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Dyspraxia and possible home schooling

3 replies

sadchic99 · 29/06/2008 21:00

My 8 year old has recently been diagnosed with Dyspraxia, after years of problems at school. Since nursery, it has been a physical war to get him in the classroom.
Although it does come in waves, say a few days here and there of no struggles!

His motor skills have always been poor, his handwriting is therefore awful. His coordination isn't very good and the whole problem is making me ill.

His work has gone down hill dramatically and his teacher is worried about how low his self esttem is. He seems depressed alot and I can't see what being at school is doing for him.
His teacher is fantastic, very patient and supportive and he gets lots if extra help at school, but I am seriously considering home schooling him.
We are awaiting appointments for occupational therapy and counselling, but the wait times are so long!

My partner and mother are against, but I cannot let this carry on for much longer, an 8 year old boy shouldn't have a care in the world.

OP posts:
AMumInScotland · 29/06/2008 21:22

There are lots of mums on the Home Education threads with children around this age who might be able to tell you what worked for the. I home educate but we started much older.

One big advantage of home ed would be that you could skip the written work for a while and let him concentrate on other things to get his self-esteem and confidence back up, then maybe let him type things up instead of handwriting once he feels he has thoughts he wants to put down on paper. An 8 year old shouldn't be depressed and feeling like a failure.

But it would be better if your partner wasn't against the idea, as it does affect the whole family. The Education Otherwise website has pages to reassure DHs (amongst others) how HE can really work.

ten10 · 29/06/2008 21:41

This probably doesn't really help your current situation but it might give you hope for the future.

I am a university lecturer and one of my students (who will successfully graduate this summer) has quite severe dyslexia and dyspraxia.

This student was not diagnosed until a few years ago, so went through the school system just thinking he was not as good as the other kids, which I know he found very dificult, but thankfully this did not make him give up.

He has struggled, but with help he has achieved at a higher level than many of his classmates.

I just thought that i would pass on this success story as it will hopefully give you hope for the future, whether you home school or stick with the state system

Litchick · 29/06/2008 21:43

There's a fabulous book about Homeschooling children with SN. I've borrowed it from the libarary lots of times.
I'll dig out the title and let you know.

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