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	Dyspraxia may be relatively unknown but it is a common, if undetected, condition, as Jessica Casey finds out</p>
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	&ldquo;I type during exams, and when people ask me why I&rsquo;m typing, I say &lsquo;I&rsquo;m dyspraxic&rsquo; and they will usually be like &lsquo;Oh you mean dyslexic?&rsquo; and I&rsquo;ll have to tell them &lsquo;No it&rsquo;s different&rsquo;, Not a lot of people understand,&rdquo; Sarahann Mooney, 15, Co Dublin.</p>
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	The Dyspraxia Association of Ireland estimates that there is more than one child in every classroom with dyspraxia.</p>
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	They describe it as difficulty with planning, thinking and motor coordination.</p>
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	Dyspraxia is a commonly used term to describe these difficulties, and this falls under the umbrella term of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).</p>
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	Problems with coordination can have a negative impact on an individual&rsquo;s life-Children can have difficulty dressing themselves and teenagers may experience problems with organisation at school. Adults can struggle with driving or within the workplace.</p>
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	And despite famous dyspraxics such as actor Daniel Radcliffe and Florence Welch of the band, Florence and the Machine, levels of awareness remain low and dyspraxia can often go undetected.</p>
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	Dyspraxia in Ireland</p>
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	Mark Daly, 42, from Dublin was told he has dyspraxia in 2005. He says that despite being educationally assessed, there was little awareness about dyspraxia during his school years.</p>
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	&ldquo;In the 1980s there was no Dyspraxia association, there was no awareness, and there was no help. The only person who supported me, at least after school anyway, was my mum.</p>
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	&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have found out about dyspraxia had my mother not read an article in the Sunday Tribune. I was diagnosed after she died, two months after she passed away.&rdquo;</p>
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	Asked what advice he would give to someone with dyspraxia, Mark said: &ldquo;I would just say-you&rsquo;re not alone, There are people with dyspraxia who don&rsquo;t know it,&rdquo; he added.</p>
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	Jasper Hampton, 45, living in West-Cork was also diagnosed as an adult.</p>
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	&ldquo;It was something I had to fish for, and pay for privately. It&rsquo;s not something the doctors recognised and put me in the right direction of, it was quite difficult actually,&rdquo; he said.</p>
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	&ldquo;My daughter was diagnosed so I was lucky enough to meet an occupational therapist and I said &lsquo;Can you diagnose me?&rsquo;</p>
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	&ldquo;It is very difficult for school teachers [to recognise], it&rsquo;s known as the hidden disability because you can&rsquo;t always see it,&rdquo; he added.</p>
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	&ldquo;People with dyspraxia &mdash; it&rsquo;s very varied. Hardly any two are the same. There&rsquo;s a list of symptoms and one person might have five from the list, another person might have another five &mdash; so it&rsquo;s very hard to speak in a common sense.</p>
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	&ldquo;Although people with dyspraxia might be different, they are probably some of the hardest working people out there when they&rsquo;re on a roll.&rdquo;</p>
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	Fay Dunn, 23, remembers working extra hard on her schoolwork in secondary school, but this effort didn&rsquo;t show in her results when she was sitting exams. &ldquo;It was extremely frustrating because I was putting so much effort in and I could see that my friends could go home, do their homework and then be done. And I would be there working 20 times harder and not getting the results.</p>
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	&ldquo;I had one teacher who just didn&rsquo;t get me or my dyspraxia at all. I was failing the subject all the time. Then I got a new teacher who worked with me and I ended up getting an A1 in my Leaving Cert, The potential with people with dyspraxia is there. It just needs to be brought out in a different way,&rdquo; Fay added.</p>
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	Frankie Farrell, 19, from Dublin loves football and has played all his life &mdash; his father is Dessie Farrell of the Gaelic Players Association. He recalls as a child, he experienced problems tying his shoelaces and he didn&rsquo;t walk until he was three.</p>
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	Frankie says that speaking to teachers is crucial to spread awareness about dyspraxia.</p>
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	&ldquo;Make them aware if there is a kid with these symptoms, it&rsquo;s not a case of them being lazy or just not putting in the work, they are trying 20 times harder than the person who doesn&rsquo;t have dyspraxia &mdash; give them credit, don&rsquo;t be as tough on them.&rdquo;</p>
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	Margaret Duffy, from Limerick spoke about her eight-year-old son P&aacute;draig&rsquo;s experience.</p>
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	Margaret advised that the assessment process for dyspraxia needs to be made clearer &ldquo;because unless you know what you&rsquo;re looking for, you don&rsquo;t get it, When his teacher said to get him assessed we had no idea who to go to.&rdquo;</p>
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	Mary-Kate Mooney, 17, from Co Dublin is a fifth year student, who was identified as dyspraxic when she was 15. Her younger sister Sarahann, 15, found out she also has dyspraxia when she was 12.</p>
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	Mary-Kate was inspired to blog about her experiences. &ldquo;I just want people to know we&rsquo;re all in it together. It&rsquo;s not just them on their own&rdquo; she said.</p>
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	The Dyspraxia Association of Ireland provides information and a national support network for parents, teenagers and adults. For more information phone 01-8747085 or email info@dyspraxia.ie</p>
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	Developmental Coordination Disorder Ireland also offers support for conditions such as ADHD, Dyslexia, ASD and Language Impairments if they overlap with movement difficulties. For more visit dcdireland.ie</p>
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	(Published by the Irish Examiner on the 30<sup><font size="2">th</font></sup> May 2016)</p>
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	<a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/you-are-not-alone-with-dyspraxia-402163.html">http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/you-are-not-alone-with-dyspraxia-402163.html</a></p>
