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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Dyspraxia advice and treatment

18 replies

menagerie · 09/05/2011 23:43

Hi,

I think my son may be dyspraxic. He's 8. I'm going to take him for assessment, but meanwhile have been googling and found lots of references to a physio treatment called The Fizzy Treatment but can't find anything about it online, apart from in forum mentions.

Does anyone know about it? Has anyone tried it? Does anyone have recommendations on ways to help him improve his motor skills, as he is struggling quite badly at the moment.

Thanks so much.

OP posts:

Olihan · 09/05/2011 23:56

This is an excellent place to start, until you get further down the road of dx and interventions.

Readytoburst · 10/05/2011 10:41

Fizzy is a motor skills programme used in schools. Your son's school may have it so worth asking. The dyspraxia foundation website has lots of information and sources of support. It'll come up if you google it - can't link as I'm on my phone.

smashingtime · 10/05/2011 20:39

My DS did Fizzy at school - they trained a TA to do this with a small group of children. Seemed to involve lots of balance activities and catching bean bags - aimed at improving gross motor skills. Dyspraxia Foundation website is here www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/index.php

Original poster

menagerie · 10/05/2011 23:41

Thank you everyone. I've ordered the book, booked an appointment with his teacher to see which points on the checklist she has noticed (he's constantly being told he doesn't pay attention and that he should write more quickly given his vocabulary.) I feel very protective of him right now. We chatted about the possibility of dyspraxia and I explained what problems I have with it. He said, is it like dyslexia of the body? He seemed a bit relieved that there may be a reason he's struggling and was very keen to immediately try out any Fizzy style treatment.

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Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 12/05/2011 07:53

Hi Menagerie

Sounds like you have been progressing fast with this!

My DS loves Fizzy that he has with one other child and a level 3 TA.

Original poster

menagerie · 12/05/2011 13:05

Argh. I found a really good tick list online a few days ago and stupidly didn't bookmark it. Now can't find it again and I have the meeting with the teacher after school today. Does anyone know where to find one? I looked on Dyspraxia Foundation site but can't see a link there. No idea now where I found it....

OP posts:

Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 12/05/2011 13:38

This one?

Original poster

menagerie · 12/05/2011 17:08

Hi,

Thanks Ben10 - no it wasn't that one, it was one specifically for 8-11 year olds. I will find it! Had the meeting anyway, and chatted to mums at school whose children also have it.
The book Olihan suggested is brilliant btw (thank you Olihan.) We're just going to go through all the exercises together at home for now, as I know action via the school can be a long, slow process.

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Olihan · 12/05/2011 20:37

, glad it's of use. It's the one the OT recommended when I had a child with dyspraxia in my Y3 class.

Just out of interest, did your ds crawl when he was a baby or was a a bum shuffler/go straight to walking?

Original poster

menagerie · 12/05/2011 23:37

He didn't crawl properly. He dragged one leg and used both hands in a sort of bunny-hop drag. He was a very late walker too, and had lots of delayed basic motor skills. He has hydrocephalus - not badly - but enough for his head to be misshapen. That might have something to do with it.

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Olihan · 13/05/2011 20:44

The crawling aspect is a classic signal for dyspraxia.

Proper crawling (where the arms and legs work on opposite sides) basically helps develop the right/left relationship of the brain and aids the connection between the 2 sides.

So while not crawling doesn't necessarily mean a child will develop dyspraxia, a huge proportion of children with dyspraxia didn't crawl.

A lot of the physical exercises in the Madeleine Portwood book are designed to develop the right/left brain development.

There is also a fantastic set of books aimed at helping with their handwriting/fine motor skills, the name of which is escaping me at the moment but I will ask DH when he gets back.....

Original poster

menagerie · 14/05/2011 21:50

Thanks Olihan. We've been doing some of the exercises from the book and he's enjoying them. Her ideas are so simple - like holding something weighty to stop arms flapping. He is enjoying it. And a gorgeous friend of mine whose son has dyspraxia and ADHD is taking me for a coffee to chat about it next week, so hoping to find out more then.

Thanks so much for all your help and advice.

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alana39 · 16/05/2011 16:33

My son was referred for OT and she set up a Fizzy programme for him at school after he had the limited therapy (4 1 hour sessions) that was on offer with the OT. School have done it every day - they are fantastic, but I gather the help you get with this varies enormously from place to place.

