Terminology question..?

[jackjacksmummy]

Just a quickie...

Finally got our DS's written report (11 weeks after diagnosis!) and it says he has ASD although in the high functioning range, additional associated learning difficulties as well as motor coordination difficulties.

At the hospital the doctor mentioned dyspraxia... Is that the same as motor coordination difficulties?

And also it says - generalised low tone and hyper extensible joints in the limbs? What does that mean?

Thanks x

Motor coordination difficulties could be a symptom of dyspraxia, but you don't have dyspraxia simply because you have motor coordination difficulties, iyswim. If dyspraxia, it would be a diagnosis distinct to the ASD. Many ASD children do have coordination difficulties though - there is a lot of overlapping of symptoms between developmental conditions. Do you have another meeting with your consultant to talk it all through?

Sorry - that's not very clear is it! Hopefully somebody a bit more lucid will be along soon...

We have a "post diagnosis meeting" with one of the unit's nurses but that was supposed to be 4 weeks after and we are now at 11 weeks. He has got an urgent referral to an OT and a review with consultant in 12 months.

Oh and supposed to be having blood tests to check for "neuro-metabolic investigations plus chromosomal analysis and fragile x testing"

Sounds a lot like my DS
I found some good info on this site : skillsforaction.com explaining those terms
We had those bloods too, as a tick box exercise really

IME, paeds don't DX dyspraxia or DCD, but the OT could. My DS has ASD and has motor coordination difficulties. I tend to treat him as dyspraxic because he has the physical symptoms but the organisation and social problems of dyspraxia overlap so much with the ASD, who knows?

Hypermobility seems to be often comorbid with ASD and/or Dyspraxia, too.

Agree with needsadvice100 on the blood tests, they are a box ticking exercise, worth doing just because it's easy to rule some things out with a blood test.