A charity that specialises in helping people who suffer from dyspraxia has extended its services to include sessions for teenagers and young people.
It can be especially tough for those affected by the co-ordination disorder during their teenage years, as the physical symptoms are often misunderstood.
Pritthijit Datta, founder of the Dyspraxia Support Group Teesside, said: “Dyspraxia stops people from being able to do everyday things that others take for granted and can lead to sufferers being labelled as clumsy.
“It is a fairly common condition but is widely unacknowledged. Teenagers have enough going on without adding this into the mix.
“Our new ‘youth social action project’ is specifically aimed at 13 to 25-year-olds and it will help members meet new people in a similar position, learn new skills and grow in confidence.
“We will be running a jobs workshop and people who have the condition, like myself, will be empowered to deliver the sessions. The workshop will cover gaining work experience, writing CVs, mock interviews and legislation regarding dyspraxia.
“It would really have helped me as a young person to have this support – and to know I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t use cutlery properly and kept walking into and dropping things.
“We really want to attract young members so I’m hoping people will signpost them to us. We can make a fantastic difference to their lives.”
Pritthijit was diagnosed at the age of eight and founded the support group in 2015 to help others in the same position. Dyspraxia is around three or four times more common in boys than girls, and the condition sometimes runs in families.
The group also offers tailored support to younger children and their parents, as well as adults with dyspraxia under the umbrella of Roseberry Community Consortium, a local charity helping disadvantaged groups of young people across the Tees Valley.
*The project will be running regularly through Zoom every Thursday 6.30pm. Fore more information contact Pritthijit on 07804 368585 or go to the website www.dyspraxiasupport.org