Dyspraxia - do most teachers recognise it?

[MerryMarigold]

My ds1 is in Y1. He has a great teacher this year, but she's quite old school. She has not mentioned to me that she thinks ds1 may be dyspraxic, just 'young' (as his Reception teacher also said), but I have wondered for some time...I just looked up some of the symptoms and a lot of them fit, but I don't know if a lot of kids would have them to some extent. I know he is very different from ds2 who is 3, but dd (also 3) is v similar to ds1 so perhaps they are both dyspraxic. Are there different 'levels' of it? Because he fits some of the descriptions but not others. I've said to the teacher that I think he's not 'normal' (by that I mean 'like most other children', not to be derogatory), but she just listened and didn't say anything. Do you think if he really was that it would be picked up and I should just let this lie? It bugs me, but then I think an experienced teacher is a better judge than me, and maybe he is just not top of the class, but I don't need to read all this other stuff into it.

If you'd like to read the symptoms, I've put them below but it's long!

Very high levels of motor activity, including feet swinging and tapping when seated, hand-clapping or twisting. Unable to stay still. - This is improving over time, so was he just 'young'?
High levels of excitability, with a loud/shrill voice - very definitely him
May be easily distressed and prone to temper tantrums - yes
May constantly bump into objects and fall over - sometimes, but this has also improved since he was younger
Hands flap when running - no
Difficulty with pedalling a tricycle or similar toy - did when he was younger, but has mastered a bike now without stabilisers
Lack of any sense of danger (jumping from heights etc) - no
Continued messy eating. May prefer to eat with their fingers, frequently spill drinks - definitely
Avoidance of constructional toys, such as jigsaws or building blocks - definitely NOT. He loves blocks and lego
Poor fine motor skills. Difficulty in holding a pencil or using scissors. Drawings may appear immature - definitely
Lack of imaginative play. May show little interest in dressing upí or in playing appropriately in a home corner or wendy house - no
Limited creative play - no
Isolation within the peer group. Rejected by peers, children may prefer adult company
Laterality (left- or right-handedness) still not established - yes
Persistent language difficulties - a little, still says 'her' instead of 'she' and finds some words hard like 'capital' is 'catital'
Sensitive to sensory stimulation, including high levels of noise, tactile defensiveness, wearing new clothes - no
Limited response to verbal instruction. May be slow to respond and have problems with comprehension - definitely
Limited concentration. Tasks are often left unfinished - depends on the task. If it's his idea, he will finish it.

By 7 years old

Problems may include:
Difficulties in adapting to a structured school routine - definitely
Difficulties in Physical Education lessons - not sure
Slow at dressing. Unable to tie shoe laces - definitely
Barely legible handwriting - it is ok, but very slow
Immature drawing and copying skills - yes
Limited concentration and poor listening skills - yes
Literal use of language
Inability to remember more than two or three instructions at once - definitely
Slow completion of class work - yes
Continued high levels of motor activity - not sure in school, he is ok at home
Hand flapping or clapping when excited
Tendency to become easily distressed and emotional - yes
Problems with co-ordinating a knife and fork - yes
Inability to form relationships with other children
Sleeping difficulties, including wakefulness at night and nightmares - yes, but more finding it hard to go to sleep/ waking v early so perhaps this is more anxiety
Reporting of physical symptoms, such as migraine, headaches, feeling sick - yes

He also finds it very hard to do patterns or colouring according to a pattern/ rules eg. he was given a house to colour at school yesterday and the windows on opposite sides will be different colours (not all blue windows), and half the house is black, half is red etc.

Sorry missed out the bit on relationships. He has a bizarre and unhealthy relationship with one boy in his class who he idolises and this boy is not always very nice to him. He plays with other kids, but doesn't seem to have relationships with them IYSWIM. He is also very tactile and there's a lot of face touching, squeezing (with me as well).

merry to answer your first question, No I dont think teacher will recognise it. And I dont know if it's their role really. A good teacher will recognise that there is something going on but I can't imagine them doing more than agreeing with your concerns if they see them or bringing their concerns to your attention.

Looking at your list, I think your DS warrants seeing someone though. Have you discussed this with your GP? I think that would be the first port of call. Dyspraxia does vary in severity, some kids will ride a bike easily, some never. Some will have major sensory issues, some none. Do a list of all the things that you notice....ask for a referral to the Comm Paediatrician first.
Dyspraxia can be a feature of other conditions. On it's own, with understanding, treatment and support, children can do quite well. If you do get a diagnosis this is a good list of resources.
This author has tons of experience and writes well on how and what to do. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much. Will make an appointment with GP then.

Hi, if you look at my thread I am having similar thoughts about my yr 2 DS. He fits about half of the profile but is very good at school work, social interaction and has good coordination. My sister has dyspraxia and she has those "classic" symptoms so I think it isn't that but there's no getting away from the other ticks on the list.

