Dyspraxia-Please talk to me about it.....

[whooosh]

DD aged 3.75 is incredibly clumsy,has no (apparent) spatial awareness and is constantly stumbling,falling/knocking into things.
She hates loud noises and will even cover her ears when she flushes the loo.
Her fine motor skills are "ok" but she is neither right nor left handed.
She does not like running and when she does,it is not what Iconsider a natural motion (compared to her contemporaries).

My question is to anyone who has had their child diagnosed as dispraxic-what led you to seek a diagnosis? HAve things improved since diagonsis?
What age were they diagnosed?
What symptoms led you to seek diagnosis.

if you have read this far,and respond-thank you.

She's a bit too young to be labelled dyspraxic. She has only just started refining those skills you describe.

Hand dominance may not resolve itself until later than 3.75.

Children develop at different rates, she may still acquire perfectly adequate skills.

Any professional worth their salt would not diagnose at that age.

I would recommend she has lots of extra opportunities to practice her gross motor skills

Oh Whooosh I can so relate to this.

The nursery recommended a GP look at ds because his natural running style is very different to other children, he doesn't pick up his feet.

They just highlighted gross motor skills, although they are happy, as am I, with his fine motor skills. He can draw well and write a few letters, doesn't fall over much - he is the same age as your dd.

We are now on the path to diagnosis, it's all a bit scary - blood test and MRI but he really seems ok except for the running.

He also really dislikes loud noises, ok with toilet flushing but won't go in public toilets - due to hand dryer and hates the noise of the hoover.

Paediatrician suspects mild dyspraxia. I admit it took me ages to get my mind around all this, cos in other ways he is fine. The nursery prompted it, I wouldn't have done anything without this I don't think it's not obvious. And still young for it to perhaps not be a problem at all. I am hoping he will just learn to run and then there won't be any problems, fingers crossed.

So in short, his running style led to seeking a diagnosis, same age as your dd, and on waiting list for physiotherapy -which will help I hope with gross motor skills.

I have a ds of 14 who is dyspraxic.

It was his teacher who first suggested it to us when he was 7 and we'd never heard of it previously. We then went to a psycologist and got a diagnosis.

It helps that he gets extra allowances and resource teaching now, and uses a laptop at school, but to me the most important thing was to read up about it, and just feel like they were talking about my son.

Lots of people know about the clumsy, bad handwriting, messy looking aspect of it. But its all the other stuff that impacts on life that I needed to get to grips with.

Stuff like he wouldn't realise how hard he hit someone in fun, and would get into trouble; or how he hates loud noises, having his hair cut, wearing trousers that don't have an elastic waistband and would scream the house down as a result.
I felt much better about him and me the more I read up on the condition. I still get frustrated with him at times, but knowing why he finds somethings hard was a huge relief to me.
While you won't get a diagnosis at this age, there are lots of suggested games to help the child develop motor skills and balance etc. No harm in doing these anyway, and being aware of the possibility of dyspraxia.
The dyspraxia web site is helpful.

Thank you for this.
Elasticated waistbands.....snap!She can draw and write a few letters.....
Hand-dryers....snap!

Running is very odd-very flat footed and flapping arms...

Not sure whether I am over re-acting or where indeed I shoud start (or if I should start) seeking a professional opinion.

It is so interesting hearing about others' experiences-thank you

I had no idea, but in the end just going to the GP will start the wheels in motion. The NHS is pretty damn amazing, you should find that they refer you to a paediatrician, then to physio and so on, or what is relevant for your dd.

So if you would like to get things going, as it the process from GP to physio can take over 6 months, book into the GP and take it from there.

my friends dd has just been diagnosed boardaline dyspraxic and severly dyslexic and she also does the only elasticated waist trouser thing ?
she is nearly 8 and still cant read or write but she wont get a place at a special school because she is non disruptive -if she was naughty at school then they would place her but its such a shame that she isnt getting the help she desparetly needs

What started the ball rolling with DS2 was the Reception teacher voicing concerns re clumsiness/falling over. He had some OT, but it wasn't until Year 2 (so 6), that the fine motor skills problems had really become apparent (because prior to that, very few children have particularly good fine motor skills so it's hard to spot any oddities) and he was eventually diagnosed.

DS2's symptoms - walks on tiptoes by choice, very poor co-ordination and balance. Very poor fine motor skills - can write, but very slow and mis-shaped. And some AS-ish tendencies - poor social skills at times, not good at picking up non-verbal social cues. I have to tell him I'm angry/sad/whatever - he'll never just know. Very fussy eater (and uses his hands when he can). He's 10 now.

But there is a lot of support out there - DS2 has been taught to touch-type and now has a County laptop to use at school.

I've just been looking into retained reflexes and their role in mobility to try and help my ds. Been reading The Well Balanced Child Movement and early learning by Sally Goddard Blythe. Talks about how primitive reflexes that babies born with should be replaced with postural reflexes as they grow but if they are not they can get in the way and send confusing signals to the brain. She says good results for kids with eg. dyspraxia by doing series of exercises that help develop the postural reflexes. Interesting stuff. Might be of help. You might also want to look into sensory processing disorder, threads on here, books on amazon, occupational therapists deal with it. Good luck

My ds is 14 and dyspraxic.His writing is terrible and he has recently stopped using the laptop at school for reasons of vanity which is a real worry.He can't really ride a bike on the roads and doesn't want to very clumsy disorganised and picky in the extreme about food.Shoe laces were a problem and swimming and his spatial awareness is bad.He always looks a mess no matter what he wears and also will only let me trim his hair and freaks at toenail cutting!Teachers say he is very intelligent and all tests show this but I fear he is going to blow it with this typing thing

My ds is dyspraxic, i cant comment on noise issues with him as he is deaf as well, im dyspraxic too and didnt get the help i needed so i fought tooth and nail to get him diagnosed and to get it on his statement. Have you heard of the Dyscovery Centre?
dyscovery.newport.ac.uk/dyscovery/index.aspx

Oh and by the way Daniel Radcliffe admitted in an interview recently that he has dyspraxia..........and look how well he has done!!

DS2's nursery spotted a problem and referred him to the LEA special needs team, who then referred him to the Child Development Centre at the local hospital. He had problems walking and talking, and fell over a lot. He is now age 7.

He has it quite badly (bad enough to get a Disabled Parking Permit and DLA) and has a special programme at school devised by the Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist, which has helped him a lot. However he seems to be growing out of its worst excesses with time. We do a lot of things like visiting the park and swimmng to help him, and encourage his various interests.

We have seen some of the best people and been advised to avoid expensive specialist programmes and so on as everything you need is available via the NHS and LEA. This was more or less true and he is doing well. I have been advised by his paediatrician that he will probably not make an international footballer or brain surgeon, but otherwise he should be OK in time. His handwriting is likely always to be a problem though.

Hope that helps.