Dyspraxia, does my ds have it?

[SleepyDormouse]

I have just asked for a referal to have my son checked for dyspraxia but am still unsure if he has this or not. I dont want to waste peoples time and am not sure what benefit a diagnosis would bring anyway..

He doesn't have major problems with balance etc, though is not good at catching, football etc.

his handwriting is large and messy. The letter height is rarely correct and the letters do not sit in the write place on the line. same with numbers.

He also writes very firmly and complains of his hand aching after a while.

He doesn't like loud noises, still struggles with telling the time and left/right.

He had speech therapy when younger and although can now make all letter sounds is often too fast and a bit garbled. Also, not sure if this fits with dyspraxia but he finds it very hard to explain something, like a film he has watched.

He seems to struggle with organising his thoughts for written work, had to do a poem for homework this weekend and found it extremely hard. Was in tears over it. Last year he often had to stay in at play to finish work as he was too slow.

He also has extreme anger, I am currently under the help of a parent support team the LA provide. can this be part of dyspraxia?

Ds is 8

Dyspraxia Foundation symptom checker. Bear in mind though that not all Dyspraxic children will have all of those symptoms.

It does sound like he might have Dyspraxic tendencies, at least - although the extreme anger isn't usually a part of it (having said that, my DS2 was quite disruptive before he was diagnosed - he was cross that he couldn't do things and blamed himself. The diagnosis helped that a lot - sometimes labels are invaluable).

You're not wasting anyone's time - if you have concerns, you have concerns and that's what they're there for. He will probably see an Occupational Therapist and an Educational Psychologist.

There are lots of crossovers with different conditions. Get him checked by OT. You might want to go via the GP, but in many areas i believe that you can self refer directly, check on your pct website and it should give you the number. Be prepared for a long wait in some areas on the nhs though!
What do school have to say about his work - what help are they giving him? More importantly, what extra help can they be giving him.
Re what benefit is a dx of dyspraxia - in our case, sweet fa. I agree with hassled that for children of your DSs age, it can help them personally knowing that it is not because they are 'thick/slow/stupid' or whatever terms that they call themselves when they cannot manage something that their peers do. As far a professionals go - on the nhs - apart from exercises and suggestions that you buy certain equipment to help - nothing. School (after a change) have offered the best help and got him progressing in the right direction.

A dx will bring benefits.

Don't worry about 'wasting people's time'. There are def enough indicators there for him to be checked out....

Good luck

Agree with Hassled and Aunt.

Regarding his anger, have a look at the BABO website www.babo.co.uk/.

DS used to have some horrendous tantrums when younger, loud/unexplained noises could also turn him into a wreck. He was diagnosed Dyspraxic/Dyslexic, we found a behavioural optometrist by accident, but it was the best thing we have ever paid for.

Others such as Indigo have used similar therapies with their DC, often with positive results. I can't recall the name at the mo but I'm sure she will be along at some point and will give it to you.

DS had retained reflexes and a narrow functioning field of vision. When we began the exercises for the retained reflexes we saw an almost immediate improvement in his behaviour. The narrow field of vision also had a significant impact on his ability to progress physically and academically.

Your DS sounds like mine when he was younger. How old is he?

As Aunt says schools are variable in their recognition of/provision for Dyspraxia. Try out some of the strategies from the Dyspraxia Foundation, see what works/doesn't work for your DS and try to get the school to implement them.

The therapies I have used are the same as Minx

• Behaviour Optometrist
• Retained Reflexes
• Auditory Integration Training
• Omega Fish Oil

I have written a whole website about it

Don't be put off by it being about dyslexia. There is so much overlap between ASD, ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. I just wanted to keep the website simple.

(My DS has ASD and Dyspraxia, whereas my DD has dyslexia - and the exact same things work for both of them)

I remember when IndigoBell mentioned Retained Reflexes in a previous post - so i read up on it. It sounds amazing and i could understand exactly why things could be as they are. I'm just about (May) to have a full assessment done by OT on DS again. The last full one was done when he was 5, he's now 8. I shall be looking (saving!) at therapy for retained reflexes after this, when i have a good idea as to where we have advanced, and where we are still way behind. The primary reason for the assessment is to get OTs support for some form of touch typing system to be put in place. The school has always been good at putting in place OT suggestions. Now, I know that it's no substitute for writing skills, but the way i see it, he could fill out his name and address etc, but his hand speed is slowing down the creative element of his work.
So i suppose i'm saying there are lots of different ways and means to try. Anything that makes even a chink at improvement will help in your DS's self esteem, which ultimately might help with issues around anger.

My ds1 (7) is doing some therapy recommended by indigo (INPP) and they are talking about him having dyspraxia and APD.

I am very at your son being kept in at playtime to finish work....I would be very unhappy about that.

Ds1 has also been referred to the comm paed team too by our GP.

Thanks, have looked at the links and some very interesting info. it strikes me that if he has issues now with handwriting and organising thoughts it will be more significant as he gets older and is expected to write more and quickly.

Is the not being able to explain things easily a part of dyspraxia? It isn't really something I've seen in descriptions, but it does have a vague, problems with language mention.

Not being able to explain can be part and parcel for some Dyspraxics.

My DS has auditory processing difficulties and some problems with S & L. According to tests while his receptive and expressive skills fall into the average range for his age, two SALT's have noted that qualitatively there were anomalies with his speech and speech patterns that the tests don't pick up, but which are obvious to the listener; slow speech, thinks about his words carefully, talks slowly/carefully because otherwise he can get quite garbled. This all has an impact on how he expresses himself and how he appears to others, but not enough to require SALT.

DS (15) has always had these difficulties, they've changed as he's got older, he/we have found coping strategies, learnt new skills etc.

If it is of real concern can you go to a private SALT (go for one who deals with children/learning difficulties)to have him assessed? They should be able to outline where his difficulties lay, they can also give you strategies to implement (or over learn)at home, even if they recommend that he doesn't actually need SALT provision.