Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia all affect the way people learn. Some people may have one of these conditions diagnosed, whereas others may have two or even all three of these conditions diagnosed.
I have been diagnosed primarily with Dyspraxia, with some Dyslexia and more than a touch of Dyscalculia. But with determination, support and self-belief I have overcome adversity to be relatively successful. I am not alone. Many famous people have Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and/or Dyscalculia and have managed to be successful at what they do.
Below is a definition of Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, along with a list of famous people (in alphabetical order) with each condition:
Dyspraxia is:
…a form of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common disorder affecting fine and/or gross motor coordination in children and adults…DCD is a lifelong condition, formally recognised by international organisations including the World Health Organisation…[DCD] occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. Individuals may vary in how their difficulties present: these may change over time depending on environmental demands and life experiences.
* Apologies for the lack of females on this list. No famous females found to have Dyspraxia online. Know a famous female with Dyspraxia? Leave a comment below.
Dyslexia is:
…a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling.
It’s a “specific learning difficulty”, which means it causes problems with certain abilities used for learning, such as reading and writing. Unlike a learning disability, intelligence isn’t affected.
…is usually perceived of as a specific learning difficulty for mathematics, or, more appropriately, arithmetic.
Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is a specific learning disorder that is characterised by impairments in learning basic arithmetic facts, processing numerical magnitude and performing accurate and fluent calculations. These difficulties must be quantifiably below what is expected for an individual’s chronological age, and must not be caused by poor educational or daily activities or by intellectual impairments.
* According to Dyscalculia Blog, Dyscalculia is rarer than Dyslexia. Dyscalculia is not as well known as Dyspraxia or Dyslexia. This means that it’s likely that less people are assessed for Dyscalculia and therefore less people diagnosed with it. This would go someway to explaining the lack of famous people with Dyscalculia on the list above.
When I heard that Wax was releasing a new book entitled Frazzled, I immediately pre-ordered it.
A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled is split into sections, which include: an introduction to Mindfulness, Neuroscience and How Our Brains Work, a six-week Mindfulness Course, Mindfulness for Parents, Babies & Children, Mindfulness for Older Kids & Teenagers and Mindfulness & Wax.
Wax’s story sections spattered throughout Frazzled were fascinating to read. Wax’s occasional drawings and photos throughout the book were also enjoyable.
It was interesting to see the two MRI brain scans on Wax in Frazzled. One was taken before a weeklong silence mindfulness meditative retreat and one afterwards.
The format and structure of Frazzled is pleasing, although Wax could have added a section on Mindfulness for OAPs (Old Aged Pensioners). The six-week Mindfulness Course pages are grey-edged, which makes it easy for the reader to find the course. The exercises in the course did feel repetitive to read and it felt like whole sections from Week 1 had been copy/pasted into the other weeks of the course.
Frazzled shouldn’t be compared with Sane New World, but it’s difficult not to compare the two books. Frazzled is just as informative as Sane New World but not as funny. Frazzled reads like a self-help instructional book on Mindfulness.
Overall Sane New World is a good book, just not as good as Sane New World. Frazzled failed to captivate this reader throughout and failed to inspire this reader to practice mindfulness.
The only section that was not read in this book was Mindfulness for Parents, Babies and Children.
Recently my life has been so hectic. Here’s most of the things I’ve been doing since I last blogged:
I’ve challenged a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPA) that was issued on my car by the local Council. The local Council had wrote to me and asked me to move my car from my private resident car parking space to their carpark for a community event. I did as they requested. They day after the event my car had been issued with a FPA.
I had a spring clean in my bedroom, throwing out 6 bin bags, mostly filled with clothes that don’t fit anymore. I listed 3 suits on Gumtree. They’re practically like new having only be worn once or twice each. I like a new suit for job interviews ideally, but some of the times, I’ve had to buy a new suit due to putting on weight in the years between interviews. There has been a lack of interest on Gumtree, so I’m thinking of seeing if a local homeless charity wants them for their clients.
