Dyspraxia Awareness Week 2022

In which I have a dyspraxic discussion...

Today marks the start of Dyspraxia Awareness Week 2022, a week dedicated to raising awareness of the condition I and millions of others have. Whilst most neurodivergent conditions have an awareness week it feels like this one is especially important. There's still plenty of work to be done but conditions like autism, ADHD and dyslexia are now pretty well known to the general public and even more so to those working in education. But dyspraxia has been somewhat left behind and to many remains an unknown condition. 

I've discussed dyspraxia quite a bit here in the past but a quick recap feels important. Dyspraxia has been historically known as 'clumsy child syndrome' though that's not a very useful or accurate name. Essentially it is a condition which affects how a brain processes information and this is often visible in the way it affects both fine motor skills (like using a pen or sewing) and gross motor skills (like catching a ball or jumping over a hurdle). What is less recognised is that this processing disorder affects other areas of your life, like finding it difficult to process and follow a set in instructions. 

Many used to think, and unfortunately still do think, that dyspraxia is a condition that 'goes away' when you reach adulthood. Any adult with dyspraxia will tell you that this is nonsense. We've learned many of the skills taught in childhood through hard work and persistence that most others didn't have to use. Our brains remain the same though and we still process information in the same way, making life more difficult in lots of small ways. We of course also remain clumsy and trip over, bump into things and drop things much more often than other people do. 

The lack of knowledge and understanding of dyspraxia can greatly affect those who have it. Reflecting on my childhood as an adult, it's incredible that no-one educators recognised it in me. Every now and then I'd receive extra help at school, most noticeably receiving speech therapy. I struggled through anything practical from PE, to food tech to art to woodwork. I needed a lot of help to learn how to swim (and even now I'm not a strong swimmer at all) and was one of the only students in my year group not to do a cycling proficiency course because I couldn't ride a bike until I was about fourteen. The signs were all there and though certain teachers provided support no-one had the knowledge of dyspraxia to get me the support I really needed. I grew up feeling different and constantly struggling with my self-esteem and understanding why I was the way I was could have made a huge difference to me. 

I think this is partly a failure of the educational system. So much focus is placed on academic skills that it's not necessarily picked up if you have trouble with the other stuff. Occasionally as a young child I needed extra help with skills to support the academic stuff like the speech therapy and extra work to use a pen correctly. But it was never really seen that it mattered that I was useless at the practical stuff. Academic success is all very well and good but you are failing to prepare students for life beyond school if you are not supporting them with the wider skills they need. I also think that actually with the right support at school I could have done better academically- I was a straight B student, a little above average but nothing special but I think the potential was there for me to doing better. 

I finally realised I have dyspraxia at university when I read some information on it and was blown away at the level of detail it described in me and my childhood. Dyspraxia support as an adult is perhaps even more limited. The NHS don't diagnose dyspraxia in adults and the only way to get an official diagnosis is to spend hundreds of pounds doing so privately. I've heard many dyspraxics talking about the difference a diagnosis makes to them, an understanding of who they are. I have been unable to get a diagnosis, something which at times creates a sort of neurodivergent imposter syndrome, but I have read endlessly about the condition and had brief interactions with professionals and there's no doubt at all that I have dyspraixa. 

I count myself very lucky that though dyspraxia affects my life in lots of small ways, on the whole it doesn't rule my life. 49% of adults surveyed by the Dyspraxia Foundation say they struggle to find or stay in work due to a number of reasons including being bullied or discriminated against. With an estimated 6% of the UK population having dyspraxia (and potentially more due to lack of diagnosis) that's millions of people. People with dyspraxia often have great empathy skills, excellent problem-solving skills and are able to develop their own strategies to overcome difficulties- in other words, in the right environment they should be huge assets. 

Charities like the Dyspraxia Foundation and many researchers are working hard to improve our understanding of dyspraxia and support children and adults who have it. Sadly there is still an enormous way to go.