Is it possible to be just clumsy...

[Awomansworth]

I have twins sons, just 5, (one dx ASD aged 3).

I've always had some niggles about NT twin, and they just won't go away. I'll list a few of my concerns and any opinions would be great. I would stress that I don't believe he has ASD, and am not unduly worried in the main, but just concerned that I might be missing something. He's very sociable and has great empathy well above his age (teacher comments on this). He is always very concerned about his brother's well being.

He has poor body awareness and is very clumsy, falls over/bumps into things, looks very awkward when he runs etc.
He very "bull in a china shop" in general, knocking things over
He has coordination issues, he is really struggling to learn to swim, again he looks very awkward
He loves dancing, and although he has rhythm, he has no self control and it's always at the same speed, no variation
Poor balance, although not severe
He is very sensitive, and likes things to be "right", for example when reading if he makes a mistake will insist on going to the beginning of the book until he's read it correctly
Some minor pronunciation issues but hearing test results ok


On the flip side, his pen control is good with very neat writing, his colouring in is extremely neat (teacher comments on it often). His reading is age appropriate and loves school.

[auntevil]

I suppose my advice would be - if in doubt, check it out.
I waited with DS3 as I thought he was just copying his elder dx dyspraxia DB. It was only after school also confirmed my suspicions that I started the process of dx. OT have already assessed and confirmed very similar results to his DB.
What I would say about some of the general 'bull in a china shop' behaviour is that there is a lot of male hormone coursing through your DS at this age, which can make most boys appear clumsy.
I would also say that dyspraxia, if that is what you might be thinking, does not necessarily mean poor handwriting. If you look at the symptom checker on the dyspraxia org website, you will see that there is a lot more to this dx than the symptoms that are normally perceived.

[Awomansworth]

Thanks... did look into dyspraxia, but he didn't seem to tick too many of the boxes at all, with his twin brother is was quite clear from very early on that he probably had Autism, though had his issues been less severe, then maybe we might not have been so sure.

Have made an appointment with our GP and will take it from there.

[Chocolatemoosemama]

I agree with auntevil and polter. If you are worried, it can't do any harm to get a professional opinion.

He sounds quite similar to my ds2 who I have to say, hand on heart, is the clumsiest child I've ever met. If there is a way to fall, bump or trip he will find it and he has been unable to learn how to swim.

We thought he was just clumsy, right up until he started to suffer with a lot of pain in the joints of his legs at the end of infants, start of juniors - so y2/3. I took him to the GP and he was referred to paediatrics and on to OT. Turned out he has joint hypermobility syndrome and is significantly hypermobile in just about every joint in his body.

I felt really guilty, as his family nickname when he was younger was Mr Bump.

Now he's older he has been able to tell me that all the times I used to get phonecalls for head injuries when he was in Reception (it wasn't unheard of for me to get between 2 and 4 calls a day), it wasn't that he 'tripped over his own feet' as the teachers always used to say, but that his ankles and knees used to literally give way underneath him, but he didn't know how to explain it to us at the time.

The OT explained that a lot of children with hypermobility struggle to learn to swim. Ds did really well and tried extra hard and was down to just one float disc on each arm after two courses of lessons. Ds1 also has hypermobility, although to a lesser degree and just couldn't get the hang of swimming, even after a year of lessons he still required full body support, as well as multiple arm floats and head support.

Ds2 also has good handwriting and is particularly good at drawing, but we have now found that this is in spite of both activities causing him pain/discomfort and more because he takes a pride in both activities.

His balance has come on in leaps and bounds since we bought a wobble board. We keep it in the living room and all three dcs love using it. We regularly play games where we throw a soft ball to him while he has to balance. He also goes to regular pilates lessons and this has really helped with both his joints and balance.

I also agree with what auntevil said about the hormones though. It's fairly typical for boys of that age to be all bull at a gate/in a china shop and be stuck on full-speed.

[Awomansworth]

Thanks for all the really useful info guys...

I hadn't thought about hypermobility, will read up on this and some more on dyspraxia. He has been going to group swimming lessons for around 9 months now and compared to his piers in the group he is definitely struggling to use arms and legs together in any sort of coordination.

I've just asked him to touch his arm with his thumb no problem at all and can put his palms flat on the floor with legs straight! Not sure if this means anything though.

The other thing to mention is that he is tall for his age, at just 5 last month he is already 4.2 ft. So maybe his whole body is just too big for his age! (does that even make sense)

Anyway, GP appointment made so will see what she thinks and keep watching closely.

[Ineedmorepatience]

When he straightens his arms are they slightly bent the wrong way? Knees can over flex too and that can cause falls.

Dd3 is hypermobile in all her joints and has big problems with coordination too. She also has quite neat writing in short bursts but can still only write half a page in one go. If she is writing neatly she tends to press on hard and this makes her hand hurt even more.

[Ineedmorepatience]

I meant to say, Dd3 is a really good swimmer but her swimming teacher has gone grey trying to teach her not to over exagerate all her movements in the water.

When the teacher told her once to turn her hand before she put it in the water she twisted her whole arm completly round

[Awomansworth]

Yes, his arms are slightly bent the wrong way, not too much though.

Also the phrase 'over exaggerate' is very apt for him, he's extremely heavy handed/footed. He also walk with feet 10 to 2.