Over my 25 years, I’ve lost track of the number of drinks I’ve spilt over. Whether it be in a restaurant, on a park bench or on the tube. Coffee, wine and water – you name it, I’ve split it. 

Until adulthood, I’d never really questioned why. I grew up thinking, and being told, that I was clumsy, and that came hand in hand with being dyslexic. But it wasn’t until I was about to go to university and was being reassessed for my dyslexia that the educational psychologist gave me an answer - I was also dyspraxic. The giveaway? I was tasked with drawing within the lines of a picture. Spoiler alert - I couldn’t do it. 

At the time, being diagnosed with dyspraxia didn’t mean much to me. I had loosely heard of the term but had no idea what it was, or what it meant for me and my future. I believe that is partly down to the fact that there is a lack of understanding and discourse around dyspraxia. Whilst the conversation around dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions is (thankfully) slowly increasing, dyspraxia still trails behind them. Ironically, even my spell check wanted to correct the word dyspraxia to dyslexia when I wrote this. 

But for now, let’s go back to basics. Dyspraxia is a developmental coordination disorder, often referred to DCD. It can affect your coordination skills and tasks that require balance such as playing sports and learning to drive. It can also affect your fine motor skills which are required for handwriting or using small objects. It is thought to affect up to 10% of the UK adult population.

Looking back, I now realise that I displayed, and still display, a whole host of dyspraxia symptoms – some annoying, some frustrating and some which are just damn right funny. For example, I haven’t hand-written an exam or anything remotely important since I was 16, due to my coined ‘’illegible handwriting’’. People still struggle to read my birthday and Christmas cards – yes, it’s that bad. There was, and still is, a running joke amongst my family and friends that I cannot walk in a straight line. I walk like I've had 5 double G&T’s, and my direction is admittedly awful.

Interestingly, since leaving university and starting my career in comms for the advertising industry, I’ve noticed my dyspraxia is more subtle. I still struggle to write with paper and pen, and prefer to use my laptop to communicate, but day-to-day, it is massively overshadowed by my dyslexia, which really gives off main character energy. But that doesn’t mean my dyspraxia has gone away. It’s still a part of me, and gaining my diagnosis has without sounding too dramatic, been life changing for me.

Prior to my diagnosis, I would beat myself up about every mistake, hoping and wishing that one day it would go away and I would somehow miraculously transform into a ‘neurotypical person’. But now, as I approach my mid-twenties, I've become much more comfortable with my diagnosis. I’ve realised that I cannot change parts of myself which are fundamental to who I am. At the end of the day, there is quite literally no point in crying over spilt milk - I get the mop out and move on with my day.

But I am one of the lucky ones - I was diagnosed relatively early at 18. For many, gaining a diagnosis for dyspraxia can take years and is incredibly difficult for a whole host of reasons:

1. Signs of dyspraxia can be easily missed at an early age, leading to a late diagnosis.
2. Males are more likely to be affected by dyspraxia/DCD than females, resulting in females who do display symptoms being overlooked.
3. Dyspraxia symptoms share similarities with other conditions such as ADHD and Dyslexia which can lead to misdiagnosis.
4. In 2017, 65% of teachers said that awareness of dyspraxia in their schools was poor or very poor, and 43% of schools did not have a clear process for identifying students with dyspraxia. As we enter Black History Month, it is also important to highlight that Black neurodivergent people, especially Black women and girls, are often diagnosed late, if ever, and experience higher misdiagnosis rates for nearly all conditions – due to a whole host of structural and societal issues deep-rooted in systemic racial bias. 

But things are slowly changing. Efforts have been made in recent years to raise awareness around Dyspraxia, with the likes of Daniel Radcliffe speaking openly about his dyspraxia and the first-ever openly dyspraxic character on Doctor Who in 2018. More recently in March of this year, Cara Delevingne shared openly in an interview with Vouge, that she was diagnosed with dyspraxia at a young age. With Dyspraxia now being spoken about more publicly, I hope this is the start of more things to come.

If sharing my story has resonated with you, I encourage you to speak to your GP or the Dyspraxia Foundation for support and more information on Dyspraxia.