, the clutch would regularly produce some particularly interesting smells and noises!  Learning manoeuvres proved especially challenging. It took me a long time to get close to learning to reverse correctly, three point turns would often turn into six point turns and even uphill starts often accidently became uphill reverses! Eventually however after a lot of hard work I was told to book my driving test, and with again an element of optimism I did. The test was a complete disaster, nerves got the better of me and my uphill start again went south. Needless to say I failed and then failed again. Eventually after an unnamed number of unsuccessful attempts I'd had enough and took a long and for now indefinite break from driving.  In the future the plan is learn to drive an automatic. I'm told it will be much easier to drive but for now, the thought of attempting to reverse round corners again is not an appealing one.

Howzat

I had first taken up cricket at the age of 14 and had had some success representing my local village side but it wasn't until my college days that I really benefited from the sport not just through improving my cricket skills but also self confidence. I had joined the cricket academy at Truro College. Here I found that playing cricket in some of the lower divisions meant that the majority of other cricketers had played to a much higher standard than I had. This was a little difficult to begin with as I really struggled with the technical aspects of some of the coaching and privately questioned whether I was good enough to be part of the set up.  However I soon settled in and enjoyed two fantastic years. It had been clear pretty early on that I was prone to clumsy and chaotic moments, chasing a ball flat out in an indoor fielding drill resulted in me disappearing through  a fire escape door as my momentum meant stopping was out of the question, upon my return however I promptly threw the ball back as if nothing had happened to much hilarity! During my time there, through huge amounts of encouragement from coaches and fellow players alike my confidence grew enormously and I have made some fantastic friendships and my cricketing skills also improved dramatically although some people who have played against me since may argue otherwise..... Presently I'm still loving cricket playing for my local side and am usually selected as the opening bowler, something I feel very proud of and enjoy playing for the village team. We have progressed brilliantly, moving through the divisions and the second team improved beyond recognition. My time in the academy proved once again that facing up to challenges is often incredibly rewarding.











Famous Dyspraxic: David Bailey

Famous photographer David Bailey suffers from dyspraxia and has proved an inspiration to many despite disparaging comments from teachers in his school days. Since then he has gone on to photograph numerous household names including music groups The Beatles, Razorlight and the Kaiser Chiefs to name a few. He has also spent time as the chairman of the Dyspraxia Foundation and is further evidence that a disability should cause no  boundaries in peoples desire to achieve their dreams.

That's it for this time as usual I hope you enjoyed the issue all the best and have a great Christmas,
George

The early days and even Harry's a dyspraxic !

Hello and welcome to the latest blog on a common but little known disability Dyspraxia.  I hope you are all well and have had a good week. Christmas is coming  which means the tree should be going up in our house soon. I'm not entirely sure on whether or not my ban on helping with the decorations has been lifted, last year I had was limited to a predominantly watching brief due to an unfortunate incident with a bubal which had been  a particular favourite  in our household. Needless to say it no longer hangs proudly on the tree. This week I talk about my early years after my diagnosis and introduce  a new section highlighting celebrities who also suffer from Dyspraxia in this edition Daniel Radcliffe, I as usual hope you enjoy the blog.

 

The early days.

 

Being diagnosed with Dyspraxia provided an answer for my problems in my early years particularly why logical tasks had caused such confusion. Shortly after this, I began to take part in two activities which brought me large amounts of enjoyment but also plenty of frustration as well. Fishing a hobby which requires plenty of dexterity is still an activity I really like to do when an opportunity arises. When I first started going years earlier with my dad and brother we went far more regularly and the feeling of satisfaction after catching  a fish and getting to grips with the various equipment was enormous many happy days have been spent on the lake bank or sometimes out  at sea. I did however test the patience of dad on a regular basis, presenting him with some outstanding tangles which often left him at a loss to understand how exactly the latest incident had occurred. He did though always smile after solving the conundrum and setting me on my way to cast again.

 

 

Taken a few years ago myself with a Green Tench, note the hat hair !

 

Learning to play the guitar also provided a challenge as a result of the Dyspraxia. Again the feeling of learning to play a piece of music and overcoming the presented challenge was fantastic. It wasn't without frustration however learning new things would take me far longer than it took others, and even learning to hold the guitar correctly was a little chaotic. I played the guitar for several years even passing some exams in the process practice makes perfect !

