What to expect at a community paediatrician appointment for possible dyspraxia

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My son is 7, he’s very bright and chatty but unable to read, write or process numbers easily. He’s very sensory seeking, and also very accident prone. The school have mentioned dyspraxia, dyslexia, dyscalculia and ADHD, but in the first instance, the SENCO at school referred him to an O.T. to explore the coordination difficulties. They did a motor skills assessment, and he scored quite low (<1st percentile). So, they think he does have DCD (dyspraxia). They’ve referred him to a community paediatrician who we are seeing next week. I wondered if anyone could give me any insight into what to expect from that appointment? And also what might happen about diagnosing any concurrent needs?

I imagine Paed will talk through your concerns relating to dyspraxia - take a developmental history - ie how things have been since v young and carry out a bit of a physical exam on your son - that’s what happened in mine - the last bit was quite quick.
they made the diagnosis there and then.

re other diagnoses - depends on your areas set up. I would imagine there is another pathway for ADHD - and they would need to collect more specific info pertaining to ADHD (which is a bit different to the info needed for dyspraxia a or DCD as it’s now known) - from both you and the school (eg specific q’res, maybe a QB check etc).

re dyslexia and dyscalculia you’d need a totally different assessment by an APC teacher or psychologist - which would include a few hours plus of cognitive tests (amongst other things).

Hope this helps

It varies area you to area. There isn’t one set process. Like pp said, they will take a history. It can help to make some notes on things like developmental history/milestones, educational history, family history, pregnancy, current difficulties, any previous assessments, and any support already provided. There may be a physical examination &/or tasks for DS to do. They will observe how DS presents. There may be questionnaires to complete. They may refer to other professionals if they feel it is warranted.

The NHS doesn’t usually diagnose dyslexia and dyscalculia. I would suggest an ed psych assessment. Not just to look at diagnosis but to look wider. With the current climate, an EP assessment via the school or LA is unlikely outwith the EHCNA process, though.

I think the paediatrician appointment is probably to rule out any other causes of his difficulties before confirming dyspraxia diagnosis. Then hopefully your DS will get some ongoing OT support.

you could ask the SENDCO to refer you to community / local council Ed Psych for the dyslexia and dyscalculia assessments, but the waiting lists will be so long it would probably be better to start saving up yourself!

That's really useful - thanks so much.