Dyspraxia Awareness Week
Happy Dyspraxia Awareness Week. Let’s all work to promote understanding of the effects of Dyspraxia on those around us. 1 in 20 students have Dyspraxia.
The theme for Monday is around Awareness:
Try this today to get an idea of the frustration caused by coordination and spatial difficulties experienced by some people with Dyspraxia:
- Cover one eye with an eye patch or other covering. (to simulate difficulty with visual tracking and your eyes working together).
- Tie your dominant hand behind your body (to simulate difficulty coordinating the left and right sides of the body also called bilateral coordination).
- Have someone throw a small ball from across the room and catch it five times in a row.How did you feel completing this activity?
You have just spent five minutes in the shoes of a person who has Dyspraxia. You probably had good fun and a laugh doing this novel activity today but I can’t imagine this would be fun if you had to do it daily. What do you think?
Watch the video to hear one teenager’s experience of life with Dyspraxia in her own words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlLu5H5PqwM
Send your photos/comments to angelawad@donegaletb.ie.
Every submission will be entered into a draw for an amazon fire tablet. Draw will be held on Friday!
Dyspraxia Awareness Tuesday
Tuesday’s challenge highlights the fine motor skills problems and tracking a person who has Dyspraxia may encounter by trying this activity:
Grab a piece of paper; preferably blank.
Hold your pen in your non-dominant hand very tightly.
Put more pressure on your pen than you normally would and copy the following sentences as fast as you can…
‘ Imagine gripping onto a pen really tightly while writing, your hand would soon tire wouldn’t it? We also have difficulty in writing quickly too, those muddled signals mean that we physically can’t perform the action quickly. You can probably imagine that due to these difficulties our handwriting isn’t usually very neat! Typing is a much better option, it still presents the difficulties with fine motor skills but at least we don’t have to worry about the grip!’
How did you do?
If you are writing on unlined paper your handwriting may not be straight.
Copying from one object to another can be really difficult because you keep losing your place. Your hand may be aching from putting too much pressure on your pen and I am sure your writing isn’t as legible as it normally is.
Share photos/comments by sending an email to angelaward@donegaletb.ie Remember the more you share the better your odds of winning an amazon fire tablet!
Read more/find resources for younger children by clicking on the link: https://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/about-dyspraxia/handwriting/
Hear one student’s story:
Dyspraxia Awareness Wednesday
Difficulties with short term memory can be a challenge for those of us who have Dyspraxia.
Read the following directions to your parent/guardian quickly and only once to see how successful they are:
‘Run up to the bedroom and get a pair of socks, boil the kettle for a cup of tea, check the washing machine is on, switch on the TV, hang up your coat properly and put the cups in the basin.’
Now show us or tell us how they did by emailing angelaward@donegaletb.ie to be in with a chance to win an amazon fire in Friday’s draw!
Learn more by reading the article in the link below::
https://www.yourstoriesmatter.org/your-stories/dyspraxia-when-the-brain-takes-the-scenic-route
‘Adolescence and Mental Health’, an interactive online discussion with Psychotherapist Lorraine Mooney on the impact of Dyspraxia/DCD during the teenage years.
Wednesday 25th November 7.30pm – 8.30pm – Psychotherapist & Counsellor Lorraine Mooney, MIACP, BSc (Hons), Dip, Counselling & Psychotherapy, Professional certificate in arts therapies.
Adolescence is a time of huge change and development for all young people and particularly so for young people with Dyspraxia/DCD. This year the impact of COVID-19 has highlighted even further the need to support mental health in adolescence.
To book your ticket click the link – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/128869517195
Dyspraxia Awareness Thursday
- Today’s activity is simple. Just turn the volume on the radio/Alexa up really loud and without shouting give directions to a landmark in Ballybofey and check is your partner able to repeat the directions or even guess where you were describing!! For some, Dyspraxia can mean it is hard to block out background noise from important information. The above is an extreme example aimed at helping you understand how difficult it must be however for people with Dyspraxia listening to the teacher explaining how to do something can be really tough when others in the room are talking or otherwise making noise.
Don’t forget to share your experience with angelaward@donegaletb.ie
Dyspraxia Awareness Friday
Thanks to everyone for joining in with our activities all week. A special thanks to those who shared and sent in their pics and comments.
The final challenge is to follow this link and try the simulation on reading here:
Reading can be difficult for some people with Dyspraxia. Some report that the words seem to move on the page. Hopefully the simulation above has given you an insight into how most of us take for granted the ability to complete simple reading tasks.
Dyspraxia Webinar
‘Small Changes – Big Difference’ with Dr Sharon Drew Occupational Therapist from the University of South Wales, UK.The talk will take place on Friday the 27th November from 7.30 – 8.30pm –
Dr Sharon Drew highlights how some of the most impactful differences in living with or supporting someone with Dyspraxia/DCD can come from small and subtle changes in how we do things.
To book your ticket click the link – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/128870293517
- For resources to help you learn more about understanding and coping with Dyspraxia please click on the link: https://www.dyspraxia.ie/Reading
To get involved with Dyspraxia Ireland click here:
