Sorry - which was left?

Day #2 of my '30 days of blogging challenge' and already I feel stumped for a topic.  I do have a few draft posts but it felt rather like shoe-horning one in to tick a box.  However I was watching the local news and an article came on about new research into dyspraxia in children.  Which fitted nicely with the post I had already drafted.

I was commenting on a friends post the other day, part of the comment mentioned my inability to tell left from right. 

The post was about a ball of wool that had been wound the wrong direction - how much do I like to go off at a tangent - must be the maths teacher part of me!



Anyway it made me dwell on my lifelong inability to be co-ordinated and my growing conviction that I possibly have dyspraxia - or perhaps I am just clumsy and awkward.  And being typically British I would be far too embarrassed to ever seek further advice.

As a child my parents said I could fall over a blade of grass.  And I had a permanent bruise on my forehead where I hit the same step each time I fell down the stairs.  I also had the amazing ability to overturn a rather chunky 3 wheeled bike!

Unfortunately not the trike in question - that rusted into dust - but it was just like this.

 

 

I have always walked into things - tables, door frames, people and can not judge distances in any way shape or form *other than if I drive and use the milometer*. 

I have been know to clip the odd wing mirror when I have misjudged the width of my car compared to the space available to squeeze through (thankfully I have a car where the wing mirror just flips inwards in this situation so I haven't left a trail of damaged cars in my wake).

PE was a nightmare.  I could never understand how other people knew exactly where a thrown ball would end up.  Nobody passed to me in netball or hockey, there was no point because if they did I couldn't catch or hit the ball.  I still can't.  My instinctive reaction is to duck or move out the way instead.


And it was assumed that my atrocious handwriting was because my hand couldn't keep up with the thoughts in my head.  However even now, when I am writing a letter or journaling on a layout, my head will be sending an instruction of how each word should look but my hand obviously speaks a different language and often produces something quite different to what I wanted. 

Usually what appears are words that have letters of different sizes in them, words that sometimes have the letters squashed together and sometimes has them spread apart.  And that are always wonky. 

I can't draw things in proportion to each other because I don't understand how to.  This is why I love scrapbooking.  It has allowed me to be creative and crafty without the need to be able to draw.

I took Spanish in the third year (modern day Y9) just to avoid having to do more technology lessons.  But I did have to do one subject so I chose needlework.  I was making a dress but managed to cut through one part of the pattern and fabric, whilst cutting out another piece.  And I had absolutely no idea how to put them together - and yet I CAN do jigsaws (apart from those dreadful ones that are just of loads of baked beans or some such repetitive item).

My mum finished the dress for me.  From a young age she has sewn, knitted and crocheted* her own clothes.  She can't understand why I struggle to sew a button on.  I WANT the stitches to be neat, small and even but somehow they never are.

*On another tangent crochet and clothes in the same sentence reminds me of the time I was nearly a bridesmaid for my Uncle.  A family fall out put paid to that but was a mercy, because the bridesmaid dress was a yellow crocheted number - eek!!!

And then there is the left and right thing - how do people instinctively know which is which?  Once I've thought about it I can remember for a short while, but generally I have to wave the corresponding hand and say 'that way' or see which hand makes an 'L' shape.

 

 

This has caused us to miss vital junctions and resulted in many a U-turn when my husband has left it too late ask me which way to turn. 

 

After knowing me for 25+ years you would have thought that he wouldn't STILL be expecting me to answer that one correctly at short notice.

 

And in my head I have to work clockwise round from North to work out East and West.

 

Does this ring a bell with anyone?  Or is it another case of Julie's dream (continues in the comments section too) where I'm going to be the only person to 'fess up' - or worse perhaps I AM on my own with this!  So dyspraxia or downright clumsy?

 

Leave a comment and cheer me up

 

Louise x