Dyslexia, dyspraxia, and ADHD in adults: what you need to know.

Abstract

There are two main common misconceptions: the first is that dyslexia’s chief characteristic is difficulty with reading. This is very often not the case. An adult with dyslexia may be slightly slow in reading but otherwise competent. The chief characteristics of dyslexia in adulthood are weaknesses in phonology, auditory short-term memory (working memory), and visual processing skills. These weaknesses stand in contrast to strong verbal reasoning abilities. The second is that dyspraxia in adulthood is characterised chiefly by poor motor coordination. This is also often not the case. Adults with dyspraxia often have improved their motor coordination skills over the years, and their chief difficulties in education and employment are more likely to be related to the cognitive aspects of dyspraxia, such as difficulty with sequencing and structuring information, organisational skills, time-keeping, and sometimes social skills. A patient reports low self-esteem, lack of confidence, feelings of shame and embarrassment, inability to study or work efficiently, panic at the thought of going to the office, poor concentration, memory lapses, …