Youth Member takes to the skies

Back in June youth member Jake Borrett took to the skies in a daring bid to raise awareness and money for two charities close to his heart. What an amazing experience, Jake describes it here,

‘What an incredible day. I will never forget my tandem skydive in aid of Crohn’s & Colitis UK and Dyspraxia Foundation. Thank you so much for the support along the way. We managed to raise over £2,000 with Gift Aid between the two charities. I will never look at the sky in the same way again and would recommend you take to the skies too.’

Well done Jake so proud of all you do to raise awareness

Latest Youth News

It has been a busy time for Dyspraxia Youth with many positive and inspirational stories being shared on the Youth Facebook group on nearly a daily basis! We used this theme as a display for the June Conference and were amazed by all the fantastic achievements that were sent in from Arts and Crafts to academic successes, sporting achievements and one youth member even got to go to the wedding of the year-Harry and Megan’s big day!

Member Robert Hodge has started a ‘Motivational Monday’ that has proved hugely popular and has gone on to add ‘Funny Friday’; a slot which gives people a place to tell any funny incidents of mishaps that they may have had in a safe supportive environment. With so much positivity around we are beginning to gather inspirational stories for Awareness Week. Here are just some of the items shared amongst our group.

Amy Wright 2.2 BA Open Degree with Honours from Open University in Scotland

Sophie Negus 2:1 from Bangor University

James Cartwright 2:1 Foundation Degree in Media from Bridgewater College


Tim Trivizas Bachelor of Arts in Audio Production from SAE Institute Oxford

Natalie Williams– 1st Class Honours degree in Psychology Anglia Ruskin University

Màiri McKay (NicAoidh) B.A (Hons) social work degree, graduated last year.

Cormac Finn O Brien 3rd Class Honours in History, Politics, Sociology and Social Sciences from the University of Limerick

Emma Gwynne After working really hard Emma was rewarded by gaining an A in English (Scottish Higher English)


Tumi Sortie Graduated from University of York with an MSc in Health Economics.

Liv Quigley After attempting a number of times we are proud of Liv’s determination and resilience to finally pass her Level 2 Foundation Math’s exam

Beth Firmin graduated from the University of Sheffield with a First Class Honours degree in Medical Genetics

Thomas Parkhouse “Just got the scores back from my level 3 BTEC exam in computing thinking in networking solutions. I got 98%, and my score was the highest in Britain ever, and in the top 3% internationally this year. 256/260 marks. I still can’t believe I did that. Me with my different brain got the highest score Britain has ever seen. The exam was 6 hours long with my 25% extra time.”

Mitchel Kcl 2.1 Honours from King’s College London in Psychology (1 away from a 1st)

Alistair Williams 2:1 in ‘Outdoor Activity Leadership and Coaching’ from the University of Derby. Officially graduates in November.

We wish all those who have graduated or finished GCSE’s, A ‘levels and any other course undertaken this academic year the very best for the future. Also, congratulations to those finding success in the workplace Cara White, Charlotte Louise Lovesay, Louisa Atkinson, Sam Killip, Sam Saunders, and Izzy Haddon.   And well done to our youth members undertaking challenges to support the 30th Anniversary Appeal, Matt Maltby, Natalie Williams and Jake Borrett.

Our young people are also blogging, catch up with these online stories at:

Izzy Haddon https://thedyspraxiadiariescom.wordpress.com/

Natalie Williams https://theblogwithonepost.wordpress.com/2018/07/18/when-your-brain-can-only-process-one-thing-at-once-dyspraxia-and-multi-tasking/#more-1922

Sam Killip https://dyspraxicsam.wordpress.com/2018/06/25/dyspraxia-foundation-agm-2018/

https://dyspraxicsam.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/synonyms/

https://dyspraxicsam.wordpress.com/2018/07/24/going-against-the-grain/

Alexa Lucy https://medium.com/@alexasjourney298/dyspraxia-tourette-syndrome-anxiety-and-my-life-cfdce4bee4ab

Jake Borrett https://jakeborrett.blogspot.com/2018/06/nine-years-later.html

Rosie Edmondson https://thinkoutsideofthecardboardbox.blogspot.com/2018/07/inclusion-and-participation.html

Jack Sefton https://www.instagram.com/quotesofethic

Running for Dyspraxia Awareness

A massive THANK YOU to all our fabulous fifteen running in some fierce heat to raise awareness and funds for #dyspraxia in the Virgin Sport British 10k.

