Dyscalculia? Dyspraxia? Autism?

Do you realise how rude that sounds? Some of those people classed as low functioning may "not be very clever"; but are very good artists.

Just a warning about going to the GP based on my own experiences on this: They may end up being quite useless. This doesn't mean you shouldn't go to them, they could help and for a lot of people they do, but not all of them do.

I've got a psychologist's report confirming I have dyslexia and dyspraxia and saying I should be referred by a GP to a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist, because my dyspraxia causes a lot of physical problems for me too. I went to the GP and they knew nothing about these conditions, dismissing the entire thing and saying I only just caught both my dyslexia and my dyspraxia and that they will disappear soon, and that was the doctor in charge of the surgery that said that!

Eventually I managed to convince a doctor that this is not something that's only just occurred (though they still aren't convinced I was born like this), so they checked me physically and decided to refer me to an occupation therapist - one that only deals with hand injuries. The OT told me they had been informed I had severe hand injuries, and they knew none of the truth about my hands (that I have very poor motor control and weakened muscles due to my dyspraxia, which it said clearly in the report the doctor hadn't bothered reading), so I showed them the report and they said I definitely do have dyspraxia and need help, but they aren't qualified to do so as they only do hand injuries. Meanwhile my GP still does nothing.


Whilst not all GPs are this bad, and mine is notoriously bad for most things, it's a possibility this could happen when you go to them, as unfortunately they are only trained in "common" stuff and "general" health and medicine, they unfortunately aren't taught anything like this as far as I know. But by all means try with the GP, you could even be really lucky and get one who has either been in this position or knows someone who is and can help you. The worst thing that can happen is they don't know what they are doing, in which case you simply try another option or another doctor.

I ve actually met 2 others but still not many compared to the dyslexics i ve met ( theres one dyspraxic on my course and 5 dyslexics:P theres only 20 of us on the course ..)

So many people don't really know what dyspraxia is, like when you tell them you are dyspraxic they have no idea what you mean, but if you tell them you are dyslexic, they would know straight away.

I think, in general, GPs don't know a huge amount about learning difficulties such as Dyscalculia. Although, I'm a bit surprised she doesn't know what it is.

The Autism assessment is usually done by Community Mental Health Team; (CMHT) so I don't think they'll help much with the Dyscalculia.

Update: went to doctor. She didn't know what dyscalculia is (eep), had a vague idea about dyspraxia. She's seeing about getting me referred to an autism service and hoping that they will know more than her about dyspraxia and dyscalculia I guess. I want an autism assessment anyway so at least (hopefully) one of the possibilities I raised in this thread will get addressed.

There are probably a few things you can try at home. Look up the Eyes Mind Test by Baron Cohen, for Autism. Dyspraxia and dyscalculia I'm unsure of how to diagnose via tests. There are some online resources though:
http://www.educational-psychologist.co.uk/screening/dyscalculic/
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Dyspraxia.htm -- would have thought dyspraxia would be fairly self evident if you're having significant difficulties.

Everyone usually has their problems mate in one form or another, but very unfortunately some more than others.
I had a lot of developmental problems whilst growing up, still growing out of them to an extent, so have an idea of what it's like.

But if you play to your relative strengths and try and mitigate those weaknesses in any way possible through practice and dedication (hail neuroplasticity), I'm sure you will do well

Thanks for the links. Baron-Cohen does bother me significantly though, and I know that dislike of him is fairly prevalent in the online neurodiversity community at least. 'Extreme Male Brain'. -.-

I think, in general, GPs don't know a huge amount about learning difficulties such as Dyscalculia. Although, I'm a bit surprised she doesn't know what it is.

The Autism assessment is usually done by Community Mental Health Team; (CMHT) so I don't think they'll help much with the Dyscalculia.