The UK Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) has changed the process for revalidation. Every 3 years, Nurses (such as myself) and Midwives are required to revalidate. Previously the process was to complete a form confirming that you had done the number of practice and learning hours required. Now we are required to:
Complete a practice log to demonstrate completion of the required number of practice hours (450 hours for a Nurse such as myself).
Complete a Continued Professional Development (CPD) log to demonstrate completion of 35 hours of CPD.
Collect 5 pieces of Practice-related feedback.
Writeup 5 reflective accounts.
Have a documented discussion with another NMC Nurse or Midwife.
Declaration of anything that could impair your fitness to practice.
Declaration that you have have the appropriate indemnity insurance cover.
So I have been doing some work to collect my evidence for revalidation. I have mixed thoughts about the new revalidation process. Overall I think that it is a good process, but with a few problems that could have been solved if the NMC had thought it through properly. These few problems for me are:
Firstly I think it should have been phased in, so all Nurses and Midwives should have used the old revalidation form and been informed to start collecting the data above for their next revalidation. I’m lucky as I keep paper diaries with details of my working hours. But if a Nurse or Midwife had been using an organisation’s electronic calendar and moved organisations in the last three years, he/she might be unable remember what hours they worked before switching organisations. Same goes for CDP.
Secondly it is very bureaucratic. This is not a problem for Nurses or Midwives that work in the community and can organise their diary to allow time for the revalidation process. But for Nurses or Midwives on busy hospital wards or departments, it is likely they will spend the many hours required to complete the paperwork in their own time. It is also likely that Nurses and Midwives will see it as a purely bureaucratic exercise, so not put the effort into revalidation that the NMC wants. I think it would be better if there were less forms to complete. For example, the NMC could require 3 pieces of practice-related feedback and 3 written reflective accounts, instead of 5 each.
Thirdly I think it’s important to mention money. Nurses and Midwives have to pay £120 per year to maintain their registration. Regardless of their income or level within an organisation. My registration date is the 24th September, but they want all of my revalidation paperwork in and the £120 paid by the 1st September. Moving the date that the payment is required is important because it means that I am paying £120 for closer to 11 months of registration rather than 12 months.
Fourthly the NMC should allow Nurses and Midwives to pay their registration fees up to and on their date of registration expiry. I also think it’s about time that they charge different rates of fees depending on the Nurses or Midwives NHS band of pay. I wouldn’t mind paying more so that junior Nurses pay less.
I’ve given some feedback to my good friend Steve on his novel manuscript. I’ve still got more to read and more feedback to give, but we had to pause the process due to me being so busy.
There’s been a few good job opportunities on NHS Jobs. I applied for two jobs and got interviews for both of them. The first job I was beat because the person who got the job had an addition 5 years experience than me. I asked for feedback and they told me that I did a superb interview. They said that there was nothing that I couldn’t have done any better. That they’d had to make the decision they did purely because the other candidate had more experience. They encouraged me to continue applying for jobs in the field and explained that had the candidates been different that I would have got the job hands down.
The second job I attended the interview, scored the highest, the managers wanted me and argued for two days with HR. HR didn’t want me to be recruited because I had no qualification in mental health. I have the experience but because I’m a Children’s Nurse rather than a Mental Health Nurse, in the end, HR wouldn’t let me be recruited. Again I asked for feedback and again they said there was nothing I could have done better and they encouraged me to keep applying. They stated that I would get eventually get a job in children and young people’s mental health services and that they hoped it would be in their service, as I would be an asset to any service that I joined.
I treated myself to some Witchy goodies:
I ordered a small Dorothy Morrison Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Package before the end of May and got these. Wakin’ The Dead candle and room spray for ancestor work and Forever Mine candle, room spray and oil to bring an endless love into my life. Kindly sold and dispatched by The Angry Cauldron. If you want learn more about the mystery packages, see my blog post here. But be aware that they were only being sold throughout the month of May.
I also bought a Limited Edition Rich Bitch candle and Limited Edition Rich Bitch oil.
Dorothy Morrison has done brilliantly at selecting the right things for each of the three Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Packages I’ve ordered. In this small package photoed above, I’ve got stuff for ancestor work – something that I really need to work on. She’s also sent me Forever Mine love magic products. My love life is a neglected area of my life and something I need to work on. So thank you and well done on selections Dorothy Morrison.
