Can someone talk to me about dyspraxia?

[Biscusting]

My 4.5 year old has always been a bit on the clumsy side. My MIL bumps into things often and we joke that they are so similar.

I always thought she'd grow out of it over time, but was always aware that her peers seemed so much more 'sturdy' on their feet.

I now have an 18 month old and have noticed just how striking this clumsiness is! For example if both children are running down a hill, I know my older one will fall over, but the 18 month old will make it down 90% of the time without incident.

Other things she does is bumping into objects, like car wing mirrors when walking down the driveway.

She struggles to ride a bike, but I haven't encouraged too much bike riding, so maybe that's my fault. She also can't go a scooter very well.

I'm not sure how her fine motor skills fair. She can write her first name reasonably well, getting a couple letters mixed up. She can't read or write anything else. She draws circles and puts faces on them, but doesn't happily draw things. For example if I asked her to draw a house or dog she would say she can't do it and get frustrated.
She can identify shapes easily, but couldn't draw one.

I guess my main question is, should I see a GP or is this just normal?

I have an appointment with an optician for her to rule any visual problems out.

Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Carolndaryl]

My DS was diagnosed with dyspraxia aged 7, just over a year ago. We'd been in a similar situation, it was only when we looked at how easily his younger sister managed physical coordination things that it really hit us how clumsy he is.

It did take 3 goes mind you before a very nice community paediatrician pulled everything together and we got the diagnosis. Before that we kept bouncing in and out - nursery/school expressed concerns after seeing him in day to day setting, then Occ health / physios ran tests and told us he was ok. Community paediatrician explained that he wasn't deeply down any of the specialists' verticals but the breadth across the horizontal all added up if that makes sense.

Have you had any feedback from nursery? Our preschool told us DS looked 'floppy' in the way he stood / walked and that was a big factor in getting a referral. I'd recommend speaking with your DD's preschool/school to start with, they can give you feedback on things like fine motor skills and whether she's where they'd expect her to be for her age.

Good luck!

Ps since we've had the diagnosis school have been great, lots of support with both fine and gross motor skills and in a really inclusive way e.g. Introducing a special PE programme (to help with balance) for the whole class to benefit from. DS has also really benefited from swimming lessons and taekwondo out of school, I'd recommend a martial arts class in particular

[Biscusting]

Thanks Carol. I haven't mentioned it to her preschool yet. She's only in there two days a week.
They have mentioned falling frequently, but just to make me aware of incidents. I wasn't sure if they would be informed of something like dyspraxia. I'll raise it with them though, that's good advice, thanks.

[Dannygirl]

It sounds like something to keep an eye on, definitely worth mentioning to nursery and to school in due course so you can keep an eye on it together. You might find this useful
dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/dyspraxia-children/symptoms/
My son is nearly 10 and was only officially diagnosed at 7 despite us knowing there were difficulties since he was around 4/5. If you and / or nursery/school have concerns definitely raise it with your GP. Good luck x