DYSPRAXIA ........ ANY ADVICE

[bride2be]

HI MY 12YR OLD DAUGHTER HAS DYSPRAXIA (JUST BEEN TOLD YESTERDAY AT TARGET SETTING DAY, SHE ALSO HAS MILD DYSLEXIA CAN ANYONE RECCOMEND ANYTHING FOR TELLING THE TIME, I WOULD PREFER IT CD FOR THE COMPUTER AND HAS ANYONE ELSE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THERE CHILD AS MINE IS UNABLE TO TELL THE TIME.

Fubsy - thank you very much for your reply and sorry to have taken so long to respond - the Venn Diagram (yes I think that is what they were called!) theory makes a lot of sense. SInce I posted we've seen the paediatrician who said we can get him tested to see if he's on the Autistic spectrum if we want but to be honest I don't know what that would achieve other than yet another label. One of my main worries was DS's lack of any sort of empathy for other people - he just can't pick up on non-verbal signals, can't tell if anyone's sad, happy, angry or whatever - the paediatrician said lots of dyspraxics lack natural empathy but can be taught to read signals, which makes me feel a bit better.
B2B - it sounds like you've been unbelievably unlucky but there are good people out there to help - just keep at it, and here's hoping 2007 will be an easier year for you.

hi
wondered if anyone can help - my son had some developmental delays, late at weight bearing, couldn't pull himself up, bottom shuffled, then crawled then walked at 19 mths. He had physio twice a week thanks to med insurance. We were told he was fine but I am not convinced. Nothing has been picked up by anyone else, am I paranoid? I look for the slightest thing, my latest is that he picks up toast/pizza and then turns it over so it's upside down and prefers to walk down stairs by stepping down on to a step with both feet then starting again (does that make sense?). read an article in a paper that made me think he has dyspraxia. Husband thinks Im mad and that I look too deeply into things....advice anyone?

Joli - how old is your son? Its not unusual for children to go down stairs two feet to a step for the first couple of years, and you have to allow for the fact that he walked slightly late. I wouldnt worry about the pizza, unless there are a lot of other "odd" habits.

fubsy
thanks for your reply - he's nearly 5! that's part of my concern other odd habits(are they?) picks up a pencil with his right hand, eats as a left hander, prefers to use his hand rather than a knife, does come out with some inappropriate remarks sometimes...I don't know. I'll take a step back and see what happens I guess!

Lack of hand dominance can be a sign. ds is right handed but often did things with his left even after he started school. What does his teacher say (assuming he is in school), doe she think his issues are developmental and will go with time and practice or unusual for his age ? ds was borderline at that age (labelled awkward, slow and reserved) but a year later his teacher felt he was out of synch and referred him for OT. If you have doubts again , you could ask gp to refer him for assessment and/or perhaps find an Occupational Therapist to assess his cocordination problems.

hth

Joli, my DD is 5 1/2, still mixes up cutlery and would prefer to eat with her fingers(take that, jade Goody!) and if you were to sit in on school dinners you'd wonder if anyone knew how to use cutlery anymore.

However if you feel there's more to it than that, and the stairs thing may be a sign of coordination difficulties, probably a good idea to ask for a referral from your GP for your own peace of mind. Some refer straight to OT and /or physio, others to a Paediatrician, or maybe to your local child development centre, which will probably have some kind of intake procedure to decide who is the most suitable person for you to see.