Dyspraxia - are you clumsy? + vision problems

I'm glad I inherited my Dads sense of direction which is pretty good and not my Mums which is awful, she got lost on a train she was already on! I think I must have some sort of in built satnav with a homing beacon. It even works when I'm in quite thick fog and I'm aware of hazards ahead, but it dosen't work in blizzards.

Hi

I also do this, my sense of direction is terrible. For me I think it’s partly not wanting to be seen as being lost. I have time and time again just walked confidently as if I know where I’m going but don’t have a clue. 

I've got terrible night vision!

I literally need house lights on to see at night or my phone light otherwise I can't move about in the dark.

I once broke my nose trying to move about in the dark.

Turns out I don't know the layout of my house when it's pitch black.

Me too. I've always been clumsy, bumping into things, falling over all the time.. and always picked last at school during PE. Literally no one wanted me on their team, was always so crushing.

Worst part is I'm the same now, if not worse, always dropping things and bumping into things and people. Pretty embarrassing at times.

yes I saw some of those, ehem, "comorbidities".

I also get the double vision when I tired and the lazy one wanders off, I can bring it back to heel but it's a signal I need to rest my eyes or sleep.

All very interesting.

I'm pleased to hear your 'bad' eye is improving. I had sort of assumed that mine would get worse through lack of use but I'm not sure. 

Currently the sight in my weaker eye isn't too bad. Everything is blurred but I can still read the top few lines on the opticians chart with corrective glasses. Perhaps all that patch treatment as a child actually did help and the sight on that eye would have been worse without it. I used to get double vision when I was younger, so at that stage my brain was still trying to use both eyes.  

Alas it still doesn't point ahead, it only moves if my stronger eye is closed or covered. That really only happens during an eye test or if I'm testing my vision myself. Otherwise it's pointing off to the side and not really doing anything. 

I have been doing more research into the link between autism and eye problems. I'll post some of my findings on the other thread you started, hopefully tomorrow.

I am constantly asking "where.." in new building till I find my way out (or into the room I want). As long as there's someone to ask each, step of the way, I'm fine.

Once I have developed a map in my head of a place I'm good, though.

I relate 100%! There were quite many funny situations where I provided entertainment to my family where I got totally lost in public buildings. 

There is a saying in the 12 step ACA (Adult Children Of Alcoholics) program: "Rejection is the best Protection" this had stuck with me when  Ifirst heard it and helped in many instances, like you say.

I really sympathise with navigating buildings, my general sense of direction is nil, I had a hospital appointment last week, I had my X-ray done quite quickly, I then walked out the unit and walked for what seemed like ages and ended up back at the X-ray unit, I then found the lift and got off at the wrong floor, this caused a further act of wandering. The same happens in shopping centres. I can come out of a shop and just walk in a random direction.

I wonder if it’s being overwhelmed and having no bandwidth left for normal thoughts, that’s if I ever have normal thoughts!

Yeah... 

Still do drop things, bump into things, negotiate my space poorly. As a child I had a lazy eye.

Oh well. 

I'm also hopeless at remembering the way out of unfamiliar buildings. 

I have inanimate objects conspiring against me too, I'm glad that I'm not the only one.

I was always picked last, too. And I forgot about this till just now!

But I've changed so much that it doesn't bother me. The adventure matters, not the competition. Add learning it's far better to be rejected by some people than suffer their abuse. It was always hard for me to dislodge myself from others, so I look back on this with a sense of relief now.

Reading up on Grunya Sukarheva has provided interesting insight.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10038965/ While she had a 'clinic'-school for autistic kids, she was able to discover how they best learn, grow and integrate into society. And it's different than Typical peers. She also included early forms of gymnastics for balance and precision. I have a feeling when schools add yoga or judo or karate for the young, this aids both Typical and ND children to better cognitively integrate into their bodies.

Hergé said:

Sometimes it feels as if tables, door frames and other inanimate objects are out to get me.

I love the way you express that.

Ditto.

My coordination isn't great, it took me longer than it should to learn to ride a bike. Sometimes it feels as if tables, door frames and other inanimate objects are out to get me.

My night vision isn't great. My vision also changes, I'm slightly short sighted and wear glasses but sometimes it seems as if my prescription is wrong. I've spoken to an optician who checked and said that it had changed. They think it's weird but put it down to intracranial pressure. 

fascinating article, Debbie! I am learning a lot from this thread. thanks.

thanks for this. My "bad" eye  - [bad eye, bad eye, sit, roll over!] - does follow along as if it were in the game somewhat but it just sees dim blotches or color and shapes. Odd thing is it is improving slowly. This, I am told is from progressive farsightedness. I am happy yours is pointing ahead now. What can you see out of it and has it changed much over the years? this is all very revelatory for me.

The 'switch' happens when my weak eye is suddenly called into service, as a result of my stronger (left) eye being covered or closed. I have a turn in my right eye which means it points outwards most of the time and it is mainly the white of my eye that is visible. That was what the surgery (I had when I was around 2) was supposed to correct but clearly didn't. My lazy (right) eye does its own thing (usually nothing at all) but when activated it will suddenly switch to looking straight ahead, to focus on whatever the good eye was looking at before being covered.

The opticians observing my eyes can see that movement, while I'm reading the letters from the chart on the wall during an eye test. I can test it myself to a certain extent in the mirror or when looking at something. For instance when I'm looking at my computer screen and close my weak eye nothing changes. If I close my good eye the whole screen shifts and everything becomes blurred and very difficult to see with my weak eye.

Unfortunately children will quickly pick up on these eye differences and use it as another reason to tease and bully. The fact that I have worn glasses from very young at least meant that most of it focused on that, with the usual 'specky four eyes' sort of name calling. Few actually looked beyond the thick glasses to notice that my eyes were pointing in different directions. 

A rabbit hole of further research into this is calling me. I vaguely remember reading something previously on this but I had no idea that the prevalence was so high until yesterday. A separate thread on these sort of issues is a good idea.

This article states "According to research, children with ASD present with a higher incidence of strabismus (eye turn) ranging from 21-50 percent prevalence, as compared to children without ASD. "

Mine was caught at a very early age, because the turn in my eye was so prominent and visible to others. Despite having surgery plus having to wear a patch for years it never corrected properly. I didn't 'cheat' either. Healthcare professionals still use patient blame even today, when their treatments fail to work 

Perhaps a lazy eye thread...

You always start really wonderful threads!