Value of a diagnosis? Jimjams?

[kmg1]

I've just been looking at some websites you recommended re verbal dyspraxia - and some of it was frighteningly familiar ... one particular case study sounded exactly like ds1. No-one has ever diagnosed/categorised him, though I have often asked why he's had these problems, or what these problems are.

Well, so what if he has verbal dyspraxia? ... he's been having speech therapy for 2.5 yrs on and off, and now has a full complement of sounds, and uses most of them most of the time. (At a poetry festival this week he was the clearest of anyone in his year ... a year ago he would have been incomprehensible even to me.) Does a diagnosis make any difference?

He is certainly a rather 'odd' child, but his school treat him as an individual, and he does well on this. His severe speech problems have not hindered his literacy at all, which is fantastic. He is also on the school's scheme of gifted&able children - so academically there's no problem at all. He has considerable difficulty controlling his emotions, but this is improving. He is also lacking in social skills, but this has improved a lot with 12 months at school too.

His co-ordination is not great - hasn't learned to ride a bike yet (he's 6.5), but seems to be getting close. Has been going swimming regularly all his life, and having lessons for the past 2 years ... but still can't swim. As with speech, he seems to have to academically study the anatomical movements required to achieve something, and then learn how to do it ... he doesn't do anything physical just by natural instinct.

So, basically there are a few concerns, but generally they are VERY minor ... so do you think there is benefit in diagnosis, particularly of mild cases, or not?

It depends whether you would get anything out of it. Would it help him to know? Possibly not if he's overcome those problems anyway. What's his handwriting like? A dx could be usefuly for exam purposes if he struggles with it. I can tellyou more about that if you want- I used to be an exams officer.

Davros is generally better at this sort of question than me..... Davros??

Handwriting ... hmmm ... he didn't really hold a pencil properly at all until he was 5, and didn't write until he was over 5. But his handwriting is OK - probably average for his age - generally messy, but he likes to write a lot and fast. When he really tries he can write remarkably neatly .. extremely slowly. So no worries there really.

Intrigued by your comment "would it help him to know" ... Yes, it definitely would, and this has never occurred to me before. So thanks for that - I will give it some thought.

kmg- it's different because its about AS but Luke Jackson's book Freaks Geeks and Aspergers Syndrome goes into the advantages of knowing why you have certain problems (he was diagnosed for quite a while before he knew). If he has struggled to manage things in the past I think it can be helpful to know its not his fault iyswim.

Thanks for that jimjams - sounds interesting. I have just ordered it from the library ... how I love online library catalogue, and online requests!

Hmmm, my view would be to try to find out if there are any practical/tangible benefits to getting a diagnosis, e.g. the extra allowances during exam time. How you find out, I don't know. POssibly look for chat-type rooms or EGroups for Verbal dyspraxia or a support group with a helpline. Even ring the CDC and ask to speak to ...... who?
The other BIG issue though is, as Jimjams already said, how he feels about "being different". I think this is potentially a tough issue for people with "mild" conditions. Not understanding themselves or their difficulties can cause a lot of problems. For a 6.5 yr old I think it might be possible for him to see a psychologist who knows how to explain it and explore it with him. The Luke Jackson book is a very good idea. Its a tough one though as you don't want to make him MORE conscious of something he may be at ease with at the moment. SOrry, not really much help but would love to know if you do anything or decide to leave it alone.

Thanks Davros - this is very helpful. You have both certainly set me thinking. We have parent/teacher meetings next week, I think I'll see what his new teacher has to say (she's a very experienced teacher, and great with him), and maybe arrange an appointment with the SENCO, and see what they say.

To carry on with the idea of benefits- I think the main benefit from a purely practical point of view of a diagnosis is that verbal dyspraxia is recognised as needing a lot of speech therapy (unless you're autistic ho ho) - so it can be useful to have the diagnosis to get that SALT. But it sounds like you've found that anwyay.

The online support groups I've found have been based in the States where they do things a bit differently so they may not be that much use (let me know if you find a UK one though )

Another thought Luke Jackson is taking part in a online discussion on Wednesday - see thread below- so you could always ask him directly about the benefits/disadvantages for him. Again it is slightly different as AS is lifelong, whereas verbal dyspraxia can be kind of treated iyswim, but it might be interesting to have a child's pov.

Thanks again Jimjams - just finished reading Luke Jackson's book - very interesting. I think everyone should read it! I shall encourage my son to read it too in a couple of years, I think he will find it illuminating as well.

I found that reading the Luke Jackson book was like reading about dh when he was 13 or ds1 in 10 years time IYKWIM. It has given me a brilliant insight into the difficulties they face each day, and I now try to be far more tolerant.