Thank you and hats off to Matt Devonshire, Caroline Crollick, Angela Hodgson-Teall, James Rainbow, Phil Rainbow, Kieran Wassell, Jon Hope, Simon Whelband, Sheila Clark, Chris Williams, Natalie Williams, Matt Maltby, William Madeira, Jo Webb and Sara Grimme.

Here are a few we managed to thank in person at a picnic in the park following the run. To show your support for any of the team, search JustGiving for their names above. All donations will go directly to our 30th Anniversary Appeal. Thank you! #dyspraxia30 #british10k

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30th year Anniversary Conference/AGM 2018

 

 

 

 

Join us for our 30th year Anniversary Conference/AGM on the 23rd of June in London. There will be dedicated workshops for Youth again this year and with the Spring time special offer you can come for FREE. Just sign up to join the Foundation as a Member and if you are within the first 25 entrance to this event is Free!

Follow this link for more information to the days agenda and the other link to how you can go about and join the Foundation, which means not only supporting this charity but a number of member perks.

30th Anniversary Conference : London, June 2018

Join the Foundation

Safer Internet Day 2018

The Dyspraxia Foundation is proud to be supporting Safer Internet Day (SID) 2018!

The Internet is a wonderful resource, it contains lots of information that is helping millions of people on a daily basis, but it is often a scary place where misinformation, online chats and discussions can create lots of doubt.

Safer Internet Day encourages us all, young and old, to think about how we use the Internet, and how we can make it a safer place for everyone who uses it.

 

 

The Dyspraxia Foundation are sharing our guidelines which you are free to download below, these include our guide to staying safe online and a guide on how to deal with bullying.

Join in the global conversation on SocialMedia with #SID18 #ItStartsWithUs and get involved on our own social media pages!

Stay safe online resources

Download – Dyspraxia Foundation guide to Staying Safe Online

Download – Dyspraxia Foundation guide on how to deal with bullying.

Dyslexia and dyspraxia sufferer diagnosed aged 19 tells of struggles in new film

An Oxford graduate who only discovered she had dyslexia and dyspraxia when she started studying Ancient Greek and Latin at university has made a film about being diagnosed with learning difficulties as an adult.

Kaiya Stone, 24, has used animation to bring to life drawings of how she sees words and the world for the short Everything is Going to be K.O.

Directed by King ADZ and produced by Legendary Offspring, the film features a stand-up performance from Stone who shares stories from her childhood including hiding from teachers in the school toilets.

Digital arts company Canvas commissioned the short for its YouTube channel, which is funded by Arts Council England to try and get more young people into the arts.

She has also written, produced and will appear in a stage show with the same title at Theatre Royal Stratford East between January 18 and 20.

Stone said: “I was diagnosed when I was 19-years-old and that’s very different from being diagnosed as a child. I was trying to grapple with the all the information and that’s when I started writing the show.

“Having learning difficulties does not make you stupid. It’s not a lack of intelligence or ability, but it can stop you from fulfilling your potential. I feel I could have done better at school.”

Stone achieved 8 A*s at GCSE, 3 As at A-Level and graduated with a 2:1 degree in classics. She believes she had to work harder than other people to do well academically and could have benefited from being diagnosed earlier.

Dyslexia can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling and up to one in ten people may be affected to some degree, according to the NHS. Dyspraxia is a relatively common disorder affecting motor coordination and can also affect speech.

Stone, a performer and theatre producer, also believes she suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) although she has not been clinically diagnosed with it.

