How Many Times Have You Been Dissed?

Whoa. Did Dr. Emmett Brown just whisk us back to the eighties in his DeLorean? I mean, when is the last time you heard someone say “dissed”?

Courtesy Profiles in History

But think about it.

Disorder.

Distracted.

Disinterested.

If I could think of a way to turn “ditzy” into a “diss” word I would.

You get it right?

Well I’ve got one more to throw at you. Dyspraxia.

Diss-what?

Dyspraxia or poor spatial awareness.

As my daughter Caitlin puts it, it’s that ability to fail a field sobriety test when you are stone cold sober. It’s the reason for that scar on my eyebrow. It’s the reason for those bumps and bruises you have that you don’t remember getting.

Ever walk into a wall? Like more than once? Or the furniture or someone else? Try walking down the sidewalk with someone and you’ll figure that one out.

Turns out its something called dyspraxia. Yes. It’s a real thing. Kind of a bummer, huh?

Here are the stats: about 6% of the population has dyspraxia. 6-10% have ADHD. And 50% of the people with dyspraxia have ADHD.

Dyspraxia (trouble with movement) and ADHD are both lumped under the umbrella of learning disabilities. Dyslexia (trouble with words) and dysgraphia (trouble with writing) are there too, along with others.

Dyspraxia and ADHD have several symptoms in common, including issues with time management and organization. But dyspraxia is considered a muscle problem while ADHD is a neurological one.

Dyspraxia is treated with occupational therapy to train both gross and fine motor skills. Relaxation and stress reduction (don’t laugh) also help, as does exercise that improves hand-eye coordination.

ADHD can also benefit from relaxation, stress reduction, and exercise. For us, it doesn’t have to be hand-eye coordination, just movement.

For more information, check out my article at Answers.com.