 

Learning to accomplish the tasks presented as a result of these activities was certainly something to be proud off. It wasn't all fun in those first few years however putting a brave face on after the latest stumble, breakage or similar debacle could become incredibly tiresome especially when people couldn't or in some cases maybe didn't want to understand how exactly the disability affects people and as a result my self esteem could at times run pretty low. Close friends knew the real reasons however and general banter never over stepped the mark.  I've always tried to take on the disability with good humour  and am more than happy to laugh at myself if something happens which is genuinely funny. I think this is the best way to approach the disability don't ever let it get on top of you and doubt yourself. 

 

Celebrity Dyspraxic's Part 1: You're a wizard Harry, you're also a Dyspraxic.

 

World famous actor Daniel Radcliffe star of the Harry Potter films is also a sufferer of dyspraxia. In the article below he is quoted joking about wishing Velcro on shoes would take off, a result of a struggle to tie shoe laces and admitting that the disability severely affected his confidence and turned to acting as a way of re establishing it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1046031/Harry-Potter-The-brain-disorder-means-I-8217-t-tie-shoelaces.html.

That is all for this week, I hope you enjoyed the blog, have a great week,
George.

So what is Dyspraxia ?

Hello and welcome to a blog which I hope will raise awareness about dyspraxia a disability which is fairly common but largely unknown. My name is George and I suffer from a mild form of dyspraxia and over the course of this blog series I will write about my own and others experiences living with the disability as well as the physical and mental problems the condition is responsible for. When I told people I was planning on writing this blog the response was incredibly positive, I emphasize here as I did to them, I'm not doing this to ask for sympathy, just awareness and understanding I really hope not only the blog succeeds in these aims but also you all enjoy reading it, any feedback is welcome so feel free to get in touch at any time.

The Diagnosis

I had always been a touch chaotic and more than a little clumsy as a child, nothing to unusual there most kids are not far away from the next debacle however mine seemed to be just a little to frequent, a little to spectacular. I had never been able to master the art of what should be relatively simple childhood activities such as playing with Lego, skipping ropes were a recipe for disaster, sports day activities such as the sack race were limited in their success, I played football for many years poorly and to this day I can't ride a bike and continue to take more than the one attempt to successfully tie a tie. So one day during school I was taken out of class for an assessment for the disability, as a nine year old my understanding was limited as to what was going on but an excuse to get out of class sounded good to me. I can clearly remember the kind assessor patiently encouraging me through each task ranging from a handwriting evaluation to more dexterous tasks such as putting cubes and other shapes back together, a task which caused similar problems to the ones caused by an earlier nemesis of mine Lego. Regular comments such as "well done" led me to genuinely believe I was doing well.  With hindsight I can see that square shapes are not going to be fitting into round holes any time soon, but I just couldn't see the logic needed and even now when required logical tasks often cause me large amounts of difficulty and usually frustration and a bit of embarrassment as well. After the assessment I was told that I had been diagnosed with dyspraxia, which at least provided an answer for the difficulties I had faced in the past. Dyspraxia has been responsible for some of the lowest moments in my life as well as some of the highest when determination to succeed and overcome it has provided some memorable moments and I will write about this in more detail in future issues.

So what is Dyspraxia ?
Below is the explanation given by the charity the Dyspraxia Foundation, the disability affects suffers not just physically but also mentally as the condition can lead to large amounts of insecurities.

"Developmental dyspraxia is an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. It is an immaturity in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted. The term dyspraxia comes from the word praxis, which means ‘doing, acting’. Dyspraxia affects the planning of what to do and how to do it. It is associated with problems of perception, language and thought".

I have below attached links for symptoms  pages for children and adults  as they vary through age ranges. Unsurprisingly I can relate to many of the highlighted areas and needless to say some affect me more than others, I despite my best efforts I am prone to being unorganized, have absolutely appalling sense of rhythm which has lead to some simply atrocious dance moves and clumsiness has been a problem which has frustratingly plagued me my whole life often in situations when I could of really done without it. As a result, this has often caused a lot of self doubt in myself again something which has been always niggled away at me . Battling all of these problems can lead to some incredibly rewarding results however and in the next issue I talk about my early school years after my diagnosis,including  learning to play guitar and fish. I hope you liked the issue and keep an eye out for the next one next week,
George.

http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/dyspraxia-children/symptoms/
http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/dyspraxia-adults/daily-life/