Dyspraxia

[tootiredtoadult]

I dont even know where to start with this post, and please no negativity or shaming. I dont think I could take it right now.

I wanted to keep this brief but having written it, its quite lengthy so my apologies.

My Dd is 7 almost 8, she has always been a confident, caring, social, fun loving,over the top girl, full of enthusiasm and life (everyone always comments on these traits) Her speech is impeccable, but she has always struggled with motor skills, to the point she is light heartedly known for her clumsyness and lack of coordination, her spacial awareness is almost none existent. We just thought that was her (I mean she cant be great at everything) I slowly started to notice there might be more to it as she progressed through school and it started to be apparent that she wasn't up to the same standard of school work as her peers. Initially I put it down to her being an August baby ( so almost a year younger than most of her class mates) but at the beginning of this year I mentioned to her teacher I was slightly concerned but did not want a label sticking on her, especially if she was just being lazy or preferred to socialise rather than study.
The teacher has collard me at the most recent parents evening to say he thinks she could have Dyspraxia. And they have been taking her out of class to study as she works better on a one to one basis (I was mortified surely they should have informed me of this before) they told me they would put a plan in place with the SENCO to help her and monitor her, this was 2 months ago and so fat they haven't made any attempt to do this.

What I am really asking for is any help, advice, experiences, tips, reassurance just a mum wanting an outlet really!

[OiWhoTookTheGoodNames]

I'm not the greatest source of help at the moment since I'm floundering with stuff surrounding DD2 (she's younger but diagnosed - but her issues were glaringly obvious since it also affects her speech and I've had a fair inkling what it was since before she started school to be honest).

Dyspraxia foundation is a good place to start looking. Some of the "support" groups I'd personally avoid if you're not in a good place as they tend to be a bit "I spilt the milk this morning cos of my dyspraxia, I suck at life, fuck my life it's awful" and can drag you into a bit of a pit of doom. I reckon (there's NO NHS pathway in our area to get diagnosed as an adult) that I'm probably an undiagnosed dyspraxic as well (I'd always assumed it was normal to have a line of tops with coffee stains on your tits from missing your mouth with the cup when taking a drink, and that it was normal for your hand to cramp up like buggery and forget how to form a letter halfway through a sentence) - and I try to take solace in the fact that I manage to function as a relatively normal adult in society so DD2 should work out OK in the end.

If I had a fiver for everyone who tried to "help" by informing me of the shocking revelation that "Harry Potter has dyspraxia didn't ya know" though - DD2 would have a nice course of speech therapy going by now!

Things that help - since she's older (I'm getting stonewalled on this one because of DD2's age) ... look into if she can type some of her longer work. There's a tablet app called SnapType Pro where you can photograph worksheets and type directly onto them that's really really good... obviously depends on your school's view on this though. I'd personally start pushing for a diagnosis (it's taken us about a year to get through that) just so you have it there in case you want to push for her to do things like typing coming up toward SATs time as it needs to be a regular part of her classroom practice. Took me a while to get my head around the whole label thing - but then I realised - I could label her a big pink elephant if I wanted to... she'd still just be my DD2 and nothing else would change but the label opens some potential doors in the future.

I'd nail the SENCO down to ask what they've got in place regarding provision - you should be part of the process of planning this and be being consulted (don't get me started on this one at the moment because I am rather pissed about it at school - shame DD1's teacher next year is the SENCO so I can give her earache fairly freely if I continue being this pissed off) not some almighty edict on a tablet on stone from on high that "this is what we are doing - sign here to say it's OK" crap that tends to be pulled.

As for taking out for group work - that one's fairly normal in schools anyway - quite often a TA will pull a group who are struggling with something or another out to do a bit of smaller group or one-to-one work out in a quieter environment. DD1, who is academically a very very high flier, gets pulled out occasionally for things she's got problems with (she's got an utter blind spot for money bless her) and social skills work - and I've never really been consulted about that - I just know about it since you never get any secrecy with my eldest the little shite broadcast the fact it was my 40th birthday around the entire local area last month !

Can look at adapted stationery for her if it helps - mine uses the Faber Castell "Grip" stuff and it does seem to make her handwriting more comfortable (doesn't really stand out as massively "different" either) or there are yoro pens and various grips and the like you can try - there's a webshop called Fantastic Dyspraxic that sell variety packs of pens and pencils and the like to try out different options and see if anything helps them out as some of them are quite a marmite thing of like or loathe. Rulers with handles can help as well (even just something like this www.amazon.co.uk/Westcott-Raised-Aluminium-Metric-Imperial/dp/B005IUSCMU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ruler%20with%20handle&ie=UTF8&qid=1531206036&sr=8-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 which again isn't too obviously "different" or Maped have a non slip type one to help drawing lines too). For my own sanity I've got a fair amount of non slip matting around the place I put under stuff when I need to to reduce the amount of things that get spilt or broken.

[Strawberrymelon]

The school made learning to type a priority for my ds last year. They think it will be very beneficial for him. He is 9. I am worried about the future. It is important to work with the school.

[Throgglesprocket]

I'd definitely try to go for the formal diagnosis route - my DD (9) had flags raised with her teacher when she was in year 3 and it's taken us this long to get a diagnosis, but with it we got occupational therapy sessions, further support therapy for handwriting, she's also going to be getting bike riding lessons, not to mention all the recommendations from the OT to the school to be put in place such as warm ups to get her ready for writing, regular breaks so her hands don't tire, more laptop/tablet work etc etc. Without the recommendations from the OT, only a fraction of the support can be put in place by the SENCO as they won't know what specific support your DD will need.

For our initial referral the teacher was really helpful as we had to complete forms from school and then go over to the GP to ask for the referral to the paediatrician.

Apparently there's more to Dyspraxia (or DCD as they like to call it here) than just handwriting - and as parents we've had a crash course in proprioceptive and vestibular systems and why they're important.

Good luck with your journey - there will be ups and downs (if it's anything like ours) and some teachers are definitely better than others!

[elliejjtiny]

I have dyspraxia. I don't know much about the school side of things as I was diagnosed aged 20. I know all about the hand cramping while trying to write and spilling drinks down my top though.