Dyspraxia

[Giraffefantastico]

Pretty sure my DS (6) has dyspraxia. Problems with gross motor, handwriting and speech.

Unfortunately because of the pandemic I feel like we have not picked up on this as quickly as we might have. We haven’t been around other children as much to see the differences and an element of being told that he has missed a lot of classroom time because of lockdowns.

This week I’ve been trying to start the process to get him a diagnosis and hopefully some support but it’s a month until GP will see us.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what we can do to help him as I think it will be some time before he will be able to access anything that will help him practically following the referral process. Feel really bad that we may have let him down by not doing anything about this earlier.

I do think he would really benefit from some kind of class that would help develop his core which is v weak. But I am mindful that he hates gymnastics at school and I don’t want to sign him up to something that may knock his confidence further since he is becoming really aware that he struggles much more than others.

In terms of his handwriting I don’t know how much I should be pushing him to work on this outside of school as again he really hates this. In other areas he is doing fine at school but I am conscious that an inability to be able to write what he knows is going to hold him back as he gets older.

Would really appreciate any suggestions or advice.

In some areas you can self refer to OT.

Are the school providing any support? Do they offer anything like Jump Ahead?

School have made a referral for speech therapy but still waiting to hear back.

When I spoke to teacher last week message was that would need to get in touch with GP and progress from there.

Will look into self referral which would be ideal. A month feels so long to wait to even start the process which is so frustrating (though understandable)

The school can provide support without a diagnosis, support should be needs led. Have you spoken to the SENCO?

If you think DS needs more support you can apply for an EHCNA yourself. IPSEA and SOSSEN have useful websites about this, and IPSEA have a model letter you can use to request a needs assessment.

Thank you. That’s really helpful to know. I’ll look into that further.

I’ll request to speak to the SENCO next week. From what you have said hopefully there will be more help available than I’d been led to believe from my conversation with the teacher.

A few years ago and DD1 was significantly older than your DS is (13 at the time) but we contacted school nurse to request referral to OT for problems with gross motor skills/handwriting but then realised OT couldn't give a diagnosis. GP referred to paediatrics and it was helpful that OT had done assessments already so paediatrics didn't need to repeat and DCD diagnosis followed.

Both OT and paediatrician gave different and useful strategies to help with day to day life and school. If DD had been diagnosed earlier then there was a programme that could have helped in primary school (think it was called Fizzy but probably something else now).

Good luck and don't be fobbed off.

Sorry - as Imitating Dory says support should be needs based however in my personal experience schools have been quite good at ignoring undiagnosed needs! DD1's eventual diagnosis proved invaluable to accessing support in secondary school when her defects became more obvious and problematic.

So sorry again - "defects" was supposed to be "defecits" (damned autocorrect!!)

Thank you!

I don't have children with dyspraxia but am dyspraxic myself. I was unofficially diagnosed aged 7 and never received an official diagnosis or much support through school as this was back in the 90s when such conditions weren't recognised. I really struggled with handwriting and was pressured to improve it constantly, it didn't help me and just made me dread having to write anything down. I got to the point where my writing was legible if I spaced it out and wrote in every other line and managed straight As at a level and a University degree so I'd be aware of pushing it too much. The biggest thing I can recommend is being understanding and patient. From what you've written it sounds like you are really supportive so I'd say that's the most important thing. I hated sport at school but found running really enjoyable after I left school. The issue for me was being embarrassed as my body didn't move where and when i wanted it too so I found solo sports much better. Anything that required coordination was a big no no for me but everyone's different. Hope that helps

Hi two of mine have dyspraxia. I self referred to OT who then referred on to the Peadiatrican for formal diagnosis. It was a long wait for OT though, 9 months pre covid.

If your school has a Beam programme that can be helpful. Wobble boards are useful at home, theraputty for helping with handstrength. We used to do things like tapping the opposite shoulder, knee on both sides of the body. Crawling through those pop up tunnels, throwing bean bags in a bucket.

Another thing that my children struggled with was cursive script. They were taught to form their letters using cursive script from school nursery. It just was illegible so I had to show them how to write the normal letters and just print so it was easier to read. I'm not sure how your child has been taught to write at school? Triangular pencil grips and writing slopes helped a lot.