I’ve started casting spells and spell crafting again, after over 5 years of doing nothing. This is because I’ve been inspired by Dorothy Morrison’s products, which have been sent from the USA to the UK by the people at The Angry Cauldron.
I’ve spent time with my gorgeous bengal cats Dylan and Russell. I haven’t shared any photos of them on here for a while, so here’s a photos of them both:
My bengal cat Russell Cat Naps.
My bengal cat Dylan surveys his kingdom.
I’ve seen various family and friends who’ve had birthday’s or have at least sent them out a card.
I’ve attended a range of annual diabetic health appointments including: podiatry, retinopathy screening and an review with my Practice Nurse and GP. Prior to seeing the Practice Nurse and GP I had a fasting blood test. My cholesterol is high, so I’ve been started on statins. Statins to me are associated with people much older than I am, but seen as I have Type 1 diabetes, if statins can bring my cholesterol down they will also bring my blood sugars down. So it’s all good.
A few months ago I woke up with a painful left knee, groin, right shoulder and arm. As the days past the groin, shoulder and arm all got better but the knee didn’t. I ended up going to my GP for stronger painkillers, got referred to a Specialist and have just recently had a MRI scan on my knee. I think it’s probably cartilage damage, but am awaiting an appointment with the Specialist to find out.
The extra painkillers and statin have caused me to write up a drug regimen, so I don’t forget to take any tablets and I’ve just recently ordered a Colourful 7 Day 3 Times In-a-day Rainbow Pill Box to help make remembering to take everything at the right times easier.
I’ve been doing a Contraception module at Uni. Last weekend despite the good weather, I figuratively chained myself to my Mac to write the case study assignment. After editing the assignment over a few evenings, I have now submitted it online. I have till the 20th June to complete my clinical placement portfolio and submit it online.
I recently wrote via email to a private company to express an interest in working for them. By chance they were just about to advertise a Nurse vacancy and said they’d add me to the distribution list. The email came through late this week. Although it sounds like a lovely place to work the job just isn’t well enough paid.
After being told by several members of my family how good ALDI is in terms of price and quality, I decided to give it a go. The food is of a good quality and much fresher than the bigger supermarkets. I’m buying the same things I always buy, but saving around a third on my food shop. Plus ALDI is smaller so I am in and out quicker and I tend to buy much less on impulse.
Having decided to build up my collection of essential oils and because the box I was using to store them in was full, I went looking for a new box to keep them in. I tried searching everywhere online that I could think of (including ebay, Amazon, Etsy & Google Shopping). I searched using every combination of search terms I could think of, loosing count of the number of searches I did. I was looking for a wooden red chest type box to match my other two boxes. But I had no luck.
So I decided that I needed some magical help. I cleaned up the hallway (where it was to go) and used Dorothy Morrison’s Witched Witchin’ Oil and Dorothy Morrison’s Puttin’ on the Witch Oil to draw the box outline on the floor and visualised the box being there in as much detail as possible. A few hours later I stumbled across this lovely box on my first search on ebay for the bargain price of under £10 with delivery:
My new red wooden essential oils chest (1), which was a bargain at under £10 with postage.
My new red wooden essential oils chest (2).
So my darlings, please forgive the lack of blogging recently. As you will know if you’ve managed to read all this post, my life has been super hectic. I’m hoping it will start to quieten down in the next few weeks and then I’ll have more time to blog.
My Wickedly Wonderful Mystery Packages arrived from the USA a few days before my 30th birthday and were a extra special gift to myself.
Dorothy Morrison is my all-time favourite Witch. I first discovered her some years ago when I read her book Everyday Magic. I loved the book that much that it made its way on to the top shelf where I put my favourite books. At the time I read the book cover to cover, and still to this day go back for ideas, spells and inspiration.
To celebrate Dorothy Morrison’s birthday she has put together Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Packages in two sizes small ($30 about £21) and large ($50 about £35). These packages will be available to order throughout May. In these magical mystery packages Dorothy Morrison is putting some goodies from her own personal stash, as well as some products from her range that are available on her Wicked Witch Studios website.
