dyspraxia and sypmtoms?

[birty]

I think my 5 yr old may have dyspraxia and i'm speaking to my health visitor Tuesday regarding his behaviour.Could anyone who's child has dyspraxia tell me what symptoms they had and when they realised something was not quite right.

It is not diagnosed until the age of 7 I think.My child is 8 now and I am now waiting as the school has now admited that he sliped though the net.I have read up on the internet and just do a search there are tons of sights.
1.Has trouble remembering 3 things if told to do them at once
2.imature in social skills
3.has trouble catching a ball
4.can not ride a bike (although 5 is a bit young)
I can't remember all of them but do a search I found them really usefull.I spoke to my g.p about this and he said that ds has to be refered by the school for testing. There is probably a real expert on here so good luck.

sorry that will be sites

I believe that my nearly 3 year old is slightly dyspraxic.

The reason I believe this (and various health profesisionals I am also involved with think she could be) is that she has various pointers that relate to this. I have dyspraxia on both sides of my family - my brother's son did have verbal dyspraxia (although no longer has speech therapy and he is now 9) and my ex-husband's nephew had co-ordination dyspraxia - very bad balance and co-ordination and was told that he would never ride a bike (although now at the age of 14 can ride a bike no problem).

I do believe the word dyspraxia means a "delay".

My nearly 3 year old has global developmental delay - although we are having lots of checks carried out (dna, chromosones, genetics) as yet no firm reason has been found for her global delay.

I was looking at various web sites and came across one which had the pointers for dyspraxia - and my DD feel into some of the categories. She has literality (left and right handed ness) although I put this down to (1) her age and (2) her dad is left handed and I am right handed. She could not sit unaided at 9 months of age (the first reason I was referred to the development clinic), she bum-shuffled (although did eventually crawl). She is very loose limbed (double jointed - poor muscle control) and has physiotheraphy although they can't do much for her, she is being referred to occupational therapy instead.

Why do you think your 5 year old might be dyspraxic?

"praxia' is Greek for action.

I teach in a boys' comp and reckon that 80% of the kids show signs of dyspraxia. My own ds (8) also shows signs so I've looked into it pretty carefully. Don't have a great deal of advice vis a vis parenting - am trying to muddle through but I have found that lists help. Ds has a list in every room of the house which he checks off as he can't cope with more than one instruction at a time. Lists such as "Have I brushed my teeth?" "Have I got my PE kit?" It's the only thing that's worked with us. Plus we're a bit easy on him with table manners - we tend to turn a bit of a blind eye to the food on the floor as we just accept it's going to happen. He's only just managed to ride a bike but interestingly has been able to swim well for ages - perhaps it's easier for him to be in water.

As far as education is concerned, most teachers have experience of dyspraxia. Kids with dysp tend to work better when they have room to move so often prefer to work at a desk alone. Teachers should be aware that hurrying a kid with dysp to remove coat, get books out etc will NOT work. They should always be given more time. Some parents ensure that their kids' clothes have easy fastenings - velcro etc. That's a really good idea.

Unfortunately, not EVERY teacher has experience of dysp. It's a great shame, ds is bright but can barely write legibly. I fear that when he moves to secondary, his poor presentation will put him in lower sets. I guess that praise, praise, praise is the key.

Hi, first time on here.
My ds is 6 years old. He has been reffered to an O/T who has watched him at school and we're waiting home visit, but nobody has ever said why. Only that there is concern over his handwriting (left handed too). and he used to mess in PE but has since improved and now passed level 7 in gym club!!
Reading re Dyspraxia I feel this is what the proffessionals have in mind, in a mild degree.
I was wondering what happens after diagnosis? Even if mild form, what will happen as he grows?
Also, he has tantrums re little things!! Any tips on handling these would be greatfully received.
He is very bright. (reading age of nearly 11years) and interested in learnin (if it's something he likes! Egypt stuff, greek gods/godesses, history, science, etc)
He learnt to ride his bike in June, does swimming lessons, and is better at breaststroke legs than crawl, due to difficulty coordinating left/right and upper/lower limbs.
To sum up, so as you don't go to sleep!
He is probably immature in the social skills (but seems to catch up). he has trouble with knife and fork.
Thanks for staying with this, if you have, hope you can advice.

Hi birty

I know twins at dd's school that were dx at 5 with Dyspraxia.

Symptoms of dyspraxia here from the dyspraxia society HTH

Mum02

Our ds is similar age and has similar symptoms but is only now learning to swim and can't yet ride a bike. Your ds sounds as if, at leaast physically, he is more advanced and coordinated than ours. ds is already having OT but with no offical diagnosis, although the symptomatic problems have been identified by the OT and her sessions specifically target these. Whether an official diagnosis would benefit us I'm not sure as I believe the treatment and help in his school would be the same.

