suspect dd1 has dyspraxia hv first paedatrician appmnt at hosp tom

[tinkbig]

abit nervous
worrying that he will see her and say that she is normal and that we r being silly
hv had concerns for a little while mentioned it to the school , had a meeting with senco and her teacher they hv noticed 10 areas of concern

main issues and areas of concern we hv :-

puts shoes on wrong feet
sleep issues
tantrums alot
has trouble riding a bike , throwing a ball
gets tired easily especially walking
very fussy eater and messy
loud shrill voice
very excitable
doesnt listen

will be 6 a wk today

How about her ability to follow and remember instructions, dressing, fine motor skills such as pencil grip, puzzles, playdough, drawing, buttons and zips, any sensory issues around touch (clothes, sand or water for example) or noise . Take a list and you will probably be asked questions about her birth development and milestones as well as she being asked to do simple things such as puzzles or copy a picture or follow a line with a pencil. Be prepared for there to be some grey areas and not come away with a diagnosis. Some of what you describe could also be attributed to other conditions such as ASD and APD and there can be overlaps with dyspraxia and dyslexia et al.

Good luck for your appt.

The paed won't tell you you're being silly - nor will they think it.

You've got conerns, the HV has concerns and school has concerns. You are right to be taking it further and seeing someone who is actually qualified to diagnose.

Good luck.

Thanku ladies

Yes also problems with

Dressing struggles with buttons etc
Has messy handwriting
Hates loud noises
Finds it hard to follow instructions

Re milestones

Sat at 9 mnths
Crawled at 11 mnths
Walked at 16 mnths
Was a whinging baby

Is fine behaviur wise is fine at school and say with grandparents
Awful at home

have a list prepared
printed one off of dyspraxia foundation site - hv ticked all concerns we have and in another colour concerns school has
and written out her milestones and main problems we hv

Pead wont say to you that you are being silly.

It is good that your HV/school has noticed these concernes. You are right to go and have them investigated.

Good luck x

I will be interested to hear how the appt goes. Please come back and tell us .... DS(7) sounds just like your DD (although his crawling / walking etc milestones were achieved a bit earlier - is it even possible to have dyspraxia and not be delayed on these????) and I am going to the GPs later this week to request referral....

thanku

will let u know how it goes
appmnt is 3:30pm

ds rolled before 10 weeks, sat from 6 months , crawled at 9, walked at 14, all within the "norm" and generally a fairly placid baby yet is dyspraxic so yes perfectly possible. Good luck tomorrow tink

good luck x

paedtrician has confirmed that dd1 has developmental dyspraxia
no further action being taken
he said not to worry

What sort of tests did they do? I am right this was your first paed appt (I am wondering how quickly we will get to this stage in the process)...?

How are you feeling?

Tinkbig - the paed is wrong. You do need further action. For starters you need to see an OT.

The paed should have referred you. You can either fight to see one on the NHS or you can see one privately.

You don't need to worry (although of course you will) but you do need to be proactive and assertive to get your DD the help she needs.

School didnt tell you to see the paed so that he would do nothing for her.

mrsbaffled- yes this was r first paedatrician appmnt
retests dh said they took her weight and height, got her to hop etc
not much else

indigobell - i thought that it was odd that he isnt referring her to anyone else!!
my dh took dd1 to the appmnt so i dont know exactly what was said
they r going to send us a letter regarding there findings
can u get to see an occupational therapist without a referral?
hopefully the letter will explain there thoughts

I don't know if you can get to an OT without a referral. I don't know if either your GP or your SENCO or your HV can refer you.

We were referred by our paed.......

thankyou indigobell you are a big help
we have seen senco at school they r a big help
will wait for letter to see what they say

My son saw the paediatric first and she brought in ot and lt. The paediatric will probably just ask the usual question such as development milestones, school, bevaviour.

She will then refer if she feels it necessary

The ot will go through a list of activities depending on age of child like running, hopping, throwing a ball

It not really that bad and the kids just think they are playing.

Good luck hope all ok

hi chummy

saw padatrician today said is developmental dyspraxic did a few tests
not referring to an ot
they rsending a letter

I'm really cross with your paed if he is going to do nothing for your DD . If he has dyspraxia then she will really benefit from OT. I would call and ask how long the report will take to come as ours took 6 weeks at least. You don't want to wait all that time for a report which says nothing.

I'd also find it strange that she hasn't been referred to OT for review at least. See what the letter says and do follow it up. Mind you ds had a 18 month wait for assesssment by NHS OT so she may have progressed in the meantime anyway.

What happened to early intervention

I would go to your GP armed with a letter from HV and school showing their concerns and that they feel she needs to see an OT and ask him to also write to your Pead if he cannot refer to OT himself.

Tink, he's not referring? That's ridiculous!

You will know more when you get the report, but if she tested as dyspraxic then she will need OT. Our report took about six weeks as well - I think that's pretty standard.

In our case they cleverly assessed ds as bang on the cut off for not receiving support. I've since found out that this is typical in our NHS Trust and down to being underfunded and short-staffed. The report has still been useful though, as it recommended things that the school could do to support ds in the classroom (wobble cushion, being allowed to get up and move around regularly, special pencils/pens) as well as asking them to do the BEAM programme with him daily - something that is going to be implemented next term. The report also stated that he shouldn't be made to do joined up writing and should type longer pieces of work.

She recommended a couple of things we could buy to help him at home as well, such as a different type of wobble board and some special cutlery, which have both been useful.

cheers mm u r such a help

will wait for report and take from there

Hi go back to gp and demand a referral, if not take the report to another gp. The OT is your life line to getting help so it's a must. I don't know where you live but I am in the highlands, and am a member of the HDCD sorry can't do links. Google them, not sure if people outside the area can become members but their website is accessible to all and has heaps of info.

Not sure of your child's age but the school can refer to the OT so you could try that route or speak to your health visitor.

Early intervention is crucial. If my own son had an earlier diagnosis his first years at school would have been a hell of a lot easier, however my OT and LT are fantastic and I can't tell you how much they have changed his life.

You must be prepared to fight it's just part of the course so take nothing at face value and arm yourself with as much info as you can.

thanku chummy

Tink I am no expert but do know how wonderfully hard a dyspraxic kid is. So if you need any advice or just a good moan there loads of people including myself hear to you help you through.