Anyone with an Older Prem?

[deemented]

My DS2 is now six and a half and was born at 28+4.

He had his share of problems, lots of bradycardic episodes, but he rallied through and was a happy contented little boy.

He was diagnosed with moderate developmental delay and went to a SN nursery who were wonderful with him and he was able to start mainstream school with his peers. Just before he did so he was assessed again and found to have 'caught up' and discharged.

After a rocky start he settled in well to reception. He had a few confidence issues, but he's slowly learning to overcome them now and he's mixing well and has a nice group of friends.

He's now in Year 1.

The point of this ramble is that he's really struggling with his reading. He's just gone up to level 2 on the ORT, and although he's trying relly hard, it's not quite clicked with him just yet. He's in a group in his class that has extra reading lessons and we do lots of 'no pressure' reading here at home.

I'm wondering if his lack of being able to grasp this has anything to do with his prematurity, or am i making excuses?

The other thing that has come up recently is that he needs grommits and we're waiting for them to be done. Could that be partly responsible?

Sorry for waffling...

[MrsRhettButler]

bumping for you

[myonlysunshine]

Hi dee. My DTs were born at 29 weeks and are now 9. They had some problems when in hospital but were discharged from the hospital paediatric care a year or so after discharge, and are more or less healthy.

I think their prematurity has played/still plays a really big role in their development. They have struggled with motor skills (riding a bike, swimming) - they have got it eventually but it takes longer and they are older than their peers when they 'get it'. Not mastered tying laces yet, that sort of thing.

At school, handwriting has been difficult, especially as they move up the school and longer pieces of work are required. Concentration not great either (or maybe thats just a boy thing!)

I think the effects of prematurity carry on for much longer than the baby books ever led me to believe.

No real advice, sorry, I'm trying to let them develop at their own pace but its frustrating sometimes - the more I pressure them, the more it backfires!

They are happy and sociable, after earlier confidence problems like your ds, so I'm hoping they will catch up or at least get on reasonably with the other school stuff - I just have to back off sometimes!

[deemented]

Thank you for your responses - tbh i thought i was being a bit PFB'ish, but it's reassuring to know that you've gone through some of the same issues we're facing.

Thinking about it, he does struggle with things his peers seem to do easily - he's been trying to ride his bike without stabilisers since last summer, but he just can't seem to get it, bless him. His writing is also appaling too.

He doesn't look prem in any way whatsoever, he's tallest in his class by a clear head. I'm just worried that he's being left behind.

We have parents evening coming up, and his teacher is lovely, so i'll discuss this with her then, and i'll certainly look into having him assessed by the Ed Psych.

It's funny isn't it? You think the day you get them home, the day they are dscharged from peads that it's all gone away, it doesn't matter anymore, but then it bites you on the ass unexpectedly.

[myonlysunshine]

I know what you mean. I think because mine started school older than their peers (in Scotland so could defer) they seemed to be doing fine at first - but within a couple of years their (younger) friends all started overtaking them and I'm also worried that they are getting left behind.

I was just so grateful that they survived and are healthy that it seemed greedy to worry about the developmental things, if that makes any sense? So I think I've been slow to recognise that I might need to talk to the school about it a bit more.

[MollieO]

Ds wasn't such a prem -33 weeks but was very poorly for a long time and developmentally missed all his milestones. I thought he was sorted when he started school. In yr 1 he had problems reading and following instructions. He was tested and assessed to have memory problems which the cons paed said most likely resulted from him being a prem. Affected his reading hugely. He finished yr 1 on level 2. The expected level for his class was 6 and quite a few were ahead of that. Yr 2 started slowly but improved hugely after the first half term (books got more interesting from level 5 onwards).

He is having extra support to develop his memory. He struggles with spelling and sequences of letters. He is still behind but not hugely so.

Ds also has hypermobility so I'm not sure if his lack of coordination is because of that or because he was prem.

His concentration and listening skills are improving but I think those issues are linked to his memory.

We went down the child development centre route rather than getting him assessed by an EP.

