dyspraxia

[MummyO3]

sorry to g/c but there is more traffic in here, does anyone have any knowledge/experience of dyspraxia that wouldnt mind talking to me please, thanks in advance x

I am still dealing with it tbh. It takes time to realise that his outbursts of emotion are not all controlable - it takes more time to convince my parents of this!

It has affected our lives by making school difficult, he has no mates and he needs a LOT of time to get ready to go anywhere, which is a bit annoying.

Sometimes I just want to scream "SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!" but I can't (and don't!) because he just goes on and on and on like the bloody duracel bunny and it is infuriating.

His school are not supportive either, which is why I've got £40 worth of books to read and throw in their faces and demand they change their support for him...

He writes like a 5 year old (he's in junior school) and can't cope with the volume of work which leads to bad concentration, poor behaviour and all sorts of issues with his teacher, but hopefully that will change.

yeah that is, basically we have been told about this via letter and need to wait for the app to discuss it :( so we have been left in limbo iykwim, but my ds struggles with riding a bike, cant stand on one leg, cant catch a ball, can swim okay though, he has done some lessons, hates labels, always annoyed him, and yes the writing thing makes sense, my ds can answer anything vocally but struggles with pen to paper iykwim.

is there anything i can do to make things easier for him?

and can i just say thank you to everyone for your replies i really do appreciate this :)

asteria its nice to hear that there is light, thank you for that :)

also my ds doesnt sleep :( maybe 4 hours a night, again dont know what this is linked with, i feel like a small fish in a massive sea just now and i think i have a million things running through my head and dont know what to think iykwim

and yeah even in nursery my ds didnt have "friends" as such he flited about between people iykwim, and its the same now, also people in his class use him as a scape goat and he gets in to trouble, this has been witnessed when he was assesed in class, he is amazing at lego though.... not sure why or where this came from but its one thing he can focus on and do well above his age range iykwim

My ds has dyspraxia -his school/SENCO have not bothered to respond to the copy of the private dx I sent in last year. He has no IEP but that doesn't surprise me at all from previous experience. Luckily this year's teacher has taken it all board and makes adjustments for him. I think with dyspraxia you have to proactive as Lewis is if they aren't being supportive. Most teachers will have very little understanding of the difficulties that children with dyspraxia face beyond handwriting.

once ds2 had a diagnosis. the paed organised an OT to come into school to observe him. she then made recommendations,... he had a sloped writing board, a bobble cushion to sit on and specific pencil grips. He also took part in a Fizzy programme which is exercise for dyspraxia. He did 20 mins every morning in school, sometimes gross skills, catching throwing, trampolining other days, fine skills, like cutting and clay modelling. He did this for 2 years and the difference is amazing.

Thank you for this thread. My dd 3.11 is seeing the paedtrician with various problems, she is being tested for different things at the moment with no defintite diagnosis. I saw this thread, and googled dyspraxia, the symptoms are discribing dd to a t, its like they are talking about her. I have dyspraxia, why did I not think about it sooner. I feel happier now that I know for certain what it could be.

really Ingles? school have done nothing in response to ds's dx

just goes to show, really depends on your LEA and school. Our school has been fab but I have been the most pushy parent ever as well... Don't think you get what you want in schools these days and still expect to be liked

the teacher he has this year has just qualified, but his last teacher was awful, it just seemed like my ds was the bain of her life :( :(
but it now seems as though its going that way with this teacher now which is a shame i know he is hard work but he is such a loving little guy, thankfully the assistent head is fab and has a soft spot for my sons charm lol, but seems as though we are constantly fighting them :(
he does footy training once a week and the coach has cut his time for this too as he isnt coping with it :( which he gets upset that the other boys are good and he isnt, i think i need to find a more suitable less co-ordinative activity for him ... wow im rambling sorry x

right i better get off here but will deffo keep reading this and thank you again everyone, even just to be listened to has helped loads, :) thank you x

football isn't the sport for the dyspraxic child sadly. My son has started playing this year, he's now yr 5 and is pretty dreadful, but his friends are in the team and are very kind to him. He gets frustrated cos no-one passes to him, but I think that might be expecting a bit too much

no ramble away
my ds likes swimming and roller skating - he's also a loving little guy. Competitive sports are not for him but he likes to go with his friend and have a laugh. He always ends up with bruises up his legs whatever he does!