Here’s what Dorothy says about these Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Packages:
…I sincerely hope they elicit the response for which I’m hoping: that resounding “WOW!” that warms your heart. I can’t think of any better way to celebrate my birthday!
Since the contents of each package will be different, there’s no way to post photos of assortments. But…possibilities include autographed books, limited edition items, candles, oils, sprays, gris gris bags, and other products found on the Wicked Witch Studios website, as well as goodies from my personal stash. [No one needs as much magical miscellany as I have on hand – so it’s time to pass some of it on!] What I can tell you is this: The packages come in two sizes – small and large – and regardless of which size you choose to purchase, I can personally guarantee the retail value of each package to be higher than the $30.00 or $50.00 price you’ve paid. So the fact of the matter is that you’ll actually be getting your goodies at a discount. And that’s enough to elicit a shout of joy from nearly everybody!
Just one more thing: Even though I’ll be offering the Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Packages for the entire month of May, you’ll probably want to order yours early. That way, you’ll be sure to receive some of the items I only have in limited supply – and you certainly wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity like that!
When I heard about these packages, I was initially super excited and then remembered that Dorothy Morrison doesn’t ship to the UK. I posted my disappointment on Dorothy Morrison’s Facebook profile and she said that she’s now working with The Angry Cauldron who ship internationally and that I could order from there. The Angry Cauldron stock and sell Dorothy Morrison’s Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Packages, as well as other Dorothy Morrison’s products.
The Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Packages were released in early May on mid-night eastern time, which is 5am here in the UK. I decided to treat myself for my 30th birthday. I was up at 5am and ordered, so I that I would be one of the first to put my order in. I ordered a small and a large Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Package. They arrived in a big box a few days before my 30th birthday. I was so exited that I nearly wee-d.
Here are some photos of the small mystery package:
I ordered a small (pictured) and large Wickedly Wonderful Mystery Package.
All of the items were wrapped in colourful bubblewrap meaning that it felt like opening gifts.
First item I opened was a Dorothy Morrison ‘Hot Damn’ candle, which is used for good fortune/good luck. I’ve since burned this and it smells Devine and burns beautifully.
Next I opened these two oils one: Wicked Witch and the other: Puttin’ on the Witch. Both smell amazingly magical and are great for anointing candles. Oh I also should point out that these are unique blends made by the fabulous Dorothy Morrison herself.
Next was a Dorothy Morrison ‘Ghost Repel’ candle. Will keep hold of this, in case the occasion ever arises that I need to send a ghost or other spirit on its way.
Dorothy Morrison’s ‘Wishin’ Mojo’ candle.
All the items in the small package together. The price of a small Wickedly Wonderful Mystery Package is $30 (about £21) and the items I received are worth a lot more.
Here are some photos of the large mystery package:
A large Wickedly Wonderful Mystery Package.
Items wrapped in colourful bubblewrap meaning that they were packed well and opening them was like opening gifts.
Sandalwood is my all-time favourite smell, so it was brilliant to have it in an incense.
A Dorothy Morrison ‘Extreme Bad Ass’ Personal Power Accelerator candle.
A candle that can be used for working with Santisima Muerte (around the topics of: death, healing & protection).
A candle that can be used for working with Hekate, Queen of the Witches & Maiden/Mother/Crone (around the topics of: fertility, magic/power & crossroads).
All the items in the large package together. The price of a large Wickedly Wonderful Mystery Package is $50 (about £35) and the items I received are worth a lot more.
All of the products are of the highest quality and I can confirm that they are well above the retail price I paid. To order your Wickedly Wonderful Magical Mystery Package (either small, large or both), if you are from the USA you can order yours at Dorothy Morrison’s Wicked Witch Studios. If you are from the UK or another country you can order your at The Angry Cauldron.
But remember that you’ve only got till the end of May to order and the sooner you order the better, as some products are limited edition and once they are gone, they are gone.
Blog soon,
Antony
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Monday 16 May 2016
About
Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.
Author of eight books.
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