Partial dyspraxia

[miggy]

Have read all the threads here and also some books. Does anyone have any experience of a child who is dyspraxic in some areas and not others. DS1 is 9, v.bright, moved up a year at school and top of class BUT cant do buttons or shoe laces, struggles with cutlery (Dh had real go at him tonight for not holding fork properly while 3yr old sister was doing perfect job), is seriously bad at sport (doesnt worry me but dont want it to be a problem for him) finds scissors really hard, had speech therapy as couldnt pronounce some sounds (still some probs there), has the eating patterns detailed in dyspraxia literature (ie extreme food preferences -will go and vomit if forced to eat a tiny piece of something not tried before)), has poor handwriting and grips the pen really hard. I worry that as he progresses at school, slow handwriting will become a problem for him and hold him back (plus social aspects of buttons etc) Has anyone else come across this and do you think there would be any benefit in some kind of assessment-would it make any difference?

Sounds like dyspraxia to me. Ds1 has some dyspraxia- mainly affecting speech and fine motor skills- gross motor skills are broadly age appropriate. I would say an assessment is essential- with this he may then be allowed to use a laptop at school- and even in exams when he's older if it's necessary etc etc. I don't know where you live but it's worth browsing the website of the dyscovery centre in cardiff (I don't have the url but google will get you there). Your son may benefit from OT- but NHS waiting lists are always 2 years + (never heard of anyone waiting for shorter times).

The 2 year wait for OT seems to be almost universal. A good friend of mine has a Dd with dyspraxia. They ended up doing lots ot OT themselves while they were waiting for the appointment to come through. They found swimming to be very useful. The good news is that dds problems have been 'corrected', and her development is now back on the 'normal' track, but this was down to the efforts of the parents, and not the NHS.

There are other conditions that can mimic dyspraxia, so it is possibly something else. My daughter for example has a collagen deficiency syndrome, which also causes echos certain symptoms of dyspraxia. We had a private assessment done by a psychologist to rule it out , because there are not many nhs bods who want to do it nowadays.

If you think he is dyspraxic thought it would do no harm to contact the dyspraxia foundation to see what they can offer in terms of help. Good luck.

many thanks for all advice. I think it would be worth an assessment. I dont think school has an SEN (private school), how did people choose a psychologist for testing, via Dyspraxia foundation?

Hi Miggy,

When my ds started playgroup when he was 3(he is now 3.5) after being there for 4 weeks the ledaer told me she thought he had dyspraxia! I had never heard of it. Looked it up on the internet and I was so upset. I contacted my HV who came to the house, she thought he was fine. I still wanted to get it checked out so a paedriatian came to the house. I waited for about 4 weeks to get the appointment. Anyway the paedriatian did various tests on my ds. She too didn't think there was anything wrong.If I was you I would go and see your doctor and they will get it checked out for you. Has your school ever said anything about your ds? I would imagine if they thought there was something they would have mentioned it to you.

Wishing you all the best.
Lorna
XX

The psychologist I used was recommended by dd's neurologist at the time. She writes and advises for the Dyspraxia Foundation it turns out, so we felt like we had a good doctor looking at her.

ddat is quite similar to braingym. You can buy a braingym book and do it all at home! Much cheaper. I suspect it may work in some cases, but probably not all.....

miggy, my dd has dyspraxia, now mainly affecting her gross motor skills, although she is also very distractable and moody. Early on it affected her fine motor skills eg formation of letters etc, but in her case it is mostly related to large body movements/sequences and crossing the midline. It sounds as if your ds1 has both oral and motor dsypraxia, but you obviously need a prof. assessment asap. I'm surprised his speech therapist or HV didn't mention there could be related problems - social and self-esteem issues can be of most concern. Here we had an assessment by a psychologist and also an occupational therapist (when she was 5); the latter was definitely more appropriate IMO and more helpful longterm. It would also be a good idea to take him to an optometrist, if you can find one who specialises in developmental optometry, as dd had some problems in this area too, her eyes "skipped" when crossing the midline and she had cross-dominance (ie she is right-handed but her left eye is dominant). He gave us some excercises at home to strengthen her eye muscles and help her switch focus from close to distant - I believe they did help.

There are some great books available on the subject. www.betterbooks.co.uk have a good one called "Dyspraxia 5-11: A Practical Guide" for 16 pounds incl delivery, but you could also try your local library if you haven't already. The one I read and liked was "Dyspraxia: the hidden handicap" by Dr Amanda Kirby, which covers from preschool to adulthood.

Basically, yes assessment is worth it and will definitely make a difference, both for you and your son. Good luck - HTH.

PS If you are near Birmingham, Powys, Surrey or Chester, I have details of places that may assist with assessment or therapy.

We have just signed up with DDAT, for my son age 10 who has just been assessed as severely dyslexic. Yes, it is £1500 but the other option seems to be weekly lessons from the Dyslexia Institute at £40 a lesson - over the year this is more, for what seems to be just more of the same 'overlearning' of spelling (his main problem). I'll let you know what goes on.

Miggy, your DS sounds much like mine, except that we haven't had speech problems. He is now 15 & was diagnosed at 5. With mine the diagnosis was "we don't know what's wrong with him, but by the way he's dyspraxic". He's had a couple of short bursts of OT- too little, too late IMO.
Our biggest help has been cranial osteopathy, which he has had regularly since he was 7. My physio thought it was odd that we'd been going so long, but it's made a world of difference to him. He had a peculiar gait, walking hunched & twisted to one side, which the osteopath sorted out straight away, and he seems to benefit from the ongoing treatment. He's a very bright child, especially in maths & science, but finds writing difficult and tiring, which holds him back.
He suffers from the same midline eye problem that mollipops DD has.
Strangely he seems to enjoy ballet, even though he has problems with gross and fine motor skills. If anyone has had any luck with an assessment centre i would be interested.

Hi all im new to this site found it through doing a search on dsypraxia.My son is 8 and has been having problems with his fine motor movements since before he started school.After waiting for about 3 years he finally saw an ot and has ben placed on a waiting list for group therapy. As well as been given special cutlery as he finds it difficult to hold his cutlery the right way. He can pedal a bike but is finding it difficult to learn without his stabilzers.His handwriting is very poor as well.He has seen an educational psychologist twice now and it looks like he may be getting a laptop to use in school and more time to finish tests.Its very frustrating as no one will give me a diagnosis as to whats wrong.
im sure he is midly dsypraxia. Any advice would be great.

I don't know whether this place is of any use to anyone but I pass it fairly frequenly. I only noticed recently what it was so googled it and found it on the Fusion-4 website .

The Learn-Write Centre
122 Derby Road, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 4LS
Telephone 0115 972 3046

Expert help for learning difficulties: dyspraxia, dysgraphia, dyslexia