We don't have many tantrums as such but he likes to know what is on the agenda each day and doesn't accept changes to this readily, and can also be very stubborn and difficult if he is in a situation where he is not confident like crowded playgrounds where he can't predict other kids' actions and in learning to ride a bike.

hth

When you talk about not being able to ride a bike, do you mean with or without stabilizers?

Dyspraxia is not a "delay" is is a disorder.
The word "dyspraxia" comes from the root word "Praxis" which means planned movement. So to some degree or another, a child with the diagnosis of dyspraxia has difficulty programming and planning gross and/or fine movements.
My DS (4 and a half) has verbal and oral dypraxia which is a specific speech disorder (diagnosed at age 3). He also shows signs of global dyspraxia in that he has trouble with a bike (on the balance side) and is clumsy. However, we have been told it probably isn't global dyspraxia - rather sensory integration dysfunction. He also has joint hypermobility which adds to any clumsiness - and confuses any straight diagnosis!
Sorry - this really isn't very much help - but we are still a bit 'in limbo' with it all at the moment!

Not sure who you are asking Kateandthegirls but our ds can pedal a bike with stabilisers but has difficulty steering accurately and doesn't like the sensation of speed. We have taken the stabilisers off for now but he refuses to try a lot of the time. It just seems to be one of those things where there is too much for him to think about at once. He is only just starting to balance and freewheel around corners on a 2-wheel scooter.

I wasn't asking anyone in particular, but my 5 year old has some of the symptoms on the website. Part of it is that she has low muscle tone (hypotonia), but I am wondering if there is something else going on.

She can ride her bike that has stabilisers, although it took her a while to get used to it. There's no way she's ready to take the stabilisers off yet. A few of you mentioned not being able to ride a bike and I didn't know if you meant pedaling, steering, or balancing on a 2 wheeler.

It is not easy to list all the symptoms. There are so many different aspects of dyspraxia. It is best for you to get a few books and have a look at a few sites.
My ds has dyspraxia dcd... developmental coordination disorder.

Dyspraxia is a disorder... it is an invisible barrier which needs to be diagnosed early so that the correct form of coping strategies can be put in place.

There are basic symptoms which you could look at...such as
doing buttons
laces, holding a pen, handwriting,
mood swings, lack of confidence, posture, social interaction, reading - might be above average. and intelligence.. more likely to be above average. Lack of spatial awareness.
immiturity in the motor movements.... running can be a problem too.
low muscle tone.

The list goes on but there are so many ways of having your child tested...
1 go to the school - if they have a senco (special needs coordinator) - mention it... work with the senco, ask questions, put your trust in this person.
2 go to GP ask questions, put across your thoughts and those of the senco at school.
3 get school and gp to work together.
(half the battle won.)
4 appeal to school and gp if they can get an early diagnosis between them. Ie, referal to educational psychologist - referal to child developmental psychologist - etc...
5 DON't PANIC!!!

There are many routes this can follow, so go with the flow. It is not curable, but you and your child must find ways to cope - especially before secondary education.

Know your child. Dyspraxia is found in both male and female, but predominantly male. He/she may have communication difficulties, so find a good way of getting her/him to talk and how to talk to her/him.

Dyspraxia is only a recent finding. Don't be bamboozled by everything at once.
One step at a time.

All the best... hope all goes well.

Not being able to ride a bike...

This has a lot to do with coordinating the body movements to make it happen.

Rollerskating can be similar... lots of things that the brain has to link together to do one thing can cause a problem.

Spatial awareness is more to do with eg: put a dyspraxic child in a room next to some tables. Imagine some space the other side of the tables... Ask the child to lay on the floor. The child will lay on the floor, possibly half way under the tables. There will be little or no awareness around the child that he/she should move to a larger area to lay down. This is only an example.. there are many others, such as where to start writing on a page... etc...

These are only little snippets I have experienced, I hope that they are of some help.

PS, I haven't found a change of diet any use... go easy on the fish oils too. EyeQ is recommended but take a while to kick in.

i cant rollerskate! or ice skate. i am forever falling down the stairs too! ds asked me to show him how to use his skateboard and I fell off, dh said no wonder dd is so clumsy

I find though with dyspraxia, ity is harder to diagnose early as it overlaps witrh alot of developmental disorders etc.

Jojo, do you mean not being able to ride a bike even with stabilisers?