Dyspraxia – Everyone’s Different!

It's been a while since I put my mind to a blog, but Rosie has been asking me to do one for a while, so here goes! As Rosie's blog has hit a major milestone of 100,000 visitors, I think now is a good as time as ever to go back to basics.

Dyspraxia is a unique way of seeing the world and carrying out day to day tasks - and that is coming from someone who isn't diagnosed, although Rosie feels I have traits! I know life can be difficult with dyspraxia and every day is different someone can have good and bad days.

Anxiety and mental health is often an unknown side to dyspraxia. The world around is can be a very overwhelming place. City life heightens all of Rosie's anxieties, it's busy, crowded and it makes her feel unwell. When Rosie is anxious or having an anxiety attack I help to try and calm her down to get her back to rational reasoning . This is very difficult for anyone who struggles with anxiety as it's often like a spiral of thought processes, but she's found some help recently which seems really in tune with the way she thinks.

Dyspraxia was something I never came across until I met Rosie. I didn't even know it existed! Shame on me I know, over 5 years ago now, and is something which brings out amazing qualities in someone, but not to detract the impact it has on day to day life.

Rosie recently wrote a blog for Mindtank on being a 'sensitive soul' - which you can read here - which sums up several feelings that Rosie goes though. The social and emotional side to dyspraxia is often something which is misunderstood, being socially different to others, struggling making and maintaining friendships, to being socially assertive and confident. It's important to understand that Rosie's pure heart and kind nature to help runs deep through her, emotionally and physically, it's made her struggle in social situations and with her self worth.

But her determination of using negative experiences and turning them into positives and using this to help others is one of the many reasons she's been nominated for a National Diversity Award this year. If any of her blogs or awareness work has helped please consider nominating her, it would mean a lot to her. https://nominate.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/Nominate/Endorse/29669?name=Rosie%20Edmondson

I've been involved with the lovely people at the Dyspraxia Foundation (please join if you can, they are a wonderful charity and £30 a year is just one less starbucks a month!) In creating their new youth site - it's still very much a work in progress. Aiming itself at 13-25 year olds trying to help younger people and adults make sense of it all. I'm lucky to be working alongside a group of amazing young adults, all with dyspraxia to take their amazing ideas and putting it on a website. The foundation and everyone says; 'Once you've met someone with dyspraxia, you've met ONE person with dyspraxia' holds so true. Everyone is unique in their own way and what works for one person, doesn't work for another.The same goes for any difference or disability. For Rosie like many dyspraxics where organisation is a natural struggle she needs structure, especially in social situations and when very busy, which means a lot has to be put in place so chaos and anxiety doesn't happen.

Rosie finished her most recent blog by saying 'Whilst nobody can understand fully what it is like to have a neurodiverse difference or difficulty unless you have one yourself, we can all try and put ourselves in someone else's shoes. Empathy can go a long way in life' I cannot agree more. Whilst its very difficult to understand what someone with this dis going though, and in modern life its often easier to just ignore/pass on/forget the differences, I think it's time for change. It's time to stop ignoring and time to start believing.

Dyspraxia Foundation conferences are a real way of meeting other people who "get it" from the dyspraxics themselves, to parents and loved ones, to the people and trustees who work tirelessly to make these events happen. Over the next 12 months there are a few conferences happening - the next one is in London in July. By meeting the people with dyspraxia, and those who are determined to help raise awareness, it opens your eyes and you see all neurodiverse people in a amazingly different light - the light that they deserve to have shine upon them!

Until next time…. Now where is my phone? I know it's somewhere…