Let us know how you get on with the teacher and GP

where's your thread jalapeno?

I think you found it MM! I went to see the teacher but due to waiting lists she suggested trying the GP...

Ask your Gp for a referral to an occupational therapist, they should be able to test for dyspraxia.

The problem is there is a lot of overlap with other possible causes, so it could really be anything. The teacher certainly couldn't be expected to have an idea of cause.

My ds1 ticks most of those boxes. He was assessed by an educational psychologist who felt he had dyspraxia but the OT dx developmental co-ordination disorder. The two are often confused, but aren't necessarily the same. DS1 also has 'probable ASD' and hypermobility. There is a lot of overlap with ASD and dyspraxia too.

Ds1 just got into the bath and proudly showed me the arrows drawn by the teacher on his feet 'to help me in P.E' . I didn't quite understand why - one had a down arrow and one had an up arrow.

Well if he was happy about it I'd be inclined to take it as a positive action. I would have a word with the teacher though. And it sounds like he needs that referral ASAP.

Dyspraxia can be a hard one to spot in some cases but it could be worth a referral based on what you have isolated with your DS.

My DS also fits some of the categories for dyspraxia but has good gross motor skills. After lots of observation and assessment, school have isolated it to an Auditory Processing difficulty along with some specific difficulties with maths. He struggles with instructions, finds fine motor activity difficult, is young for his age and has a few sensory issues too.

Hops, yes, I was glad he was pleased with the arrows. He is 'young' in that respect, he has very little embarassment factor ! Whereas the boy who lives down our road and is the same class is constantly worried about 'looking silly' in some way.

survivingwinter, how did it come with your school? Was it the teacher, or you? How old was he? Did they keep saying 'he's very young'. Or did you push things?

My DS was referred to an OT in reception - I think the school suspected dyspraxia. I answered yes to more of the questions you list than you did (he still can't ride a bike without stabilizers and he is 7). The referral took a year to come through and the OT thought he was OK apart from some hypermobility and poor awareness of his body in space.

Yes MerryMarigold - he has always been described as 'young' for his age by teachers. Problems were properly picked up in Y2 because he did very badly with SATS. Teachers were confused as they say he is 'bright' but under-performing so they did test for dyslexia and tried out several programmes/strategies with him to assess his difficulties. School have been great really and I haven't needed to push them at all. He now does a 'Fizzy' programme in school and has had a lot of 1-to-1 which has helped him catch up a bit!

Oh yes - specialgun's post has just reminded me DS is very hypermobile in his fingers which has affected fine motor skills.

That's great survivingwinter. We had similar reports in from Reception: he's very intelligent but finds it hard to sit still. As far as I could see by the end of the year, not achieving a lot of the Early Learning Goals. His teacher last year was extremely defensive so any time I asked about his difficulties it was like I was attaching her and then she'd say he's fine, he'll develop in his own time. He has improved a lot this year with a better teacher, but I would say he is a year behind the class 'leaders'. And his confidence has been shot. This teacher is very 'professional' and non judgmental (I love her actually), but the result of that is she never says things like he's very intelligent! She just says, this is what he needs to work on, specifics like reading using a finger pointing (he finds this extremely hard for some reason but would prob fit with dyspraxia) and this is how to help in Maths. I need to get a meeting with her this week I think, Friday.

What is hypermobile? How are your kids socially, survivingwinter and specialgun?

Socially DS does fine - he's quite easy going with friends (although a nightmare at home and still has tantrums over the slightest thing)

Hypermobility is lax joints - DS's fingers bend all ways and we think this is why he's always hated drawing and writing although loves lego and is good at this

Good luck with your meeting

My son was (is !) very similar. I took him to a paediatrician who diagnosed hyperactvity. An OT also diagnosed weak muscles in his hands and back. It was helpful getting diagnosis as OT came in to school for therapy sessions and he had IEP for school things like writing/ listening and concentrating etc I went to Dr to get referral to paediatrician. Definetly worth doing .

My DS has struggled socially and has problems with getting angry at school. This year he seems to have made some good friends though and things are settling down a bit.

I still worry about him and since Reception the school haven't been much good really - the have done nothing to implement the OT's recommendations and didn't even take up the OTs offer to come into school to work with them .

your ds has made good friends, specialgun. I am hoping for this next year as the classes mix up in Y2 (they stay the same from Reception to Y1 and he doesn't seem to have found anyone who really likes him ). My ds also has problems with getting angry and frustrated, he apparently told a TA to "F-off" in Reception (I was called into school) which I couldn't believe as he'd never ever said it at home, I didn't even know he knew it. Later, I heard his 'best' friend say it, so perhaps he did . When I heard what happened, it was quite unfair the way he was treated, but he went completely mental.