The Purpose of this blog is to promote The Dyspraxia Foundation E book' "Dyspraxic Adults Surviving in a NonDyspraxic World" self help book for dyspraxic adults. All proceeds go to the Dyspraxia Foundation Adult support groups. Available on Amazon for £9.99
Two of my dyspraxic colleagues Rosie Edmondson and Natalie Williams have recently written blogs on dyspraxia and Fatigue, so I thought that I would share my personal experiences of dyspraxic fatigue.
My mother used to joke that when I was little that I could sleep on a washing line. Since I was a child I have needed more sleep than the average child and lacked physical stamina. I was exhausted when I got home from school and got into trouble for forgetting to do my homework.and my peers referred to me as 'a dozy sod' It isn’t lazy but it's necessary for a dyspraxic to recharge their batteries and have me time. It didn’t help that after a day of bullying in school, instead of getting time to chill, I had to go to Cheder (Jewish Supplementary School) every Tuesday and Thursday evening as well as on a Sunday morning. I got bullied again and ostracised at Cheder. My peers thought I was stupid because I found learning Hebrew hard. I decided I just wasn’t interested because I didn’t fit in..
in my mid 30s, after Manchester City Councils Redeployment system placing me in the worst possible type of care job for my type of dyspraxia. I worked in ‘the Day Centre from Hell’ I ended up having a sleep disorder. I nearly got sacked for falling asleep when service users watched TV and had to use avoidance tactics by diverting them into other activities to avoid getting into trouble. Staff bringing in service users commented on how tired I looked and how I should have an early night, when I was in bed by 9.00. I was the laughing stock of the centre and I got bullied for being lazy as well as 'pretending to be stupid when I was intelligent'. This was due to having a high verbal ability not in line with my practical skills. I genuinely couldn’t help dozing off at work. I had to do some very physically demanding care work that I just wasn’t cut out for.Such as hoisting, feeding and dressing very highkly physically dependent service users. So I was treated with utter contempt by some staff but not all staff. I think my brain just went into shutdown.
I ended up having to be off long term sick. My doctor told me I had a virus (something they say when you display symptoms and they don’t really know what’s wrong with you). I wasn’t any better when I went back to work so had more time off work so colleagues really did think I was taking the P*** I then got referred to a sleep specialist who told me to drink coffee but it didn’t help. I had my sleep monitored for narcolepsy and sleep apnoea. But my tests came out with normal sleep patterns. So I was put on anti-depressants that made me worse and was referred to a day psychiatric unit for support but they didn’t suggest anything I hadn’t tried myself. Eventually The extreme fatigue stopped.
Don't Fall asleep After your Christmas dinner or you'll end up on Face book
When I come home from work my house looks so untidy that if a burglar broke in they would feel sorry for me and tidy up. People who don't understand judge me for the chaos and think I'm using my dyspraxia as an excuse. This makes me reluctant to let anyone in my house because I feel so ashamed but at the moment I don't have the energy for housework.Some Saturdays I don't feel like doing anything at al. Instead of chilling out on a Sunday, I have to support my Mum who has Dementia.
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I have never experience fatigue as bad as that since, but I still get tired easily Sometimes I have days where I’m full of energy followed by a day when I just can’t concentrate and crash. There are days of what I call ‘walking around with my head up my backside’. If your dyspraxic I’m sure you can relate to this. I know I’m going to have a dyspraxic day. As soon as I wake up. I put things down & don’t remember what I’ve done with them and I'm just not with it. I have a good laugh when my fitness watch says I’m asleep when I’m walking to work, sitting at my desk when I’m wide awake or talking to my boss because its hopelessly inaccurate about my sleep patterns..I'm not the only dyspraxic at work there must be at least 4 of us I do forget to put reminders on my calender before they go out of my head but I'm coping quite well.
