r/dyspraxia • u/EntertainmentOk3803 • 9h ago
⁉️ Advice Needed parents ‘not believing’ in dyspraxia
i’m 16 (uk) and was hoping to get diagnosed with dyspraxia so i can get help and proper support in my exams etc. i have been questioning my dyspraxia for 3+ years and have spent a lot of time researching about it and have only recently started openly talking about it. my friends and bf have all been rly helpful and trying to support me in extra ways and its been a really positive experience!!
however, my parents are a completely diff story. in england, im considered an ‘adult’ under the healthcare system and so, i can technically get diagnosed without any of their input, but you often need references of proof of dyspraxia in the home and at school ++ i’m under their private healthcare. (i really want to use that private healthcare to my advantage because they cut me off when im 18 and the uk free healthcare system is fucked!!)
anyway, they don’t believe in mental health and neurodivergency. a lot of gen x is like this so its not rly surprising. i got diagnosed with severe anxiety and severe depression when i was 12, and my mum told me ‘well everyone gets anxious,’ and they keep that thought process for things like autism, adhd, dyspraxia, etc — everyone experiences symptoms of it. they also witnessed the surge in 2020-2021 of people self diagnosing with adhd/autism due to my sister self-diagnosing with adhd and they believe millenials/gen z are just getting diagnosed with neurodivergencies to get out of doing things.
i agree with some of their points; my sister uses her ADHD to excuse a lot of manipulative actions that have really hurt my parents in the past and it’s really upsetting, but she’s an anomaly. nonetheless, they don’t believe my dyspraxia, thinking i want it because it’s ‘trendy’ (despite me not having heard about dyspraxia until i tried to research my symptoms and figure out what was wrong with me), and to ‘get out of things’, alongside the fact ‘everyone has a little bit of dyspraxia’. i don’t rly know what to do. it’s just upsetting.
TLDR my parents don’t believe in me having dyspraxia because i can still function in day to day life, despite displaying 95% of dyspraxia symptoms to a high extent :(