When would dyspraxia become apparent?

[ButterpieBride]

X posted from SEN on the suggestion of someone there...

First of all, I'll come clean- I had such an awful time at school that we very very nearly HE'd, but after a lot of soul searching and weighing up of options, have decided on school. A lot of my problems were down to undiagnosed difficulties (Dyspraxia mainly, some dyslexia, and it has been mentioned that it sounds like I had some kind of sensory problem that I seem to have mainly grown out of now unless stressed, plus I have some kind of bipolar issue that has caused psychosis in the past- basically my brain is a bit odd! I'm pretty much fine now, but school was hell.) Anyway, because of all this, I am aware that I will be a bit more paranoid than most about my children.

HOWEVER, DD1 is now 3.5yo and is still in nappies, falls over loads (around 10 times a day), spills things, took ages to reach motor control milestones and so on. It could be just normal toddler behaviour, but she is not really a toddler any more...

I don't want to make a fuss, but I also don't want her to suffer if she could be helped.

Anyway, at what point would you be concerned? And if you were, what would you do?

update
I just got hold of a health visitor on the phone and she is going to try and get someone to come to see us at some point in the next few weeks. She said it could just be that she is taking her own sweet time, or it could be something more, but it could be worth meeting her to have a bit of a look at her, plus the baby hasn't been seen for over 6 months anyway.

So...any thoughts?

Agree with star - I would make an appointment with a GP and ask for your daughter to be assessed by a paediatrician asap. Why wait another few weeks for the health visitor to possibly do the same on your behalf?

So do you think it sounds like something? I don't want to kick up a fuss about nothing, or make things worse (my younger sister was humiliated by the school's attempts to help her with dyslexia- basically putting a sign saying "bed" on the desk in front of her ) but it sticks in my head that the ed psych who diagnosed me was nearly in tears when I told her my story and she had my results in front of her. Plus of course the utter misery I had- it wasn't all related to the dyspraxia, obviously, but it didn't help.

Is having a massive panic at certain irrational things a dyspraxic thing? Eg water touching my face (even rain), anything touching my knees, anything sharp or corners pointing at the wrong angle, etc? I remember wrapping myself up in the duvet like a sausage roll to calm myself down, or climbing into tiny spaces behind furniture as I found it too overwhelming to have too much space to move. I was also scared of heights, to the point of ending up screaming, lying on my belly and holding on for dear life when a teacher forced me to climb the stairs at school that I was scared of (they had gaps between the steps- I was fine with the other stairs as long as I could hold on). i couldn't ride a bike till I was in high school, I still can't swim, I used to get my work ripped up by teachers as it was so messy, I used to hoard bits of rubbish in my school bag- I have no idea why, I used to have a "vivid imagination" which ended up being treated by antipsychotics when it didn't get better as I got older, and so on and so on.

I'm pretty normalish now, or at least I can avoid most things that cause me trouble and cope with the rest. I seem to have grown out of a lot of the things.

Reading it back, it is really sad that nobody put it all together, but I suppose it was a long time ago and I was pretty intelligent- they even told my mum that they needed to concentrate on the kids that couldn't read. I suppose it can't have been too bad- I'm fine now. probably haven't done as well academically as I could have, but who's to say i would have done anyway?

Not sure why i'm rambling on here.

Wether it is something or not it doesn't matter as a parent you need to trust your instincts and get your concerns checked out. If you are wrong so what no harm done. If you are right, the education system and NHS will have long waiting times so best get on those list now. For what it is worth yes it does sound like they maybe something to get checked out but I am just a parent like you (not a professional) and have never met your child - do make that GP appoint today.

Hi there
my son is 11 he has dcd which is same as dyspraxia just newish name
he was late to reach all milestones walking talking etc he was also still in nappies till just before he turned 4
when he was in playgroup aged 4 the teacher brought a few things to my attention like my son couldnt colour within lines etc
however we didnot get diagnosis till age 6 but when we did it all made sense like his clumsiness poor muscle tone etc
my advice is to go to health visitor but dont ask demand
at the end of day if it is nothing thats good but if its something the quicker help is put in place the better

my ds got diagnosed with dyspraxia ages 3 and a half so ill tell you what h was like then and maybe that will help though he has autism so obviously some of it is that too. anyway i dont know how behind on things he is and how behind he was then but here goes anyway, he couldnt draw any more than a rough circle, line and x and certinaly couldnt colour in lines or on paper. he trips a lot over himself, he could not feed himself accurately with a spoon ie baked beans for example would mostly all fall off before they got to his mouth, he couldnt turn things around in his hands like beads, lego etc, he couldnt jump, ran clumsily, couldnt walk along a line, couldnt throw/catch. he was quite a late walker - bout 21 months if i remember rightly, and i think thats all i can think of now but ill see if i can find report and see what else thy highlighted on it which may give you soem indication of what my ds couldnt do and then led to diagnosis if that makes sense.

trust your instincts and push for referral xx

def dont be fobbed off by the health professionals. Push for a meeting with a paediatrician. Good luck!
PS whats the difference between ASD and dyspraxia.Are they comorbid? (is that even the right word?!) Am very tired!