A few years ago, I read the amazing book ‘Caged in Chaos’ by Victoria Biggs. One of the things that stuck with me about this book was the description of people with dyspraxia as “the hidden people”. This is something that is so true, and often frustrating.
You can explain yourself, you can ignore it and you can get upset over it. At some point you will probably have done all of these. I have.
That’s the problem with being hidden in plain sight, people see you, but they don’t realise you’re there. That is also a positive, our co-ordination might be turned down slightly but often our creativity and resilience is at maximum volume. It’s hard to get embarrassed about accidentally teetering into a lamp post mid strut down the street after lunch when you probably had food on your eyebrow during the meal. To anyone who thinks that was a made-up sentence, I am sorry to disappoint you.
Many of you will know the pain you feel from gripping the pen whilst trying to rapidly recite all your knowledge onto a page during an exam. This isn’t a hindrance it’s a blessing in disguise, it teaches us endurance and is a reminder that we have poured 100% of our heart and soul onto the page, and in many of our cases, an extra 25%. Another benefit to this is hopefully you got that very bad joke I shamelessly added in.
We can’t discuss the quirky perks of dyspraxia without mentioning eating in public. Hands up if you have ever been personally victimised by spaghetti or a surprise sauce in your sandwich. To everyone else it may seem slightly short of elegant, but for us it is crisis management. A skill that any employer would be thrilled to see. Maybe we should all start to keep a spare shirt and pair of trousers in the car encase this skill is recognised and we get called for an imminent interview.
The point is we can do anything and everything everyone else can, sometimes we just experience actions from a different perspective. Thanks to my parents I have never viewed my dyspraxia as a hindrance, to me it is a hilarious tool that has taught me essential life skills. I now know I can manage surprise problems and can quickly think of a solution to the absence of an item I forgot to pack. I am more organised because I have to organise my disorganisation and when I trip in the street my feet don’t miss a beat. The style is in the recovery. Next time you get frustrated just remember, it’s your life, do it your way and remember to be #dyspraxicandproud