mild dyspraxia- advice?

[houseofboys]

Hi, I've posted on here before mostly about my 7 yo DS handwriting. He's made lots of progress in past year but still very poor - school don't seem to do much apart from comment on how much poorer it is than his reading, at which he is excellent. So he hangs on bottom table for anything that involves writing - top for reading. Anyway, these past few weeks he's gone to a tutor who was formerly a special needs specialist to see if she can help. She told me tonight he is very bright but has mild dyspraxia. What do I do now? Is it something to tell the school about, should I expect them to do something, or is it one of those classifications you get but isn't actually very helpful? thanks!

You need to do Occupational Therapy every day with him - and then he will improve.

You can get referred to an NHS OT - or go private.

While you are waiting to see an OT you could try the 'speed up' handwriting program (from Amazon)

You should also tell school - although it depends on the school how they will take the news.

There is lots you can do to help dyspraxia.

Does the LA have a Developmental Movement Disorder (dyspraxia) team?

If he gets a diagnosis I think it can help the school to access resources. But I would be wary of a tutor 'diagnosing' your son in this way. He should be seen by an OT and a paediatrician in order to establish whether it could be dyspraxia.

The more you can do to get a formal diagnosis the better - it unlocks the doors to all sorts of help. My Dyspraxic DS2, for example, has a County funded laptop for all written work and was given touch typing lessons at school - it's worked a treat and that gap between reading levels and writing levels has closed. So yes, tell the school, formalise the whole thing, make it into a big deal and there is help out there. The Dyspraxia Foundation website is useful.

I'd get hold of the "Write from the Start" programme and photocopy the booklets for your son to work through - just 5 mins a night would help. This starts with all the elements that a child needs to "get" before they can write properly rather than actually practising handwriting itself (at least to start with) and gives exercises to help with each element. I think it will help regardless of whether he is actually dyspraxic or not - good for all children having difficulty but especially helpful for dyspraxics.
I would then also request the school pursue a formal diagnosis (if they are uncooperative, you should be able to access this via your GP too). It will help in terms of accessing resources for your ds and also with teachers who may not be SEN trained knowing what to expect from your ds and being given appropriate advice from OT about how best to help him. (ie perhaps he needs to sit near the front of the class and it might not be reasonable to expect him to copy
great chunks from a book or the board!)
You shouldn't rely on diagnosis from tutor as it does need OT/paediatrician to diagnose, however imo, if she has experience as a SEN teacher she has probably seen this type of thing before and is quite likely to be right.

The school advised me to get my GP to refer ds to an OT. That was back in May. I was sent a long form to fill out but have heard nothing since. I'm not certain he has dyspraxia and it is mild if he does but he does have a number of other problems. I think the waiting lists are very long especially for mild cases. You might consider going private if you can afford it.

My younger brother is dyspraxic and is now 18. He is extremely bright and successful (I'm v proud of my little brother as you can tell!) His handwriting is still terrible-in fact looks like that of a 6yo. However he does all the writing he needs to do on a laptop. He has just started at a very prestigious university and is doing really well so far. My mum always gave him loads of help- doing OT with him at home for example. Also encouraging him to become good at typing was a massive help although he had to practise a lot. One occ therapist said that things may feel a little more hard work for him-so swimming would feel like swimming through porridge might for someone who is not dyspraxic. But with lots and lots of encouragement things can be made easier through practise. I'd definitely say that boosting your ds' self esteem wherever possible is vital-try to encourage him and praise him as well as trying to help him improve.

We use a dyspraxia screening test which indicate the possibility of the child having dyspraxic tendencies (not a diagnosis) and would then refer to our LA (fortunately Madeleine Portwood is head of the service) we also have access to a specialist OT facility with speedy referrals.

Thanks - will talk to SEN at school though don't hold out much hope because it is mild. I fear huge waiting lists as one said, or having to go to private OT. I do think it would help his self confidence to know it was a diagnosable and treatable condition- at the moment he just thinks he is rubbish at writing and school work and he has low self esteem as a result.

I know lots of people have mentioned Write from the Start already but it is worthwhile

A unique approach to developing fine motor and perceptual skills, Write from the Start offers a radically different and effective approach to handwriting. Structured activities develop the muscles of the hand - so that children gain the necessary control to produce letter forms - alongside the perceptual skills required to orientate and organise letters and words. It has been extensively used in British schools, where it has proved highly successful with:
?mainstream children aged 4-6 years
?children with developmental co-ordination disorders (dyspraxia)
?older children with mild/moderate learning difficulties.
This cumulative programme is structured into 8 booklets. At each stage, the photocopiable exercise sheets can be made into an attractive booklet so that pupil and teacher can monitor progress and achievement. Over 400 carefully graded exercises and activities develop hand-eye co-ordination, form constancy, spatial organisation and figure-ground discrimination, as well as orientation and laterality.

If the school are not helpful you should also be able to get your GP to refer you to a paediatric OT for assessment. Emphasise the big gap between his writing and other skills when you go and the effect it is having on his self esteem. In my experience children who are struggling with a SpLD like dyslexia need to be actually told that it's not their fault that they can't write as well as others, that as long as they are trying hard, that's enough, even if the results aren't as good as they would like and also that things can be improved but it will take some work and some time.

My 16 year old daughter has just been diagnosed as 'dyspraxic' following testing by an educational psychologist. I feel very angry about this. The anger stems from everybody being expected to 'conform' to 'normal' IQ measures ....! Having said that I'm angry because I know this should have been picked up while she was still at school. Do other mums agree with me that in today's society you and your children are judged all the time? What's wrong with children simply being themselves - not all of us were born to be great academics!

I was told a couple of years ago by my DS teacher that she thought that he had dyspraxia i went to my GP who refered us to a place where they test for it, as like your child he is great at reading and anything that does not involve writing and always sits on the bottom table when it comes to writing we have since found out that he does not have it and that he has a low muscle tone but since haviing the test they want to do it again as they think he may have a mild case of it