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Worried about DS1 now!

7 replies

sphil · 30/04/2006 23:17

Don't know if I'm being paranoid but DS1 seems to be showing some worrying signs recently. As I've said before, he has dyspraxic traits but is coping well at school with an IEP and a coordination programme. Recently though, I've been noticing signs of social awkwardness - getting anxious about friendships and the playground (he's just started f/t). His speech seems to be much more hesitant and jumbled all of a sudden - he often takes ages to get his sentence out - and he often makes up a word if he can't think of the right one. He also plays elaborate fantasy games on his own, but if he tries to involve others, he doesn't really get the approach right: he'll jump right in with something like " My MD30XB is beating the lava down the mountain" and other kids just look at him blankly (or ignore him). He does this if he plays with us too - we can usually unravel what he's doing, but your average 5 year old has no chance!

He's also a bit odd in his physical approaches to other children - he does a lot of pointing to emphasise what he's saying, which can look aggressive/threatening, though he's the gentlest child in reality - don't think he's ever hit another child (not counting his brother!)

His verbal reactions to things are sometimes way over the top - eg if someone annoys him slightly he'll say something like
"I'm going to invent a machine with an electric current that will trip him up and destroy him" - or sometimes just plain odd, eg: " You are an inkerblinker and I'm going to blat you on the billyhead" (All these are real examples by the way!!)

Since starting school in Sept his sleep has been disrupted - usually takes a long time to get to sleep and often wakes in the night.

Are these common traits in someone with dyspraxia? Is he just an eccentric 5 year old with an over-active imagination and a large, if imprecise vocabulary? Or is he showing symptoms of AS (which tbh is my worst fear)?

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Davros · 01/05/2006 09:23

Have you got any appointments coming up with Paed or Psych? If not, maybe it would be a good idea to make one. It sounds like there are behaviours and patterns emerging that need to be considered carefully. As he's only 5 maybe he's going to need more support.

Saker · 01/05/2006 09:31

Sphil, I do think you can have quite a lot of social awkwardness with dyspraxia but then they are all overlapping conditions. It might be that the additional stress of starting school is causing him to emphasise his more "odd" behaviours and these will fade as he gets more settled. Sorry in a hurry now - we are going down to my Mum's because Ds2's got the second part of his RDA tomorrow Smile. Definitely think it is worth checking out.

sphil · 01/05/2006 19:13

Good luck with RDA Saker! I think you're right about stress of school - these traits were much more pronounced when he first started reception in Sept, then gradually faded as term went on. So much so that I found myself referring to him as NT on here most of the time! I'm not sure they've started up again since he went f/t though - I would say it was more during Easter hols - but then that could have been anticipatory anxiety I guess.

I keep thinking about making an appt with someone, but I'd have to do it so carefully. He is very sensitive about 'not needing extra help' and bright enough to pick up on any discussions. He lacks enough confidence in the things he finds hard - I don't want to dent it further.

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Davros · 02/05/2006 20:57

Its tricky Sphil as you prob could do with another opinion, if not now then at some time, but he would know and it could cause problems.

Saker · 02/05/2006 21:04

Sphil

I saw the Dyscovery Centre who specialise in dyspraxia were doing a sort of open day on 30th May where you could arrange a free consultation. I don't know if this would extend to a telephone conversation also (they are in Cardiff so you would have to travel a long way otherwise). You might be able to get some advice and a feel for how much is dyspraxia vs ASD. See \link{http://www.dyscovery.co.uk/index.pl\here}.

sphil · 03/05/2006 22:29

Thanks Saker - have e-mailed them. Have looked briefly at this site before but have just been reading through it in more detail - very useful. Looked at the message board and there was quite a lot about social skills and language, which are the two areas that are concerning me at the moment. It was fairly reassuring in fact, as I can see that compared to most of the children being discussed, DS1 is pretty mildly affected.
Tbh, I sometimes wonder whether his social difficulties are simply the result of having a brother with ASD. It's hard to learn to interact and 'read' social cues when your sibling blanks you most of the time.

Having said all this, it doesn't stop me from wanting to investigate it further. I think what I'm going to do is talk to the Specialist Health Visitor from the CDC - she's DS2's Key Worker and very supportive - and get her advice on how to assess DS1 without him realising!

How did the RDA go? Am getting through the DVD very very slowly - I sometimes wish Steve Gutstein would speed up his delivery a bit!

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sphil · 04/05/2006 22:47

A follow up in case anyone else is interested in the Dyscovery Centre's Open Day as mentioned by Saker below. They will do a telephone consultation on that day - you have to fill in a questionnaire and send it with a £10 donation to secure your appointment. Qu'aire is a bit annoying though - tick boxes for yes or no answers when I always want to put 'sometimes'and write an explanation
eg 'Does your child understand the rules of games?' 'Yes', if we're talking ludo or snakes and ladders, 'not always' if we're talking playground games. They're going to love me...Grin
Thanks Saker for the link!

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