How old for OT assessment?

[Firawla]

Hi.
Just a quick q..
Ds was dxed with asd and "probable dcd" a month or so back, and at the time the paed referred him to OT, which I think was supposed to be for assessment to confirm that dyspraxia diagnosis and also so that he can get support with it
got letter through today from the hospital that the OT says he is too young for it and he will have to be referred again for it later, by either the paediatrician again, or by his physio

so at what age would they see him then?? is it normally left till school age?? I don't really get it because wouldnt the paed have known if he is the right age or not when referring him? he is 3 in a couple of weeks.

[bettyboop29]

hi my son got referred to OT at 3 n half through nursery and im still waiting to be seen by a paediatrician, if he is startin nursery the education physcologist will do referral for the OT as she helped us at home and at nursery and got him put on forum for special needs base, his OT continues working with him at school as he in a speech and lanuage unit in primary 1!

[EllenJaneisstillnotmyname]

I think it varies from area to area. I know of DC seen by OTs younger than your DS. I bet it's a money saving exercise.

[Firawla]

betty boop mine is starting nursery in jan is he supposed to b seen by an ed physch ive not heard anything about it if he is!

[Butterfly1975]

We started with an OT at 2 yrs old for dd. It was helpful to be in the system even though not much has happened until she started school when she's had all the major assessments e.g. movement assessment battery test etc. Now they're funding lots of equipment etc so very helpful.

[bettyboop29]

when my son started nursery i mentioned my concerns regarding his speech and his balance and stuff as he wld fall quite a bit! my health visitor put it dwn to slow develpmnt and wldn't refer him to speech therapy! the nursery were great and got all meeting in place and referred him to speech therapy and education physcologist referrd to OT to strt working with him! i would ask to make a appoinmnt with nursery teacher discuss the issues!

[spidermanspiderman]

The Leeds consensus statement, I think, is the document you may need to read. If I remember correctly this is where the decisions on diagnosing dcd come from. Don't mind being corrected though if I'm wrong.

I think they advise not diagnosing dcd until after the age of 5. My ds is 5 soon and I really want diagnosis of dcd whilst continuing investigation into other problems. We are going to see a neurologist next week hope to get a diagnosis from them.

[Firawla]

thanks spiderman i will have a look for that. i was just hoping to get his dx consolidated/confirmed/whatever cos i will be starting statementing process soon so good to have everything there, and also trying to get it confirmed whether he has dvd as well as dcd because im persuing a referral for that at the moment too but if they generally wont dx til 5 then i suppose "probable" is the best he will get for now?

he will be nearly 5 by the time he starts school, cos of having a winter bday so will try to make sure hes able to have all the necessary tests etc around that time if not before hopefully

betty that is so annoying from the hv, just to say "slow development" and not bother to do anything, not even bothering to refer for speech therapy at all is really bad of her i would have been quite peed off if i was u!

thanks everyone for the replies

[auntevil]

DS1 (10) had a dx of dyspraxia quite early (3 and a half ish) - but he did not have any assessments until he was 3
There has to be an assumed level of understanding - for following simple instructions etc, before these tests could be satisfactorily applied. This doesn't mean that they have to be able to follow instructions (partly the point of doing the test!!), just that they have to have developmentally reached an age where it would be assumed that they could.
I wouldn't worry too much as to a confirmed dx, just getting a plan of action as to what you and the education provider should be doing to help improve skills is much better.

[firawla]

hmm okay. his language understanding is also delayed, but not sure exactly by how much, but maybe that could be partly why they are not sure if he will be able to do the tests. makes sense i guess..
will have a think about plan of action
thanks :)

[bettyboop29]

hi i was very frustrated and after the nursery and education pyscologist decided to get the speech therapist and OT involved i went home and cried out of relief he was goin to get help! he will be 6 in may and OT referred him to peadatrician seen as speech therapist tht works with him say he has verbal dysphraxia but he has other thing in cluding sensory and motor-skills so a waiting game been 6 months now and if not heard anything after xmas goin to gp to get him to do referal too!