I am having difficulties with my 6 year old ds. He has a history of poor concentration and communication problems and has great difficulty completing the simplest of tasks at home and in school. He is a year 1 pupil and we are at the stage of getting him statemented so as he can recieve specialised help in school, this is a long and lengthy process and he was turned down initially for a statement of special needs due to his needs being borderline. He has been assessed by a number of health professionals over the last few years. He has finally got a diagnosis of having DAMP - defecit in attention and motor perception. He has trouble with reading and numeracy, gripping a pencil correctly and finds writing, drawing, and jigsaws difficut. He constantly sucks his fingers at home and in school, and an occupational therapist has concerns that he needs some kind of oral stimulation to complete a task similar to an adult chewing on the end of a pen. She has suggested chewing gum or chewing ice cubes whilst getting him to complete a task at home. He is developing facial ticks and has strange mannerisms. His school has been supportive but until he has a statement of special needs he will have no 1:1 support. As you can imagine this has been incredibly stressful for my dh and myself and we just want the best for our ds. If anyone else has a child with DAMP or getting a statement of special needs or any similar problems as mentioned I would be incredibly grateful for your advice.