Dyspraxic and fantastic! | Ellie Madeira | TEDxCCGrammarSchool

What is it like having dyspraxia? Ellie describes the difficulties she has faced, but also discusses the positive sides to this poorly understood disorder and how she is thriving.

Although Ellie has dyspraxia, she is definitely fantastic! She is studying A-Levels in art and science at Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School and hopes to become an occupational therapist.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organised by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Hello.

As some of you know,
my name is Ellie Madeira,

and I'm here to talk to you

about dyspraxia
and how it affects my life.

So, what is dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia is a form
of developmental coordination disorder.

It affects gross and fine
motor coordination,

and it can also affect
speech in some people.

Individuals may vary
in how their difficulties present.

An analogy I have for you today:

dyspraxia is like your brain's wires
have been all jumbled up.

So, say if you were playing football,

your brain would go from one, to two,
to three, to four, to five, and get six,

and you would catch the ball.

My brain goes from one, to two, to three,

to 42, back to A, B, C, D, E, five, one,

and by the time
it's gone in a full circle,

the ball has already hit me
in the forehead.

(Laughter)

Dyspraxia is such a diverse condition

that it links with all of these
other neurological disorders.

So, ODD, Specific Learning Difficulties,

ADHD, anxiety and all of the rest of them.

The best way for me to explain to you

what dyspraxia was like
in my early childhood

is for me to show you me, age nine,
talking about my dyspraxia.

(Video) Ellie: I'm Ellie, age nine,
and I've got dyspraxia.

I first found out
I was dyspraxic in Year 1,

when I went home to tell my mum

that I felt different and strange.

I went to Val, and she's a physio.

She helped me a lot
and gave me like papers and tests

and made me do balancing things.

Dyspraxia is a bit like, um, um,

a bit like when your brain's
wired up in a different way.

Sometimes you might get told off
for being a bit talkative,

but really you're just
forgetting to be quiet.

I'm sometimes a bit slow
with my work as well.

It took me two years
to learn to ride a bike,

and I used to do ballet as well,
but I found that very hard and difficult.

Now I do Brownies,

which really works,

and it's really the club for me, I think.

I think I'm going to stick
with the Brownies for a very long time.

I'm dyspraxic, and I'm fantastic!

(Audience) Aww.

(Video ends)

So, things that are really important

to remember about dyspraxia
and dyspraxic people:

Children whose dyspraxia
is identified at an early age

are less likely to have problems
with acceptance by their peers

and with lower self-esteem.

So, like I said in the video,

being diagnosed with dyspraxia

meant I didn't blame myself
for how I was different

and how I felt and acted.

Instead, I had a way to explain to others
and had a reason in myself

so that I didn't feel isolated
from my peer group.

Early recognition can make the difference
between success and failure.

The fact that I was recognised early
meant that I got physio,

like I said in the video.

In the physio,
I learnt how to ride a bike,

I learnt how to balance on beams,

I even learnt how to handwrite.

It is a lifelong condition.

I am going to have it
for the rest of my life.

It's never, ever going to go away,

unless they come up
with some miracle cure.

But I can try and adapt, and find ways
to deal with my problems,

and it might take me
longer than all of the rest of you,

but I will always find a way.

There are six main
categories of dyspraxia.

The first is organisation.

I find planning things incredibly tricky.

Just planning this entire talk
took hours and hours in my brain,

trying to sort out all
the tiny different things

I had to connect just to plan this.

My memory.

Organising my memory,
again, with this talk.

(Laughter)

My schoolbag notes.

So from Year 7 probably up until now,

all of my notes in my bag were crumpled,
all just at the bottom of my bag.

Gross motor.

So coordinating myself
was always something

that I found incredibly anxiety-inducing

because my brain connecting to my muscles
didn't always work quite right.

So it's the classic dyspraxic arm.

You would put your arm like this;
my arm would sort of just go like that.

It didn't quite connect,
and this, obviously, goes into sports.

And sports was something
I also really struggled with as a child,

and I never felt like I could quite do it,

which was the reason I quit
ballet when I was younger,

even though I enjoyed it.

Fine motor.

So handwriting.

I went to the physio
and occupational therapist

to help me tie my shoelaces properly -

which is still a bit questionable
whether I can do -

(Laughter)

and do buttons.

Concentration.

I find it incredibly difficult
to stay in one space.

If you've ever seen me in the Sixth Form
common room trying to do work,

one minute, I'll be sitting on the chair
like a normal person,

the next minute, I'll be backwards
on the chair with my leg on the back,

then I'll be on the floor
writing on the table,

then I'll be back on the chair again.

And I can't sit still or stand still.

Standing on this little cross
is actually quite difficult. (Chuckles)

All I want to do is pace up and down.

And classroom difficulties.

Copying from the board.

I'll look up at the board,

I'll register what's on the board,

I'll look down, and my brain's lost it,

and I look back up, and I read the board,
and my brain's lost it again.

And that process will go on for ages.

But dyspraxia is really not
just general clumsiness.

I know that a lot of you may think that
because that is all that you may see,

but there are so many
neurological problems as well.

But,

[POSITIVES!]

dyspraxia is not all doom and gloom.

There are positives.

Dyspraxic people are incredibly creative.

My mother always told me:

you know when people
think outside the box?

Well, I've lost the box. The box is gone.
I'm so far outside of the box.

(Chuckles)

I'm very good at adapting
and finding alternatives.

I'd like to say I've developed
a sense of humour.

I can laugh at myself.

And the one thing I think is truly a gift
for dispraxic people is their empathy.

I can feel like I really, really
connect to other people,

and I always like to see
the good in everyone.

So, now and the future.

Now I'm taking four subjects to A2-Level:
two sciences and two creatives.

I'm not learning to drive yet.

I feel like there should be one less
dyspraxic person behind the wheel for now.

(Laughter)

I'll never know what it's like
to have a normal brain,

and if someone gave me a pill
to change my brain and to be 'normal',

I don't think I'd take it.

I've finally learnt to love and understand
my flaws and my little quirks,

but I am thriving, and I'm surviving.

My name is Ellie Madeira.

I'm dyspraxic, and I'm fantastic!

(Cheers) (Applause)