She said: “I prefer the term neurodiversity to learning difficulties. There are advantages. I’m a very visual thinker and that can help creatively. Some architects and engineers with learning difficulties find it helps them visualise a building or something mechanical.”

Source: Standard

The Dyspraxia Diaries – Podcast Series

Student Ryan Dowling Cashman explains the background to the Podcasts he created on Dyspraxia as part of his studies.

Often when I told people I had dyspraxia they would say you mean dyslexia and wouldn’t know what dyspraxia is.

My name is Ryan Dowling Cashman I diagnosed with Dyspraxia at young age. Growing up with Dyspraxia was hard and Challenging but with great support I made it to my final year at university studying Broadcast Media Production at the University of Sunderland. I came over from Ireland on a Top up degree. This brings to me my final year at Uni, as part of my final year I had to do a dissertation project.  My friend John and I decided to work together for it.

We started college at the same time and decided to come to Sunderland for our final year and be roommates. John didn’t understand my disability at first and wanted to learn more about it. We decided to do a podcast on dyspraxia as it was something close to me. I contacted Claire Cripps, Youth Information Officer for the Foundation and she was happy to help she invited me to join the dyspraxia foundation youth group on Facebook.

My thinking was Dyspraxia is a less known disability and it needed more awareness. The angle we took was to educate people who don’t know anything about Dyspraxia and to relate with people who do have it. We decided the best way to do this was to hear people’s experiences and stories on having Dyspraxia, while also having educational and medical professionals share their knowledge.

For me speaking with people who have Dyspraxia was great, I had never got a chance to do this before the podcast. I learned things about Dyspraxia I didn’t know while also being able to relate with other people with the disability. It gave me a better understanding of my disability.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the podcast with a special thanks to the Dyspraxia Foundation.

To listen to the podcasts, click the player below:

Dyspraxia Foundation Youth at the AGM

See below for an article published in the monthly members update – sent out to all paid members of the charity – about our recent youth event at the Dyspraxia Foundation London Conference. Join today to recieve your monthly newsletter update and more!

Please click on the images below to read them full size.

Young man with Dyspraxia has fantastic result at Strongman competition

 

Hello everyone my name is Daniel Arnold and I’m 25

I got asked to do a write up about myself and my successes with strongman. I was diagnosed with dyspraxia when I was about 5 years old and I have problems with speech, reading and writing, gross motor etc. Through my school life I was bullied and was told I wouldn’t get anywhere in my life by both kids and adults. This wasn’t so much when I was in high school. I did rugby for a few years but because of injuries I had to give it up. I am also in to cars and racing, mainly since the age of 18, I’m in the middle of building my own drag car too.

My life really changed when I was 21, my best friend (Nathan) asked me if I wanted to train with him in the gym, at first I said no. So weeks went past and then he asked me again. This time I said yes, I was 68kg and had never done anything like this before. It was not easy at the start because of my dyspraxia, but he supported me at every step- I found keeping to a healthy diet hard and eating 6-7 times a day was really tough. So when I turned 24 I decided I wanted to have a go at a strength sport, so I tried strongman and found I loved it. I did my first competition with only a few weeks of strongman training under my belt. I came joint 11th, my 2nd competition was Norfolk’s strongest man in novice class, I came 7th out of 15 people. I have just done my 4th competition which was my biggest comp and had some of strongest novices in the UK competing. I came 32nd out of 50+ people.

I often get asked ‘how do I deal with worried/nervous/anxious feelings I get?’ Well I battle with that every day. Some days I want to give up, but then I look back at how far I have come. That gives me the incentive to keep me going. I have awesome friends, family and a great personal trainer (Jenny Todd). They all support me at every step! But my successes are down too being determined. I just wanted to show all the people who said “I wouldn’t get anywhere in my life” That I can do it and I am successful. Over the last year and half I have met loads of awesome people doing strongman who have helped me to achieve my goals. Now you ask what I want from strongman in future, I want to do the under 90kg class and see how far I can go!!

Thanks to all the people who have helped me over the years and to those who tried to hold me back, there’s no stopping me now!