After a year, I've seen a huge improvement, although he is just getting to the point of frustration with some of his problems (he's younger than your DS, only 6.6).

The best advice we had from the OT was to do a variety of stuff - don't make it feel like work, and do stuff like swimming, or climbing in the park, rather than just the specific exercises from any of the programmes.

Oh, and we bought a small, cheap trampoline (he was unable to jump properly) but have otherwise avoided spending money as you could go on forever.

legobuilder · 16/05/2011 21:48

hi menagerie, depending on your son's fine motor skills, it may well be worth looking into working on his typing skills. if he can learn to touch type/type quickly, then he will have a way to express himself and all of his good ideas on paper, without the stress of writing. several children with dyspraxia that i've taught have made huge progess in literacy after being provided with laptops, instead of pen and paper. i knwo that writing is an important skill, however if his ability to shine in literacy is being clouded by his ability to record, then helping him learn to type well will provide a new outlet.
sounds like you're getting loads of fab input on here though - the above is just an observation i've made over the years and may not be relevant.

Original poster

menagerie · 17/05/2011 15:46

Thanks.
Alana, our school is notorious for being very slow and behind the times with all elements of SEN. I'm afraid I won't even waste any energy trying to persuade the school to do anything about it. Easier to get cracking at home. I've applied for an assessment for him at a nearby centre specialising in dyspraxia. We do a lot of other stuff bikes and messing about on logs in the woods to help his balance, which has really come on. He finds it very hard to swim but enjoys splashing about in the water.

Lego - that's interesting. he's not bad at typing (four fingers, but it's much quicker than his handwriting. He taught himself.) Maybe I should teach him touch typing. School tries to encourage handwriting, but I could chat to them. He also does art which has been great for his fine motor skills. he's really come on in that.

OP posts:

Olihan · 17/05/2011 16:27

This is the handwriting programme I was thinking of. It's more of a book of pen control exercises to develop the muscles in the hand, rather than a handwriting book so it doesn't feel too much like 'work'.

legobuilder · 18/05/2011 21:15

Hi again - if he's already interested in typing, and h/writing is labourious (sp?) then i would definitely introduce the idea to school. if they claim that there aren't enough pcs/typing up work is a reward, then ask if he could type while others write, and the first writer finished could take over the pc when they're done, at which point your son has to start writing. He should certainly be allowed to type up all homework at home. When h/writing takes over expressing ones self on paper, writing and creating text need to be seen to be two skills learned separately. It's too much for him to learn both side by side. The book olihan suggests sounds great, and obviously all gross motor activities benefit. Good luck, he's lucky to have such a proactive mum.

Original poster

menagerie · 21/05/2011 20:30

Lego - our next parent-senco meeting is about bringing computers in to teach typing to those who need it. But I don't hold out much hope for action. Our school is famous for having a lousy SENCO who does nothing at all, coupled with the idlest head teacher I've ever met. (The Senco has other jobs within the school, and it's a big school. They really need someone dedicated to the job, at least part-time.) Friends who spotted their children's needs long before I acted on my son's have got nowhere despite spending half their lives to campaigning the school for change. That sounds very negative but sadly it's just realistic, where we are.

Next time I meet with his teacher I'm going to quote you Lego (if you don't mind ) on the comment about handwriting and creating text being two different skills. He is constantly being told off for having brilliant ideas he's 'too lazy' to get down on paper. And he keeps asking me if he can type his homework. Until now I said no. Didn't understand why he was asking. But next time he gets a creative piece of work to do, I'll say yes, to see if it makes a difference to the quantity of work and also, how long it takes him. That's a really important point, and I hadn't made the connection.

My gut instinct is to just sort as much stuff out on our own as we can. The book is brilliant and we've been working through the exercises, which are really revealing - some are incredibly easy for him (all the balance ones) some are difficult (co-ordination.) Some are actually impossible. (He just can't jump with both feet, however hard he tries) We're having a private assessment done just to see exactly what they think his area of need is, and will take it to the school, but mainly will then try and work on it ourselves.

This is a really brilliant thread btw. I've had such good help and advice on here. Thanks for all the suggestions.

OP posts:

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