Accommodating the dyspraxic mind’s processing time

There are many dyspraxia symptoms which are visible to the observer – struggling with cutlery, throwing a ball awkwardly, sawing wood with the guile and grace of a one-armed, inebriated orangutan. 

In a nutshell, physical awkwardness.

Other DCD symptoms are much less visible. Take verbal processing and word retrieval, for example. Far less obvious. The way this pair of related symptoms can manifest came to mind the other day when my partner and I were watching a TV show. 

We often relax with a glass of red and watch the BBC’s classic quiz show University Challenge. She can answer questions off the bat, but not me. There are questions where I know the answer but need a second or two to find the words and translate them into speech. 

“Which was Thomas Hardy’s final novel?” asks Amol.

I know it was Jude The Obscure. I’ve read several of Hardy’s. My partner has half a dozen old Penguin Classics of his. But, without an accommodation, the answer won’t pass my lips in time. 

So what do we do?

My partner presses the pause button after each question. Thank goodness for the iPlayer.

By pausing, I’m able to get the words out a second or two later. That extra processing time allows for the slower word retrieval that I experience, something I experience most acutely in the evenings, when I’m tired. 

Speaking of which, I find that I’m much more verbally fluent earlier in the day, something I’ve read is common amongst dyspraxics. Maybe we should watch an episode one morning without pausing and see if it makes any difference.

There’s a takeaway here for educators and employers keen to support those who are neurodivergent: carefully consider whether dyspraxic students or employees would benefit from additional processing time.

A teacher might interpret a two-second pause as the child not knowing the answer. An interviewer might think the job candidate is unable to answer their question. A colleague in the office might interpret hesitation as lack of knowledge or confidence.

Allowing extra time for speaking exams in French, German or Spanish is a classic example. The same principle could be applied to classroom questions, workplace presentations and team meetings.

Two seconds doesn't sound like much – but for someone like me who knows the answer but needs those two seconds to mentally retrieve it and get the words out, it can be the difference between feeling understood and feeling overlooked. 

The difference between feeling valued and feeling useless.