Mumsnet Talk

Just posted this in Primary Education but thought this may be a more appropriate thread.

Had DS's Parents Evening last night. She's very happy with him in terms of settling in, behaviour, sociability, reading, writing, numeracy etc. She does have concerns though about his co-ordination, clumsiness and seeming inability to carry through more than one instruction at a time.

He finds things like putting his shoes on or getting dressed hard and takes much longer than his peers. His gross motor skills aren't great and he's rubbish at anything sporty. Of course I'm aware of these things but as his behavioural and academic areas are all fine, it's never seemed appropriate to consider a formal issue (or am I just naive about these things?)

The teacher wants to speak to the SENCO about putting together a programme of exercises to help him. He would have time away from his class each week to work with the SENCO on them. I'm happy about this because it's a positive strategy to help rather than just telling us it's an issue. However, what I haven't got to the bottom of is if there is a diagnosable issue that he will always have to deal with or if he is just behind a bit physically and will be able to catch up with this extra help.

I did try and ask this question at the Parents Evening but she seemed to just skirt around it a bit. I guess I'll speak to the SENCO but wondered if anyone had any similar experiences/thoughts?

Is she suggesting he's dyspraxic or maybe he could just do with a 'fizzy' programme (Occupational Therapy) to help develop his motor skills? I'd have a read up on dyspraxia, but if his social skills are fine it's probably not much to worry about. Dyspraxia can cause delays in developing organisational skills and difficulties following 2 or 3 part instructions as well as motor difficulties and if he is finding these things difficult, the earlier it is recognised and he is supported, the better.