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Doctor Who Series 11 Lookback

As we get closer to the Centenary Special in October I will be looking back at this era and what it meant to me as someone with dyscalculia and dyspraxia and what it meant to be represented on screen for the first time by a character called Ryan Synclair.

Series 11 was a fresh start for Doctor Who with a New TARDIS Team and new monsters that in my opinion were just a little bit under-used more on that later. This was a great series if the monsters and new aliens were used to great effect. To which they were as the era progressed, we got weeping Angles, Sycorax, Cybermen and Daleks to name a few. However this era specifically over used exposition (explaining something to the audience that doesn’t need to be explained as they already know what is happening in the scene). And that is where it lets itself down, now dont get me wrong I still enjoyed the series, you’ve got some great story lines with Ryan and Graham and Graham and Grace. 

To be represented on screen by a character who has dyspraxia and dyscalculia was very pleasing to me and many others as it showcased the many struggles that people with dyscalculia and dyspraxia face on a daily basis and it was nice for the BBC to recognize that. I was very happy with that decision and I hope to see more of it in the future on the BBC’s shows.

The term ‘dyspraxia’ is used in many different ways by different people, which can cause confusion. Some use it interchangeably with ‘DCD’ to mean the same thing. Others use it to refer to something quite different. Unlike DCD, there is no internationally agreed formal definition or description of the term ‘dyspraxia’ and it is not included in DSM-5. Despite this, in Ireland and the UK the term ‘dyspraxia’ is sometimes used in a very broad way to refer to children who have motor difficulties plus difficulties with: speech,organisation, planning, sequencing, working memory and various other psychological, emotional and social problems. However, there is little research evidence to support such a broad diagnostic category. (Source: dyspraxia.ie/What-is-Dyspraxia-DCD)

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is the term used in DSM-5 to refer to a condition in which an individual has severe difficulties in learning everyday motor skills, which cannot be explained by physical,sensory or intellectual impairment. The main features of this condition are clearly described in DSM-5. The term ‘dyspraxia’ is used in many different ways by different people, which can cause confusion. Some use it interchangeably with ‘DCD’ to mean the same thing. Others use it to refer to something quite different. Unlike DCD, there is no internationally agreed formal definition of the term ‘dyspraxia’, and it is not included in DSM-5. (Source: Dyspraxia.ie)

Dyscalculia is a Specific Learning Disability that affects a person’s ability to acquire arithmetical skills. It can present itself as a person’s inability to understand basic number concepts and/or number relationships, estimate and subitise, recognise symbols, and comprehend quantitative and spatial information. Source: Dyslexia.ie

Published in TV & Films

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