Articles

Hello, my name is Ceri. I come from a small village in Pembrokeshire near the seaside town of Tenby, Wales. I’m 29 years old and I have dyspraxia.

Summer is a time to enjoy the sunshine, but for dyspraxic people, staying safe in the sun can come with its own set of unique challenges. Applying sun cream is an important part of protecting your skin, but when coordination and spatial awareness don’t come naturally, it can be tricky to know if you’ve covered every exposed area.

When discussing dyspraxia, most resources focus on education and employment, often overlooking health and hygiene. Coordination difficulties like handwriting, cycling, or driving get some attention, but menstrual health is rarely addressed. Previously, The Dyspraxia Foundation provided valuable guidance on everyday health and hygiene, including menstruation. Unfortunately, due to financial difficulties, the charity closed, leaving a void in the dyspraxic community.

This is empowering for women and provides a wealth of female role models and leaders within our profession. I have been inspired by and learned so much from so many of my colleagues, who are mostly women. 

Dyspraxia is not just about clumsiness; it is a constant mental and physical exhaustion.

I first realised that my dyspraxia was going to come into play in motherhood before my first day as a mother. It was April 16th, 2020, and the hospital was in a frenzy surrounding COVID. Being in the hospital to give birth, particularly after having been isolated during the tense first month of COVID, didn’t feel real. 

Janet Taylor has been a vital figure in raising awareness of dyspraxia, providing resources and support for the community through her writing. Her book, Dyspraxic Adults: An Empowering Guide, is an updated version of her earlier work, ensuring that dyspraxic individuals and their families continue to have access to much-needed information. As part of our Women’s History Month issue, we spoke to Janet about her work, the challenges of advocacy, and her advice for dyspraxic women and girls.

Supporting and Advocating for People with DCD/Dyspraxia

“What is up with my brain?” This is a question I wrestled with for years. When I was 5 years old, I was diagnosed with DCD or Developmental Coordination Disorder. There are many accommodations and opportunities I wish I could have accessed when I was first learning about and coming to terms with my DCD/dyspraxia. There are several types of people who play a part in the dyspraxia community, and two are discussed below. 

Notably, within the dyspraxic community, it is mostly dyspraxic women leading the way in raising awareness. They do so in a variety of ways, including writing books, creating public online spaces, organising in-person events and running charities.

There I was at the age of 57, having an assessment by an educational psychologist with special expertise in specific learning difficulties. She identified that I had a learning profile showing dyspraxic characteristics. At the time, I was a Head of Department and Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, so it could be considered as a bit strange to request an assessment so late in my career. 

Growing up with dyspraxia, I often felt like a lone sheep. I had a brief understanding of how it affected me and a rough idea of how to navigate the world, but being the only dyspraxic I knew, it was hard to address people's misconceptions. It wasn’t just me; even my family was learning as we went along.

I was diagnosed with Dyspraxia at the age of 4 in 2002. It all started when I was in private school and I found concentration very difficult. I also struggled with remembering to tie my shoelaces and holding scissors, which a lot of people found quite amusing and entertaining. At first,I tried to fit in, but it became apparent that I could not cope and moved to mainstream education.