parnassus wrote:I am in two minds about this one. I like to think of dyspraxia as the bridge between specific learning difficulties (dyslexia, dyscalculia, et al.) and autism, but I'm really not sure. So many dyspraxic people have social and communication difficulties, but others have no problems beyond co-ordination, perception, and various other cognitive functions - i.e. short-term memory. I don't know what to think.
Hmm...maybe that's because Dyspraxia isn't one disorder. It could very well be that it's an umberella term for various disorders. Some psychologists think there's no such thing a shitzophrenia - its a name given to several distinct disorders which need clarification. I'm not comparing schitzophrenia to dyspraxia - schitzophrenia is a disease, dyspraxia is a disorder. Howevr, categorizing the way the mind works is complicated and full of grey areas (not that i can claim to have any expertise on the subject).
My problems aren't as bad as those of others on this forum. My co-ordination is my main difficulty, and I have poor short-term memory. I don't have the same social problems as people on this forum, but I do have some.
Vicky, from what you have said, it seems that body language and intonation are completely foreign languages to you. For me, they are foreign, but I understand a little. I remember watching a French man and and English man have a conversation in a pub once. The French man more or less understoo English, and the English man more or less understood French. They both spoke in their native tongues and the other one understood the basics, enough to get by. However, they couldn't speak in the other person's language - their knowledge didn't extend that far.
That's what body language is like for me. I get the gist of what is going on, most of the time. But I can't really replicate it. I find it hard to sit still, look people in the eye (or even in their general direction) and I have this weird nervous twith with my hands which I'm not constantly aware of. Showing my feelings in my face doesn't come naturally to me. The thing is, people don't understand that body language is forign to me, so they don't make the same allowances they would if I struggled with their word-language. I keep getting told off for looking at people in the wrong way, or for staring at people, when I'm not. I try to mile at people and lopk at them , but I don't always remember, and sometimes 'm so busy concentrating on doing that that I forget what I'm saying/doing.