Dyspraxia - any info

[PamT]

Can anyone give me any information about dyspraxia (a co-ordination problem) as my 10 yr old nephew has just been diagnosed. My sister has been told that he should have a laptop for school and treatment but there is a 2 year wait at the moment. Also any tips or help about a statement of special needs would be appreciated.

If its already been done on this forum please point me in the right direction. TIA

Try here, they were very useful when my daughter was suspected of having it.

www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/

They are based in Hitchin, Herts.

Lou, thanks for the info, I'll pass that address on to my sister. Does anyone know if dyspraxia is hereditary or runs in families? My own DS was terribly clumsy and is still very slow to do many things and stuggles particularly with buttons and shoe laces. He was prem and I always wondered if he had mild dyspraxia because he was so slow at learning to do things, he is also behind with his reading and writing but manages maths ok.

I went to the Dyspraxia conference last week and heard Amanda Kirby talk. She wrote 'The hidden handicap" she is a brilliant speaker and had lots of invaluable advice on how to help children with all learning disdorders, not just dyspraxia, eg, OCD, DCD, Aspergers, Autism, ADD, ADHD etc.

Go to her website for a very comprehensive checklist - The Dyscovery Centre click on
here

Sorry got it wrong ,click again here

Alibubbles, I've tried the link but it comes up with a 'cannot find server' message. Do you think this is a temporary blip?

Alibubbles, my last message was posted before I saw your second link which does work ok. I'll have a look at it, thanks.

PamT, there was an interesting article in yesterday's Observer about the kind of lengths parents go to to get specialist help for their children with dyslexia/dyspraxia - and how lots of those techniques haven't been 'proven'..written by a mother of a dyspraxic boy.

Hi, just wanted to revive this thread as my almost 6 yr old dd has been diagnosed as having dyspraxia (motor planning difficulty, gross motor delay, vestibular problem). I would love to hear from any of the other mumsnetters who also have a child or children with motor dyspraxia (as opposed to verbal). It would be great to talk to someone who can relate to what we are dealing with, and the support here in Australia doesn't seem as strong as in the UK. Thanx!

Mollipops, I don't have any real personal experience, though I do suspect that DS1 might have a very mild case. My nephew has also just been diagnosed, see below and my sister has joined the local dyspraxia group though she didn't find it all that helpful. The Dyscovery Centre (link below) have a message board which you might find useful and they have a resident expert who answers questions on there.

Hi Mollipops

I am waiting to have my daughter assessed for dyspraxia, at the suggestion of her teacher and as the result of an assessment for dyslexia. My daughter is also 6 y.o., - I don't know what form her dyspraxia is at the moment - the main indicators of a problem are general coordination problems i.e. inability to tie shoe laces, throw a ball and catch it, skip, and difficulties with her written work that do not correspond to her mental abilities.

The links suggested here are good sources of info.

best wishes

Marigold

My son has problems i would like info on how i stand on getting him statemented to find the actual problems (including short term memory lack of explanation hates writing down he is good with shapes and sequences) but at 9yr is well behind.
school says dont want to label he has been assessed at level 3 meaning extra half hour plus extra home work.

Hi abbey, does your son's school have an ed. psychologist at all? They can assess for educational problems, not just psych. Or do they have an OT? If you have private health cover (I assume it works in a similar way in the UK as here), you could get him assessed privately. You could even ask your GP for a referral to a paed or psych. Or it may be a visual tracking problem - has he had a developmental optometrist check? Might be worth a try.

How are his fine and gross motor skills? Was he late reaching the usual milestones, ie sitting, crawling, walking or talking? The short term memory is one of the dyspraxia things, and handwriting problems, but dyspraxic children (and adults) usually find sequencing difficult, as well as motor planning, (conceiving an idea, planning it and carrying it out). Dyspraxic kids learn best by observation, rather than verbal instruction, and longer to learn new things. They can also seem to forget how to do something they have just learned. They can also have issues with texture, sounds or balance, even fear of heights. HTH. If you know there is a problem, follow your instincts no matter what the "experts" tell you. Keep looking until you find someone who can help, sooner rather than later. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Forgot to mention - thank you to PamT and Marigold for your replies. Your dd sounds very similar to mine Marigold - poor ball skills, and can't hop very well, has only just learn to skip, (but can't skip using a rope at all), fear of heights and being upside-down, poor balance. She can write her name now, but still does her circles and a's etc anticlockwise. Does your dd talk non-stop too?! She has just started to read small words, so we are hopeful we might avoid the dyslexic route. Boys are affected by dyspraxia much more commonly than girls, but dd's OT seems to think lately they have had more girls coming in with these problems than before (although still more boys).

Why do you think your ds1 might have mild dyspraxia PamT?

He was slow to do everything as a baby, has a lot of balance issues eg walking up and down steps without holding on, climbing frames; he really struggled to learn to tie his shoe laces, tell the time, still has difficulty with buttons, doesn't always remember a string of instructions and appears vacant sometimes, can't ride a bike or catch a ball. His reading and writing have always been very slow but I know that he is intelligent because his maths, history, general knowledge etc are excellent. I have put his writing difficulties down to him being left handed and the fact that he didn't decide which hand to use until he was well into Reception class. I don't know whether he is just a very clumsy, daydreaming child or if he really does have a problem, though I don't think it affects his progress too much and I am reluctant to make him think that there is an issue by having him tested. There is always the 'its just me being a neurotic mother' part of it too and maybe I am looking for a problem. He is certainly very good at Knex models and lego, can copy draw some brilliant pictures and has no problems with computer games. The main reason that I started to have doubts again was when my nephew was diagnosed and it just brought those little niggles to the forefront of my imagination again.

Hmm PamT a lot of what you describe sounds familiar. In terms of your ds' handedness, this could be a factor. Dd has cross-dominance, which means she is right handed but favours her left side visually and also her left leg. He could also have trouble with crossing his midline, as my dd does, which adds to reading and writing difficulties. Maybe you could try a check-up at a developmental optometrist to start with - s/he will check his visual tracking etc. They can give you some great simple exercises to help this.

Dyspraxia is no reflection on intelligence btw - in fact most dyspraxics have above average intelligence. HTH!

Bit past the date of all conversation but for info on Dyspraxia look at web page www.ddat.co.uk

It is very interesting and well worth looking into