Dyspraxic and Fantastic! | Ellie Madeira | TEDxCCGrammarSchool

What is it like having dyspraxia? Ellie describes the difficulties she faces. But she also discusses the positive sides to this poorly understood disorder and how she is thriving.

Ellie has dyspraxia...and she is definitely fantastic! She is studying A-levels in art and science at Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School and hopes to become an occupational therapist.

[kgandhi]

The last quote was awsome.If someone gives me a pill to become a normal person, I am also not going to take it. After 20 years of struggling, now I like myself.

[maximillianford]

This is a fantastic vid, great job Ellie. I've got dyspraxia too and I reckon the awareness of it really needs to be raised, as it really affects all facets of your life. You see things like autism and ADHD getting tons of attention, which is great for people with those disorders obviously, but dyspraxia tends to get forgotten about a bit. Love that people are doing things like this to raise awareness about it!

[ronniepearce]

Ellie you are fantastic and amazing!! My daughter is 7 and just diagnosed dyspraxia. You are an inspiration to me as a mother of a dyspraxia and fantastic child. Thank you

[melbird-dwsu]

Wonderful presentation, thank you so much. I wish so that this had been explained to me 35 yrs ago, instead it was struggle, fumble, self-consciousness, sense of failure, and on and on. I have a child with dyspraxia, is on the spectrum, and doctors avoided ever explaining anything that would make life make sense and help was just not offered. I am so appreciative of all those with the first hand knowledge, sharing their stories, their self-acceptance and enormous courage.

[goblin-teeth]

This is amazing. I'm an A-level student and I'm trying to get a diagnosis, the symptoms have been affecting every area of my life. It's hard to get diagnosed later on though, there's waiting lists for everything. You're still giving me hope though Ellie! 😊
EDIT: Just got a diagnosis - so relieved it's not my fault

[AC-ywqs]

Brilliant and very relatable. Thank you Ellie. I recently discovered 'why I felt like my brain doesn't work properly' It makes so many past events make sense.
Great video.

[alexthebudgie]

I have dyspraxia, severely. But, they didn’t find out how bad that I had it until year 6, because, we all knew I had it, but I decided I wanted to get tested for it because I wanted help. I was struggling all through school, but I never asked for help. I hate asking for help. So I would persevere and got great marks and grades on my tests. I would lose concentration, couldn’t organise to save my life, was messy, couldn’t throw or catch a ball, struggle in skipping with the other girls, couldn’t read, had THE WORST HANDWRITING anyone had ever seen, would lose my train of thought and couldn’t ever out my thoughts in words. But I practiced, and read in my spare time, breaks, and always. You would never see me without a book as I tried to make the words make sense. By year 4, my speeding read was normal for my age as I practised, and by year 6, I was the fastest reader in my year. But I struggled in everything else. I got tested in year 7 (11 years of age) and my brain in many aspects was underdeveloped. It was as developed as someone who was 5. It makes me wonder how a ‘normal brain’ works. But, I wouldn’t change myself if you gave me the option. I love myself. I may not be perfect, but who is? And, I see my cousin, who has dyspraxia, 33 years old, brilliant job, married to a (minorly) dyspraxic person, with two young, beautiful children, aged 4 and 1 (one of which has dyspraxia and has been tested and the other who hasn’t been tested, but it is obvious that he has it, even at the young age of 1), and I see myself being like that one day.

[melissarivera]

Dyspraxia is hard but it makes you a confident force to be reckon with ! Be proud of yourself

[niamhcreativesoul]

Loved this, Thank you Ellie. I am 21 and dyspraxic I was diagnosed when in 2005. Fantastic way of describing with the wires and Ball. As a child I found sports and maths very difficult . This is how I describe mine with processioning information from the whiteboard and paper, There is a wall between the information and my brain. I have verbal . most week day evenings I struggle to speak as my brain giving mixed messages. I have to really think about what i want to say. I shall be saving this video <3

[ahuvawigs]

my daughter was diagnosed with dyspraxia, both motor and speech at age of 14, been tough but grateful we know now....so thank u for putting us inside ur head...

[johnokeeffe]

Thank you for your wisdom and kindness Ellie.

[Dinocub]

I would love to do a tedx talk on my dyspraxia and maybe have my dad talk about life looking after someone with dyspraxia. I have found its not as well know too people as I would love and not recognised in alot of schools as a real learning difficulty. I have seen children showing all the signs not getting diagnosed with dyspraxia. Also I was diagnosed at age 4/5 and now 21 and still learning too cope.

[olinlowery]

I am 17 years old, I just found out what this was after hours of trying to figure out what was wrong with me, and I actually started crying. I thought I was broken for so long...

[samcasey]

A general statement which some of you may find helpful from a guy with dyspraxia. Happy days :) Thank you for the ted talk Ellie.

A lot of people think or have the association/ idea that Dyspraxia effects people's motor skills. Well i can tell you - yes it can do and does represent itself in people with dyspraxia. However there is also a clear distinction that dyspraxia effects organisational skills, such as the planning and implementation of tasks and how to act on those when exposed to particular situations that don't feel normal. This is why a lot of people such as my self with Dyspraxia / dyslexia need to use their own experiential methods to overcome our differences in the world. Usually this can have an effect on adults in their career and work place and can cause a lot of stress for their own individual coping systems. We are all born with our own interest and hobbies which we thrive on, but more often than not the world doesn't allow us to archive them because we are different and it demands us to "fit in". In such situations it effects people differently around their own particular strengths and weakness. So it's very important out there for people not to generalise. You can be dyspraxia and be very good at range of sports or you can not be. You could be really good at architecture or science for example and be successful in this also. What is challenging and difficult for people with dyspraxia is when expectations around work and success force them to work out of their own comfort zones or their own systems that bring them success at what they're good at.

[chinarebecca]

Thank you for such a wonderfully informative video Ellie. You are destined for great things young lady!

[thewizard]

My dyspraxia effects my speech and handwriting and I find it so hard to write and constrate

[laraigneesurlaporte]

I agree with all you said about dyspraxia. Thanks!

[matthewhughes]

yes i have had this since childhood and something funny happened to me this was on my medical records for many years and it was only till very recently i asked my gp if i could be tested for dislexia and he told me that is not going to be of benefit because he said on my medical records i have Dyspraxia which i didn't know at all so all these years of knowing i had some cordination difficulties but not knowing the disagnosed till my age which is 32 i just encourage any parents out there if this sounds like your child has this please go get them tested it will really help them to get the right support in their life

[kittygrape]

Thank you for this video. I'm trying to learn more about dyspraxia for my son. After he was diagnosed and I read about it my father and I both feel we may have it too (At different degrees)

[billwong]

well done! I am an occupational therapist by trade and a 2 timer on this very stage. If you ever go to an occupational therapy program in the UK, you may hear my name a lot (even though I am not UK based). It's an inspiring talk. It's simple, but effective talk.