sorry,wasnt at pc!yes my son who is 14 has huge outbursts of anger,he gets very frustrated,they dont see things the way we would,very clumsy and is dyslexic,we have had to fight since he started school and was overlooked at his infant/junior school and had a real shit start,he also has facial tics so gets bullied badly but despit this he is doing ok at school,he has just picked his options,we didnt know he was dspraxic until he was in yr6 and even now he has never been seen by anyone,its like banging your head against a brick wall,vey lucky his high school have been great altho he didnt start there till jan 09(yr 8)

ingles my son is the same,he loved football but is rubbish and came under alot of nasty comments from other kids so now doesnt bother,he loves swimming tho and is good at it,he is now joined up to army cadets and loving it

I have dyspraxia myself, it wasn't picked up on until I was in college but after getting the diagnosis it made so much sense. When I was younger it took me ages to learn to ride a bike or tell the time, I was very clumsy, always bumping into things or tripping over and I hated netball in school as I had no coordination. In my adult life I don?t feel it affects me too much, I?m still clumsy, I have to think about my left and right, (I don?t just know them off the top of my head IYKWIM) and take a minute to figure out simple maths. The hardest thing I find is the stress and frustration I feel with myself, I struggled doing homework/coursework in school and would often pretend I was ill to avoid school rather than admit I hadn?t done the work, I was seen as bright by teachers but as soon as it came to studying on my own I couldn?t put thoughts to paper and didn?t want to admit that I just couldn?t do it, I feel that if I?d known about my dyspraxia sooner I would have been able to get the support I needed. The best thing you can do for your DS IMO is support and encourage him, make sure he knows that struggling doesn?t mean he isn?t bright, be patient and maybe speak to your GP as they may help you to understand the condition more. Hopefully now the school are aware of your DS situation they will be able to provide more support in terms of work and stop others using him as a scapegoat. Hope this has helped and good luck x

sorry didnt see your post on the sn boards or would have replied

my ds has dyspraxia. we had to fight for help for him but it was worthwhile. we found OT input was crucial to him achieving at school and limiting the frustration he felt.

Our OT recommended trampolining and swimming as two particularly good sports to help him improve co-ordination. he loves both

anything specific you want to know just ask

That's a shame Ddubsgirl.... really depends on the bunch of kids I think.
oo I forgot to mention the tics... ds2 is a handflapper.
He used to flap all the time, now it's saved for excitement or when he's anxious or bored
When he runs (odd ducky run ) his hands flap like he's going to take off! the manager of his football team is lovely but sometimes I hear him on the sidelines... "Stop flapping ds2.. think about your feet"
Our OT also suggested fencing for exercise. Luckily for us there is a club in our nearest town and ds2 started when he was 9. He loves it of course, boys fighting with swords, what's not to like? and I think it's really helped.
It's also really reasonable. The club have all the kit, you pay a yearly junior membership for insurance (£5) and then £3 as and when you go. Well worth looking into.

Can you all remember what your child was like at 2? Speech, habits, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

Ds1 dyspraxic, also diagnosed with Autism and ADHD.

ds1's gross motor skills are worse than his brother's (4)

The OT has recommended lots and lots of heavy work.

70 years ago, boys like him would have been chucked outside to haul coal, lug siblings, peel potatoes, fetch, carry, pull, push - this is basically what I need to recreate for Ds1. he needs to work every single nerve and muscle in his body, over and over again. The OT thinks this will help to get the neurons firing right with his muscles. Rather than tire him, this relaxes him.

He'll never be a ballerina - but does he need to be?

There are all sorts of jobs in the big wide world where sitting still and writing nicely are not required - it's a pity so very much of it is required at school.

At 2, Ds1 didn't speak. He drooled constantly. He treated me like furniture. I didn't realise this wasn't normal until I had Ds1, who shrieked with frustration when I didn't 'get' his babbling, drooled but noticed and wiped it, and held his arms to be lifted rather than digging his elbows in for a climb on me.

At 2 ds was a bright, chatty toddler, interested in letters, books and numbers. Reasonably sociable if not assertive with others his age. Wasn't keen on certain textures of food (ie pasta, egg). Couldn't lick icecream effectively. Not physically confident or keen on climbing but was walking confidently but usually at a trot and could manage stairs. Not into creative activities such as painting and craft. Not interested in dressing self and struggled with zips and buttons. Sensitive to noise too - I remember he didnlt liekthe ball pool ata party because it had a pump and hose to inflate it.

my 2 girls have it :)