Where have all the dyspraxic threads gone?

[sphil]

Haven't heard anything on this board for a while from earthtomummy, kittypickle, aloha and other mums of dyspraxic children. Just wondered how everyone was doing. I only seem to talk on here about DS2 these days so thought I'd redress the balance - but only if someone will join in!

Hi Sphil. I've been horribly unwell with a weird arthritic illness. We're seeing the paed. from the Child Dev. Team tom. I met DS' teacher today.n She said he's making progress but is way behind on quite a few targets which doesn't tally with what you might expect. I asked her what her thoughts were on his problems - wise or not,Idon't know, but she sems thoughtful and slow to label. She thought he has Aspergers, dysraxic and dyslexic traits, but she felt they were mild and right at the low end of the scale. You know, I'm feeling a lot better about it all and DS does seem to have made progress in the last 2 months. What I am finding frustrating is people telling me there is absolutely no problem and I am being over anxious - almost as if my anxiety is causing this or that I am over eager for a problem to exist - as if. Hope you are doing well sphil - nice of you to enquire after us all.

I'm around and about but ds seems to be coping well at school, although Games is a bit of a struggle, and we are still waiting for an appointment with an OT on NHS - hopefully by the end of the year !

Aloha disappeared a few weeks back after feeling unreasonably censored by MNHQ.

Hello sphil, my daughter was diagnosed with developmental co-ordination disorder this week.
She is being assessed for ASD/AS on Monday.

Hi, do you mind if I butt in for a mo? Can I ask if when your dyspraxic kids were babies, did they have hypotonia at all and where they slow to roll, sit, pull up, pass objects from hand to hand, hold bottle etc etc, and did they have difficulty reaching out for items - ie was the movement laboured and a bit jerky? My 8 month ds has been given a diagnosis of possible cp, but I'm not entirely convinced. Dyspraxia was mentioned before that, so I'm just fishing around really.

Hi ntt, dyspraxia is a really a list of symptoms, not a cause in its own right, so it can be a characteristic of another condition. ds was actually fine as a baby (think I may have popped up on one of your threads before) and he actually rolled and sat earlier than many of his friends. Crawled at 9 months, cruised around and used push-along walker then too, walked at 14/15 months, but always ran not walked iyswim, didn't free stand until he was walking. His problems only became apparent when he was noticeably less adventurous and physically adept by 3/4 and even so he was 6 before it was recognised. According to his cranial osteopath his problems, mainly associated with coordination and motor skills, are neurological rather than physical, so he doesn't have hypotonia for example. However there is huge variation in what areas are affected and why, which may all be classed as Dyspraxia.

hth

Ah, ok, thanks Lizs. I thought Hypotonia was neurological though? I could be wrong

you could be right but think she largely meant that his muscle tone and flexibility were normal.

ntt

My Ds2 doesn't have a diagnosis of dyspraxia and he has language and speech problems also but he has a lot of dyspraxic traits. He has low muscle tone, was slow meeting all his motor milestones although just in the normal range. I think you can have a diagnosis of just dyspraxia or developmental co-ordination order although children with it often have associated conditions such as autism, ADHD or developmental problems.

Like Saker's DS, DS1 was slow to meet all motor milestones but was always just within normal range. He didn't roll ever, crawled at 13 months, and walked at 17. Couldn't ride a trike until 3.5, only learnt to jump with feet together about 6 months ago (he's 4.5 now). He's still noticeably less agile than his peers but not excessively so - he keeps up, but at the back! He used to slump all the time as a baby - I remember he never sat forward in his buggy - and he still finds sitting upright on some types of chair difficult. I guess this is to do with low muscle tone?

His fine motor skills were age appropriate until more recently when he has struggled with using cutlery,drawing, colouring and writing. His speech was a little delayed - started putting words together at 2.5 - and now is rather disordered and hesitant at times.

Having said all this he's doing well in Reception. In a small class with an experienced and understanding teacher who gives him lots of time to process instructions and answer questions. She doesn't push the pencil skills and gives him lots of positive feedback about the things he does well, like reading. He also does a programme called 'Jump Ahead' 3x a week, which focuses on improving motor skills. He just had his Foundation Stage assessments (not that he realised) and has met all the targets, much to my amazement - he's always done badly in any kind of assessment situation before. I realise we're really lucky in the school!

Because of all this, we're going to hold off on getting a formal dx of dyspraxia for the moment at least. We know that he has traits, but (and I'm whispering this with my fingers crossed) they don't seem to be hindering him too much at the moment. If things change next year (as they well might - bigger class and harder work)then we'll think again.

Earthtomummy - I'm sorry to hear you've been unwell - not what you needed at this time I'm sure.It's great to hear that your DS is making progress. I know exactly what you mean about people implying you're worrying unnecessarily - I get this all the time about DS1 from relatives/friends and did about DS2 too, until he was dx with ASD which shut them up! What annoys me now is that some people think I'm oversensitive to potential difficulties that DS1 might have, because DS2 is autistic.
Hope you're feeling better.

Sad that Aloha's gone - she was always v interesting on this subject.

Hi. saw the paed. today. She was nice and spent time getting some history. She's referring DS for OT and physio assessment and to language therapist for assessment of his understanding of abstract language. She thought we had cause to be concerned but said that she felt it was mild as DS seemed to be able to learn how to interact appropriately given guidance and time. She thought that work could be done with him. She's seing us in 3 mos after the assess'ts, but thought the problems were around social communication and obviously his fine/gross motor skills. I think she was talking about Aspergers but not entirely sure. Strangely I didn't feel too upset, just relieved that she, as the dr we have to see in this area, felt we weren't just being neurotic parents.