What is involved in a Development check for a nearly 7 year old?

[mummytopebs]

DD is having a few problems at school, she is quite behind her peers and her teacher asked me to take her to the gp. She has alway been a bit slow developing, was quite a late walker, didnt know her colours till 6, couldnt ride a bike with stabilisers till 6 and a half, wouldnt poo in the toilet till she was 6. She is a very emotional little girl and seems quite immature in comparison to her friends. Her teacher has asked us to go to gp as she is struggling and she holds her pencil funny apparently (even though she has very neat writing), and she cant use her finngers to count, and she cant do jigsaw puzzles.

The gp has referred her to a community paeditrican who has asked us to come in for an hour long development check. Does anyone know what this will entail? And does anyone recognise any off dd's symptoms?

They will go though all of her years, so if you have a development book, take it. Make notes before you go, on what she struggles with.
Could be something like dysplaxica (sp?)

Dyspraxia? Might explain the physical symptoms. Would only be guessing, though. Best to see what the Paed thinks. As LisaD says, take a list of your DD's developmental milestones, a list of your concerns and I'd add a list of questions for the paed as to what could be the DX, what support/therapy is available, occupational therapy referral, maybe. They'll likely send you away with very little info as they don't like to misDX, but I would always like to know the possibilities, so having some outcomes of the meeting written down may help you to remember to ask. I find any meeting with the profs can be emotional, and make me forget the questions I want to ask.

A DX doesn't magically provide support at school, though but it does help. How are school supporting her at the moment? How is she doing academically? Does she get any 1:1 or small group help, any interventions?

School are being very supportive, she doesn't have a 1 to 1 but works in a small group of 3 children with 1 teaching assistant. School have said they will offer extra academic help wether she is diagnosed with anything or not, but said as she gets older she may need additional support out of school. Academically I would say she is probably a couple if years behind, and prob about that emotionally as well.

Have you considered getting her assessed for a statement of SEN? It's good that school are so supportive, and a statement isn't always necessary, but it is a legally binding document. A DX doesn't guarantee support either, but a statement does.

How would I go about doing that? She has iep individual learning plan but a statement has never been mentioned.

During the developmental check they will usually have a chat to you about her history and how her difficulties are affecting her functionally e.g. any difficulties with dressing/stairs/walking long distances etc. Usually she will then be asked to complete some activities which will look at her fine motor skills (hand grips/pencil skills/threading), gross motor skills (jumping/hopping/balancing/coordination), they may also do a physical examination to look at the range of movement at her joints and muscle strength. Mostly it should be fun for her and try not to worry about it. Some tests may be scored and they will then be able to be more specific about any areas that need addressing and be able to give you advice on how to help! I hope this reassures you and that it all goes well.