Normally when I hear about autistic people being misdiagnosed it's usually regarding women and for mental health issues like BPD, but I don't hear much about dyspraxia.
For context I'm a male that was diagnosed with ASD at 19 which was a decade ago now after basically completely failing to adapt to adulthood. I remember that I was actually in camhs a lot as a kid but for whatever reason (I don't have the reports anymore) was only diagnosed with dyspraxia. In some ways this wasn't a total disaster, and better than not being diagnosed altogether as I did get a fair bit of support like occupational therapy, play therapy and bleakly and ironically, I was put into group anger management because of the meltdowns I'd have regularly over noise.
I do find it strange that I wasn't diagnosed at the time though from what information I do have from school stuff and family is that I was a walking autistic stereotype. Maybe it wouldn't have made a difference to my life, I don't know, but I think having better awareness would have helped my mental health at least, all I knew about dyspraxia was that it made me clumsy, and that it was a label that wasn't treated seriously at all. I had no explanation for my hand flapping, sensory meltdowns, social issues or fixations.
Anyway, I am curious how common this is, especially for people born in the 90s like I was.
I was correctly diagnosed with autism at eight, but they also misdiagnosed me with oppositional defiance disorder at the same time. It was supposed to be kept a secret from me, but my mother told me a few weeks later to win an argument about my homework. ODD is basically the kid version of being a psychopath - you’re supposed to be assessed for antisocial personality disorder once you become an adult. The real issue with me was that my mother was violent, which made me an anxious kid who didn’t respond to normal discipline. They also massively exaggerated my behaviours at home. My mother claimed that I refused to do homework, but really I just didn’t understand it, and was too scared of her to ask for help.
The diagnosis got removed from my medical records after I went into care as a teenager and it became obvious that I was well-behaved. I had to be reassessed for autism to make sure it wasn’t also a misdiagnosis.
Dyspraxia and autism are comorbid, you can have them together. I have both autism and dyspraxic difficulties (the nhs doesn't diagnose dyspraxia in adults here but likely would be if they could).
I was diagnosed with dyspraxia by the time I could walk (so, super young) and distinctly remember having to go to this place and have lessons (with homework) on how to catch a ball, so occupational therapy.
I got an Autism diagnosis at 34, last year and it really helps fill in the gaps.
It would have been nice to know about both, but in the early 90s, unless you were severly autistic, and a white cis male, then 'flying under the radar' was common.
(Current live in England)
Misdiagnosed with Dyspraxia when I lived in England then got re-diagnosed as Aspergers in Northern Ireland.
(Might edit: due to timeline & place)
Interesting, was the aspergers diagnosis as an adult?
No.
I got diagnosed when I was in primary school
I was only diagnosed with Dyspraxia in 2009 at the age of 45. I knew I had autism as well but didn’t get a formal diagnosis until April this year along with ADHD. Last month I was also diagnosed with CPTSD and traits of BPD. So now I know why I struggled for so long with everything.
I was never diagnosed with anything, but know several people who were deliberately only diagnosed with various things other than autism to avoid the stigma.
Interesting, extremely stupid that they may have done that, but all too believable yes.
My bestie is only diagnosed with cerebral palsy and dyspraxia but he very likely has autism and likely also has adhd too so yeah. What's worse about him not being diagnosed as a child is that he lives in the South of Ireland and they have No adult autism pathway!!!
That sounds terrible!
I was diagnosed with dyspraxia as well as autism and I think my dyspraxia diagnosis was accurate.
Ironically, reading my old reports make me wonder about my autism diagnosis, but I clearly have social problems anyway and relate to autistic people, so I assume that it's also true.
Dyspraxia is a very common comorbid condition with autism. It’s routine to find them together
I was diagnosed with autism as a kid, and my symptoms of dyspraxia were seen as part of that. It was only as a teenager that I got told I probably have dyspraxia and sensory processing disorder as well. I don’t think I’ve ever been formally diagnosed though.
True! Perhaps misdiagnosed isn't quite the right term, but I do still find it strange that I was only diagnosed with that at the time.
I had a diagnosis for ADHD and Dyspraxia before I got diagnosed as an adult...
Kinda makes me wonder why they stopped exploring and didn't look into autism too.
Wonder if that was the same situation with me, and they just pin any difficulties on the already diagnosed label(s)? That's bad if so.