Motor Skills

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Are there any simple skills that require the use of your hands that you cannot master? I cannot use chopsticks the correct and proper way. My way works, but it's improper. Same with typing. I use two index fingers. But I simply can't use the proper touch-typing method.

I had trouble tying my shoe-laces. I eventually learned when I was about 15 years old. It's better late than never and I hope I'll eventually figure everything out that I need to.

A bigger problem is riding a bike. I don't have the balance for it. I also can't knit.

I usually just work around it. When I couldn't tie my shoes I just wore slip-ons. I don't need to do that anymore but I still walk to places when it would be easier if I could ride a bicycle. I don't live in a big city but when I'm visiting Toronto I just walk everywhere. It's faster than driving with all the traffic but it's not as fast as riding a bike.

You type with two fingers. It might be faster to type with your whole hands but you're still finding a way to manage. If you have to type a paper you can talk to your teacher about it and have extra time negotiated due to your typing difficulties.

Don't ask me to wrap presents - I end up scrunching, tearing, and using a ton of tape.

My hand writing sucks and has always sucked. I have report cards to corroborate this claim. One teacher noted my stiff arm and poor grip, especially. Now, so many years later, my profs are here to tell me that my handwriting sucks.

I am scared of heights, not so much for the height itself - I figure if I can't walk a straight line and trip over nothing on big, flat land then I am not the least bit interested in trying to walk where much more balance is needed.

My laptop comes with voice recognition. It's not bad - it does help.

I still cannot tie shoelaces the 'proper' way. I do it another way but it causes them to frequently come undone. As well, I still can't hand money to a cashier properly without dropping it or fumbling it even though I worked as one for two full years! I've been told many times that I do things "wrong" (like batting left) but it works me so who cares.

I can't tie my shoelaces up, dry my hair, do a tie up perfectly, tie my hair up (when it was long,) or fold certain clothes. I know how, but I just can't physically do it. I play the piano and
type on a keyboard with only certain fingers of my left hand.

Chop sticks has always been hard for me. I just figured it took practice. I also type with two index fingers. It slows me down to type the right way so these two fingers are quicker for me.

I dunno if this is simple or master but I cannot roller blade well nor roller skate well. I can do it but I am not that good at it like others are. I would not be able to play sports while ice skating or roller blading.

Pay the cashier. So clumsy. And shaky. If I'm paying with a credit card I can't hit the machine, and everything confuses me..

I can open the hood, check my oil, and put on jumper cables, but that's about all the motor skills I've got.

But seriously, I have terrible balance. I went down steps sitting down until I was 4. This was not good, because I also for some reason love being high up and would often find myself stuck at the top of ladders and monkeybars. When I was 8 I climbed most of the way up the ironwork on the outside of a two-storey apartment building and got stuck. Nobody knew I was up there and it rained. Finally, somebody came home and heard me crying and talked me the rest of the way up and over the railing. I gave up on bikes, skates and skateboards. I also get dizzy easily.
I used to have terrible handwriting, but it mysteriously cleared up in junior high and now it's just sloppy, not totally illegible.

Last edited by Mindsigh on 04 Sep 2012, 4:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I can't hold a fork in the normal way. Well, I can if I try, but then the eating feels and looks really awkward. So I just grab it like I want to stab someone with it.

I couldn't tie my shoes until I was twelve and couldn't tie them properly and tightly until I was sixteen.

My balancing is awful. If I try riding a bike, I usually topple over after just several feet.

I gave up on chopsticks and even using a fork I hold it in a awkward way so I'm told. Same with a pencil.

I used to have trouble with snaps and buttons, but got the hang of it when I was around ten or eleven.

I couldn't type the right way until I was about sixteen or seventeen.

I have atrocious hand writing, type with two fingers, can't catch. When the teppanyaki chef throws a bowl of rice of egg for me to catch I'll end up with it all over me and the floor

Last edited by BrokenBill on 04 Sep 2012, 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Don't ask me to wrap presents, I suck.

Other than that, I actually have decent motor skills. I can use chopsticks, type with both my hands instead of two index fingers, etc.

I think my handwriting still needs a little work, but it has improved. (I guess it's because of how often I draw these days.)

Same here. I can write nicely now, but only if I do it very slowly. When I try to write quickly it gets really sloppy and my forearm hurts a lot (not sure why, but it's been that way since I can remember).

I can type pretty quickly, but I only used a few fingers as well; and I don't always use the same finger to hit the same key.

Somewhat inexplicably, I have trouble opening peanuts. I can do fine needlework in quilting, but peanuts just leap from my hands as soon as I try to get the shell open.

I love the new machines, you just hold your card against them and 'ding' all done

I'm finding myself relating to all of this.
I can't pay cashiers, I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 11, couldn't tie my shoes until about 8 and I still don't do it the correct way. I don't hold pencils and forks properly either, which leads to sloppy and quick handwriting.

I went to see a physio therapist till I was seven who helped me learn balance and buttons and eventually at seven I could tie my shoes laces. I started going to a riding for disabled school at around the same time and it seriously improved my balance to the point I learns to ride a bike just before we did cycling proficiency at school.
On the other hand I still can't walk down stairs one foot in front of the other, or I can but it takes serious concentration. And I hold a pencil funny so I can grip it better but my handwriting is pretty good. I still struggle to catch a ball someone has thrown at me and I fall over a lot. I always say I have new Zealand on my knee I have so many little scars like little islands.