Dyspraxia awareness

[Seabrook1234]

Hello, this isn't a post by a parent or anything. I am an 18 year old male just wanting to share my story to make anyone aware of dyspraxia and how it can be in the least suspecting people. From what I recommend if you have doubts - get it checked out.

A bit of context about me. I am an 18 year old who has just been diagnosed whilst at university. I have always known I have been slightly different and had difficulties. I have had several symptoms of it such as delayed speech (no speech until 3 and a half). Furthermore I had troubles with fine motor skills and handwriting. However the reason I feel it didn't get picked up was because academically I have never struggled. As well as that I'm not your typical "clumsy" person either competing at swimming (a very technical sport) at national level just proving it can be found in anyone.

Ultimately please look for symptoms in your child. Looking back on it I wish I got diagnosed as a child and I feel that if you instil a determination within them they can accomplish at the very least something a non dyspraxic person can do. It will just require a lot of work but they can do it.

Feel free to ask any questions :)

Do you mind me asking how yours was picked up and also how getting a diagnosis has helped? I am waiting for an assessment for my 6 year old who is having difficulties with handwriting and fine motor skills.

Of course. Long story short is that between my parents and myself we realised together. It came about when it took me 2 hours to copy a passage of writing which took me 45 mins to right. From there I realised something isn’t right and started looking up symptoms. That combined with my childhood experiences made me realise I should do something about it. As I knew I was going to university at the time, I contacted their disability services for a meeting where they questioned me resulting in them recommending I got properly tested. As I’m out of compulsory education I had to pay for this. You can get this done for free in primary school but the process is far longer due to the limited resources public services have now adays. If you want it done quickly I would recommend going private but it is expensive. So pretty much from there they gave me some tests catered to someone of my age. I scored very highly at some and very low on others. The scores shown allowed them to be confident that I was dyspraxic so they could diagnose me. What I would intially do is go to speak to your child’s teacher about it and if they aren’t that forthcoming to do further research on all of the symptoms of it
Hope this helps

It's not primary schools that assess and diagnose dyspraxia. In our local area they can fill in a concern form about a child's development which you then have to take to a GP (they don't tend to take you seriously without this) who will then refer you onto a paediatrician. From there paeds tend to refer you to OT to do an assessment appointment which will report back whether there's a possibility dyspraxia/DCD needs to be considered but it's not formally confirmed until paeds see you again and do a brief neurological exam testing reflexes etc to eliminate any other possibilities. We started the whole process early November last year and had the diagnosis confirmed the very start of September this year to give you an idea of timescales (that was with my 5 year old who is really quite young to have the diagnosis - we had strong suspicions and school were very on the ball as well... and DD2 is really obviously dyspraxic too!)

I had dyspraxia diagnosed at university too. Changed my life.

Thanks. School are pretty on the ball and have referred him already!

I’m curious, how did it change your life? My 7 yr old DS is Autistic and I’m 99% certain he has Dyspraxia, I’m just not sure if we should pursue a diagnosis, feels like it could make you more defeatist? Although I can see how it might help you to just understand and accept limitations.

It helped my confidence so much to know why I struggled with certain things. Also I always thought I was stupid but I'm not, my brain just struggles to communicate with my hands and my voice. When I was diagnosed I got a lot of support from the lea and my university grades were so much better than my gcse's and a levels.

I second that. I’ve only been diagnosed with it for a few months now but I can already see the difference. Just all the help, support and most understanding a bit more about yourself is the key