[deemented]

The more i look into it, the more i think DS2 may have dyspraxia.

[Mandy21]

Don't know whether I can help other than to perhaps allay your fears. Obviously if there are issues then discussing it with your son's teacher is the best way to know what to do, but I had my twins at 27+4 and they're also now in Year 1. My little boy was way behind his sister (b/g twins) - was still spelling out words at the beginning of year 1 - even easy words like "run" - he would say "r-u-n, run" when he read the first line and even when the word was repeated on the next line, he wouldn't recognise it, he'd still have to spell it out. The teacher said it was just a question of him "getting it" in his own time - I don't think it had anything to do with his prematurity at all. Over Christmas, we didn't do much "school" reading but he did bits and pieces of reading (Christmas cards, road signs etc - the usual things) and all of a sudden, this half term, he's suddenly got it. He isn't spelling words out, he's reading pretty much fluently (even got "adventure" last night without any prompting!) and he's moved up through 2 or 3 levels in the space of a half term.

I don't know whether that reassures you, it was really just my experience to say boys are often a bit slower generally - its been hard with b/g twins because I'm constantly comparing them, but it could be just that he needs a bit more time.

Mandy

[abgirl]

Hi, just found this message and it's reassuring to find others with post-prem issues! DS is 6 and in Y1, he was 29+4 when born and was small for dates as well (IUGR).

We've been in for parents' evening tonight and his class teacher has asked if it's OK to get him assessed for fine and gross motor skills, which may lead to School Action IEP. In a way, we've been waiting for this since he started school - we picked his school as it has a SEN unit as well as mainstream, so we knew support would be there if he needed it - but it's also a bit gutting that prem issues are resurfacing again.

I am reassured that the first question the SENCO had asked Charlie's teacher was whether he crawled normally, which he didn't and had physio to get him walking - so she knows her stuff. Now got to wait to hear back about when his assessments will be.

[crazymum53]

Hi there. My dd was born at 27 weeks and is now in Y6. She has managed to keep up with her peer group at school and is now in the top set for English (reading and writing).
I seem to remember her finding handwriting very difficult in reception/year 1, but she did catch up with a small amount of extra support in a small group.
I would also recommend having a hearing and eye sight test if you haven't already. My dds handwriting really improved when she had her new glasses and poor hearing can affect reading as schools use a phonics method which relies on "sounds" of letters.

[myonlysunshine]

was wondering if you'd had your parents evening yet deemented and how you'd got on with your ds's teacher? I've got parents evening coming up this week.

I'm going to talk to the teacher about my concerns but I'm nervous about it. One dt is routinely being kept in at playtime to finish work, and he is bringing written work home with teacher's comments describing it as 'extremely messy'. I think they think he is just not trying hard enough, rather than taking into account the fact that he has/might have motor processing difficulties.

I waver between worrying that I am being over protective/defensive, and on the other hand that I should be doing everything I can to make sure that the dts get extra support if they need it.

[deemented]

Have only just seen these replies - sorry.

Have spoken with DS2's teacher and she is in agreement that he would benifit from a SENCO assessment. She's concerned he could be dyslexic as well as dyspraxic. She was so helpful and reassuring.

In the meantime while we wait for an assessment, she's arranged for him to have extra support in class and more one to one time.

How did you get on, *Myonlysunshine'?

[circular]

Only just seen this thread. My DD1 (now 13.5, yr9) was born 28 +1. Also small for dates (< 2lb) as she was weaker surviving twin.

As she spent 16 weeks in hospital and was fully ventilated for 2 weeks we anticipated problems, but she was given the all clear age 2. She went through a spell as a toddler in catching everything going, and it always took a while to bounce back, especially if she lost weight. We have tried hard over the years not to blame too much on her prematurity.

As far as school/learning issues are concerned, she has struggled with organisational skills and does not have great concentration. But then again, neither do I (although i was approx. 7 weeks prem too). Some of this may also be down to being an August baby too.

Physically, she was small for her age up until age 10 or 11, and is now on the smaller side of average. She aso has some knee problems which may be linked to hper-monility and her prematurity.