Gross motor coordination skills (large movements):
Poor balance
Difficulty in riding a bicycle
, going up and down hills
Poor posture and fatigue. Difficulty in standing for a long time as a result of weak muscle tone. Floppy, unstable round the joints. Some people with dyspraxia may have flat feet
Poor integration of the two sides of the body. Difficulty with some sports involving jumping and cycling Poor hand-eye coordination. Difficulty with team sports especially those which involve catching a ball and batting. Difficulties with driving a car Lack of rhythm when dancing, doing aerobics Clumsy gait and movement. Difficulty changing direction, stopping and starting actions
Exaggerated ‘accessory movements’ such as flapping arms when running
Tendency to fall, trip, bump into things and people
Fine motor coordination skills (small movements):
Lack of manual dexterity. Poor at two-handed tasks, causing problems with using cutlery, cleaning, cooking, ironing, craft work, playing musical instruments
Poor manipulative skills. Difficulty with typing, handwriting and drawing. May have a poor pen grip, press too hard when writing and have difficulty when writing along a line Inadequate grasp. Difficulty using tools and domestic implements, locks and keys
Difficulty with dressing and grooming activities, such as putting on makeup,
shaving, doing hair, fastening clothes and tying shoelaces.
I can ride a bike well enough, but my balance has always been a bit dodgy. Dancing, uh, we won’t talk about that (utterly graceless). I’ve gotten better with many of my challenges through practice and am a very proficient archer, although I’ll never set a world record (I can generally outshoot the youngsters I coach so they take me seriously).
Decline in my motor skills is a sign of relapse in my situation.
I have problems in many areas of the above.
I saw little improvement overtime.
One of the worst things I do is comparison. And one comparison is that of seeing kids ride a bicycle in traffic and I was not able to do that ever. I feel so inferior.
It took me until I was nearly 14 to ride a bike. Even then I only rode around our small village which had a road with hardly any traffic. I would not have coped with riding in busy traffic.
That’s interesting! I definitely go through patches where my motor skills take a dip from serviceable to walking disaster, but I’ve never connected it to other symptoms. It’s something to keep an eye on in the future.
I’m a motoristic disaster. I used to force myself to do physical stuff to the point that I was so tough, I didn’t have a period of any regularity. My skill at the piano left as soon as I left the piano for other work. At least I could play with a little tenderness. But I’m definitely uncoordinated due to a rough and tumble (to avoid the word violent) life. I never could have taken care of a baby - coordinating feeding it, changing it’s diapers and chasing after it. Back problems and headaches are part of it.
I was a clumsy child and about 100x worse as an adult. My fine motor skills are awful. I trip and bump into things. I can barely do stairs . It’s not good
I am so out of shape that the last time I ride a bike I was totally done after ten minutes. But riding was not lacking motor skills. My handwriting has become worse. I can not really draw, but I have just some weeks of practice across my whole life. I do not want to dance, and the times I tried I could just do the same move over and over again.
I also run too close to people if I am behind them, close to running into them. When people pass me by, I go very far to the side. And my hand-eye coordination has become bad. I avoid playing fast games, but that is a part of aging.
Is that a constant factor or as you are relapsing? For me my motor skills are not good whatever my state of mental health . I’m not sure whether they decline when I’m mentally less well. The only possible sign is my walking becomes more erratic the more anxious I’m feeling.
Going to make a poll on this as it is interesting.
When I relapse there is a decline in motor skills
When I relapse there is not a decline in motor skills
Well I don’t know if it plays a role that I have disorganized schizophrenia. If my diagnosis is right.
When I have a relapse my confidence diminished and I have a particular sign. I drag my legs. Not constantly but when I walk there is a small drag of my legs in flat roads and I stumble while walking.
There is improvement but I easily stumble on furniture in the house for example.