Dyspraxia - what to expect

[comehomemax]

My DS his 4.5 - he had very delayed speech (only repetitive (da sounds) up to a year ago. With lots of support from SLT we are making huge progress and he is now approx only a year behind his age with the gap closing all the time.
He is under a paediatrician who accepted the dyspraxia diagnosis from his slt but wanted to classify him as global delays in order to give us an umbrella term for support.
His speech was our main concern but we are now seeing lots of warning signs with his physicality and movement. He has some very immature movements - can't nod his head properly for example. He struggles with dancing and hates things like musical statues as he doesn't seem able to control his body to stop when the other children do. He also can't add movements to songs very well (eg couldn't wave his hands in school play) and when he is concentrating, he fidgets/leans on me heavily.

Does this sound like dyspraxia - I guess I'm worried I'm reading into things because of his communication delays? I'm unsure how to best help him or what else to be aware of that might come up - are there "common" traits? I'm waiting for an appointment for physio but have no idea whether they can actually do anything??

Does anyone have experience of dyspraxia and how it manifests and best way to support? My son cried after his school play because he said he couldn't wave "right" like the others. It's breaking my heart and I want to make sure I'm doing all I can.

The more up to date medical term for dyspraxia is developmental coordination disorder - you should ask for a referral to Occupational Therapy to get a proper diagnosis. Speech and language normally only diagnose verbal dyspraxia and this does not need to be part of a wider condition. I would advise against accepting a global delay diagnosis until your ds has been properly assess including a cognitive (intelligence) assessment as it can be an excuse to lower expectations and not provide sufficient therapy.

You are entitled to support without a diagnosis - it should be needs based.

The more up to date medical term for dyspraxia is developmental coordination disorder

Not strictly true. DCD is used more in the USA, Dyspraxia in the UK. In the UK DCD is used where a clear threshold of motor skills weakness is not evident, but planning and coordination of complex tasks may be more evident alongside a milder motor skills difficulty.

To OP, I would advise to avoid hanging much in the GDD diagnosis. It is normally used as a place holder to acknowledge likelihood of learning difficulties once they become evident, at which point GDD become relatively un-useful.

Dyspraxia is a clearer definition, both medically and behaviourally, therefore it would give both clearer direction to schools and yourselves in understanding needs. This would be far more useful if support needs needed to be clearly described at a later date, such as for an EHCP. If you already have SLT and OT support available then this is the best time to ask for a clear diagnosis if they feel it is warranted.

DCD and dyspraxia are both used in the UK but DCD is most commonly used by medical professionals as dyspraxia is also used to describe other medical conditions eg. Where motor ability is affected following a stroke. Dyspraxia is shorter and easier to say which is probably why it is often used. The Dyspraxia foundation consider DCD an umbrella term also covering dyspraxia.

Thank you all. I will definitely chase up an occupational therapy referal. We did meet one about a year ago (i was concerned he couldn't clap/ wave and had a funny run) but they said it was too early to get involved but I will push for another assessment.

whinberry , would a cognitive assessment be managed via our paediatrician?

Hi nothing practical to add but just wanted to comment for solidarity sake as taking everyone on is gruelling. Well done you.. Your school situation sounds similar to ours after one term of reception (other kids big problem as several top dog kids). We all suspect my ds has adhd but the school are being slow to put anything practical in place and we have a lovely but v. inexperienced 1 yr qualified teacher. I posted about this recently and got excellent advice. Just bracing myself to start tackling it all again in a few days.