Possible dyspraxia for my 11 year old daughter

[KatHay1]

Can anyone help? I have often wondered if my 11 year old daughter has Dyspraxia, but the one time i bought this up with her last school (Junior now at secondary) They dismissed it too quickly for my liking.
She was a late developer physically, bum shuffling at 10 months walking at 2 years. She still cannot ride a bike or swim despite many attempts. She has participated in dance at junior school at an average level, is below average for ball catching/throwing etc. Her handwriting is scruffy but not unreadable, and she is doing well at school, in sets 2 of 4 for maths and english. She also has poor memory skills and even now at age 11 if i told her to pop upstairs for 2 items she will be confused and either take ages looking, or come down with 1 and say she cannot find the other (which when i have looked is easy to find) In conversations she finds it hard to follow and i find myself having to repeat myself a few times. As i said she is doing well at school, although she didn't adjust to the change up to secondary school too well and it has taken her a while to settle. My question is, should i approach her school for a diagnosis, does this sound like dyspraxia? I have no experience of this as my other 2 older children are completely different! Or am i just worrying about nothing?? Any advice would be great x

Hi KatHay, I read your post this morning and was hoping that someone with more knowledge would come along and answer it, but I see it is still un-answered, so thought I would give a quick answer and hopefully it will be noticed this evening for others to come and help you.

From my experience I would say that it would be good to express your concerns, but to be honest, if your DD's education is not being affected by any dyspraxia then I am not sure how much the school will do for you.
Our DD3 has dyspraxia, she is now 19 years old and has done very well, despite being very dyslexic as well. I do recognise her behaviour in what you have typed about your dd.
When we recognised the areas that DD3 was struggling with it became much easier for me to help her to deal with it. For example, when she was younger, I could not say to DD3 "go and get dressed" because the instruction was too big for her to cope with, so I had to get her clothes and say "get your pants on", now get your socks on, now get your dress on.......etc....... It was so much easier though when I understood that and worked with it, rather than getting frustrated because she would not be able to follow what I considered simple instructions.

Sorry, a load of waffle there.

I certainly recognise what you're describing in my Dyspraxic DS2 - but bear in mind I'm an unqualified internet stranger.

I think what you need to do is go to your GP, say what you've said here, and ask for a referral. I don't know if it's changed (it probably has) as it was a while ago, but we needed an Occupational Therapy and an Educational Psychology assessment to get DS2's diagnosis, so see if your GP can refer you in that direction.

Sounds like it could be dyspraxia - she sounds like me at that age! See your gp and ask for a referral. Worth doing even though she's still doing ok at school, as it may have more of an impact as the academic work gets more challenging, or affect other things.

I too would say definitely worth looking in to.

Just because she is in sets 2/4 doesn't mean to say her academics are not being affected. Maybe with diagnosis and support (eg use of word processor) she would be in set 1/4.

My DD (y10) is similar to yours, except can ride bike and swim. Put a pen in her hand and her brain seems to stop as so much effort has to go into physical writing she forgets what she want to say. This term has been using a WP and English teacher rang recently to say how well she was doing (having struggled in KS3).

We put a lot of effort in behind the scenes to help her be organised, which helps her too. We say that a poor memory is not an excuse. She needs to put systems in place, e.g. always write everything in planner, never assume she'll remember a message, hw etc. Also checklists "what to take to drama group" etc.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and advice. I will call my GP and go from there x

Approach school or your gp for an assessment . Keep an open mind as several conditions can overlap and present similarly . Make a list of your observations to take to a discussion.

Sounds a lot like my dd1 who is borderline dyslexic and definitely dyspraxic. It's actually a bit of a family joke that she trips on fresh air - I was never tested but I reckon I'm definitely like her in this.

School hummed and a lot, we ended up getting a private test done. School did take it on board and have helped.