Dyspraxia diagnosis - is there any point?

[WellErrr]

I am fairly certain my 7 year old has dyspraxia. She is incredibly clumsy and accident prone, and really struggles with things like holding a pencil or knife and fork correctly. She also had a neurological condition as an infant which predisposes them to conditions such as dyspraxia.

She is mad keen, like obsessed, with on one particular sport, and puts everything into it. But is not really improving and is becoming frustrated at times. She is a very determined child though, and just keeps going with it.

My dilemma is - is there any point? Apart from giving her a label, what will a diagnosis achieve? She has never had it hinted to her that she is different, and bar a few hazy memories of hospitals she doesn’t know about her neuro condition. It never felt right to tell her and I don’t want her thinking she’s different, or to have a reason in her head that she ‘can’t’ do things. At the moment she thinks she’s fairly invincible and doesn’t lack in confidence in any way.

I just want to do the right thing for her, and I’m not sure what that is.

it might be school who need to refer to OT,
i guess it depends on area

It's not a label though is it? That's what Paddington had around his neck when he arrived in England. Would you avoid labeling your child with anaphylaxis or a broken leg?

It is a really useful confirmation of why someone has a brain and body working in a certain way. I wish I had known at school that I wasn't just stupid and useless at sports. I have literally not played a team sport since finishing PE, despite loving it in primary school. Knowledge is power.

I got diagnosed as an adult, wish I could be been diagnosed earlier but wasn’t much of a thing in the 90s/early 00s. I can say as an adult it’s been massively helpful, I’ve had reasonable adjustments in higher education and work. I was able to get a decent settlement from a former workplace because they fired for me for raising the fact they hadn’t made the necessary reasonable adjustments , I’d only been there for less than 6 months so I wouldn’t normally have been able to challenge their dismissal legally but I was able to claim disability discrimination as it’s obviously a protected characteristic.

I also got extra time for coursework in my Masters.
It’s helped me to become a lot less frustrated with myself and quite honestly super proud of what I’ve achieved!

I'm interested that your daughter doesn't know about her neurological problems op. My son was diagnosed as dyspraxic by camhs when he was 6 but hasn't got a formal statement. I can't imagine not wanting your child to know there might be a reason for their physical problems. He has been assessed by the school recently and has been given a laptop for exams (now in year 10). It's not a big deal, just an acknowledgement that they might need extra help in a particular way. I've decided to try to progress a formal autism spectrum assessment mainly because friends with neuro diverse children have said it's a huge relief to have a diagnosis and they can access additional support through A levels and degrees. I'm not sure he will be assessed on the autism spectrum but I think it's always worth knowing what you're facing.

It depends where you live I think. We're Nottingham and only had to wait 9 months from referral to diagnosis, and in that time he was also seen by the OT for 4 sessions. But I know we were lucky. Hope you're not waiting too long.

My DD wasn't diagnosed until year 10. She felt a huge sense of relief as the centre we went to (privately) spent a lot of time explaining the cognitive side of dyspraxia to us and how people who are dyspraxic often approach thins differently. She'd often felt stupid for not seeing things that are obvious to most people. Also she can't do something following a set of instructions - eg a science experiment - and then tell you what she's done. Diagnosis meant that in Year 11 she was allowed to watch a video of an experiment or observe a group doing it rather than taking part herself. Also she doesn't retain information if she reads silently so the diagnosis got her her own room for exams as well as extra time.

She's now at music conservatoire and was able to claim disabled student allowance. They gave her a printer and a large donation towards the cost of an Apple laptop and lots of helpful software. Having the DLA meant she had an advisor to help her talk to the team at college who made adjustments for her like having an extra week to hand in assignments (worth it to avoid the mass panic as everyone else submits close to the deadline and the computer doesn't like it), permission to record lessons and lectures etc.

FOr her getting a diagnosis was transformational.

Thank you very much. I think the issue is that I was thinking of her now, aged 7. I hadn’t taken enough time to consider the future really, which sounds silly I know.
I’m currently off work with stress and depression and struggling to process things properly. I feel like I should have addressed this sooner ☹️

I really appreciate the replies, thank you.

I think you are doing just fine. I hope you ate getting help for your own problems too.

@WellErrr I’m currently going through the same thought process for my child, may I ask what the neurological condition you mentioned was? My son was hospitalised at St George’s with a suspected neurological condition which was then diagnosed as benign neonatal slept myoclonus, im wondering if there is a link.

Definitely.