Dyspraxia.

[VictorianSqualor]

I've had a conversation with DD's teacher today

I had been thinking for a while there was more to her messiness/terrible handwriting than left-handedness, and add to it her apparent lack of concentration, inability to sit still etc etc

I finally plucked up the guts to ask the teacher if she had any thoughts on dyspraxia, I had almost convinced myself that as she didn't have the behavioural aspects and was excelling at school in every other way that it wasn't dyspraxia but things are getting more and more noticeable every day.

Teacher said she was going to mention it to the SENCO this week as it's what she has been considering too and wanted to see if the SENCO thought it was before she mentioned it to me, apparently her reading/numeracy and verbal are beyond the rest of the class's abilities but her fine motor skills, like cutting out writing etc are getting worse rather than better. She thinks it's probably dyspraxia with dyslexic tendencies(?)

Anyway, SENCO meeting with the teacher this week, they are going to keep monitoring her for the rest of this term and the beginning of next and then we have to go to the doctor apparently to see about getting a dx.

I'm gutted, I really am, especially as I've been so hard on her about these traits which it seems may be unavoidable rather than laziness, but at least if it is dyspraxia we can now get it sorted.

If its any consolation at all, i came down on DS1 like a tonne of bricks - until it came about that he had ADHD and was NOT lazy .

I rather suspect its not just us two either...

Forgive yourself, and give her the help your dd needs. It will be much more productive for both of you in the long run, and will help you two to get closer too.

much love and {{{HUGS}}}

I think guilt goes with the territory . I used to get so cross with ds

ds still hasn't got a diagnosis though , even though he was seen by developmental paed almost 3 years ago and has had OT for over a year (more off than on). We are probably going to have to see an Ed Psych privately.

My daughter has dyspraxia, VS.

I'm sorry you're going through this.

Even though DD1 has always had motor skills delays, first referred to paed at 8 months, it's still hard.

This past week, after a disastrous pre-SCAT meeting, we're working on holding her back a year before starting school (she was 5 last Thursday).

I always feel guilty - was it that time I drank all that vodka at a party when I was about 1 week pregnant (I didn't know it at the time), the forceps birth, etc.?

But we'll never know (DH, FIL and DH's brother all have dyspraxia, too).

You're not alone, VS.

I'm glad this board is here! I know it's a club no one wants to join but it's good that it's here, we're a supportive group.

VS

firstly give yourself a break- thuinking your lo may have problems is a horrid time, almost a bereavement, so be kind to yourself.

secondly all those traits sound like me- i used even to get kept in to draw lines with a ruler my co-ordinatuiion was so crap- and o turned out ok (ish lol)

check out bibic (sorry i know i always say them)- you don't need a dx first, they cover dyslexia up (www.bibic.org.uk)

once you start to understand you'll be amazed how quickly you will learn to find ways around her issues

My ds has dyspraxia too. He is in the early stages of diagnosis. We came down hard our our ds for a good 2 terms about his messy writing and lack of concentration. Boy did I feel guilty for the pressure I put him under when I began to realsie it wasn't his fault. You are not alone

Thanks ladies, I feel a bit coming on this board complaining when I know how tough some of the posters and their children have it, here I am whinging about something that will hopefully be manageable and not impact too deeply on her life.

I know I'm never going to stop feeling guilty about riding her all the time, even her teacher had thought it was just her being left-handed until recently when she realised things weren't improving so I'm consoling myself that it wasn't just me that didn't notice it.

Looking on the dyspraxia site though there is so much I missed when she was small, like her never crawling and being slow to reach physical developmental milestones, which I always put down to her being premature.

Well, the past is gone, tomorrow we will be prepared and today is called 'present' for a reason. There were days I thought she wasn't going to be here and she is, which I'm forever grateful for.

I have dyspraxia. I spent all my life being told I was useless and weird, only finding out it was dyspraxia (and dyslexia) when I was 21. I wish I'd found out earlier, so its good your dd is being helped now, it means she can miss out the terrible teenage years of not knowing why she can't do what she wants to do. I'm now studying for a degree in english lit and doing really well (heading for a 2:1) so there is hope, no need to write her off! I'm not sure about school, but uni gives me loads of help and equpiment to help and I've found it a benefit even, as I've been able to show my full potential and know that all the idiots (pupils and teachers) were wrong.

My son is mega dyspraxic and I came down like a ton of bricks on him when small cause it just seemed so daft that I had a child who could remember teeny tiny details of stuff that happened years before but couldn't remember which way a C went. Don't be too hard on her as I think my chap almost developed a phobia about writing which is only just disappearing now he is 13. My big advice is get OT help (scrape together money to pay for it) as soon as possible. Get a really good assessment (NHS one might not be as wide ranging as it could be). There is sooooo much involved such as visual processing, etc. Turns out my chap can't really 'see' 3D objects properly which kinda explains why he can't do ball games in PE and cant distinguish a shirt left on a duvet from the duvet cover pattern.

My LEA run a scheme where they assess a child for sole laptop use. My son has had his own in school since the age of 6. That's been a lifesaver.

All the best.

find out what lea provision is- ours is (as i have bored you with many a time) crap at asd but bizarrely fab with dyslexia etc- Sam has part use of a specialist 1-1 for 1.5 terms from september and is also being taught from scratch using a new sysrem on top of his asd hours.

I didn't realise bibic was brain injury, is dyspraxia brain injury then?
Sorry, I know nothing about anything.
Have there been any studies about what they think causes it?

bibic has been around for 30 years ans was named when they took a narrower spectrum of cases, i think the name does off put peolpe with milder disorders

dyspraxia is thought to be at the very mildest end of the same genetic spectrum asd asd- somewhere between dyslexia and aspergers I would guess. that would make sense, there does seem to br cross over. just because its genetic doesnt make itinherited though- sometimes it is, sometimes its spontaneous.

if you do go to bibic let me know (although they do outreach too and might go nearer you?) as mum lives close by. its worth it and they can help financially.

I've always been wary of bibic not for any speicific reason apart from perhaps my sense of nto wanting it to be relevant to my ds who has motor coordination issues etc but pretty midlly comapred to most SN children on here.

Peachy what do you mean by helping financially - are assessments there subsidised,do they offer longer term help for equipment and therapy ? Are their assessments widely recognised ?

A bit of all really- they offer financial help schemes (we have had them for both the ds's who have attended), and also the reports we had were used with both DLA (mine have ASD issues, but dyspraxic kids can get dla), and statements. Oh and even dx with ds1!

I did find it helped them a lot generally as well, and me because I felt I was doing something and because of the extra stuff- discussion forums on specific topics, that sort of thing.

Equipment has never been an issue- its never been specialist, always easy to find such as a massager in Argos, velvet cloth, desk chair, mustard (!), that sort of thing.

Ogh we went one time, the other child was absolutely NT apart froma mild speech delay, and a good friend attends with dyslexia and has come on amrvellously.

I dont know for sure but they seem to have other kids of similar abilities there when ypu are so you dont get that sense of others being worse off (which we all get).

Thanks Peachy, I'll bear it in mind, apparently the SENCO at her school is great I was talking to someone about it yesterday and the Teacher thinks it might be a good idea to go to the GP as well and see what, if anything, he can do to help. (He is a lovely doctor too, a proper 'family' doctor y'know? remembers your names, bends over backwards to help etc )

If I get stuck I'll contact bibic.

My nephew now 17 has dyspraxia and I am 43 and pretty sure i have it too, undiagnosed and probably mild but there nevertheless. Please don't be too disheartened I managed to go to university and am a teacher myself now so it doesn't mean your child will automatically underachieve. Look out for extra sensitivity to language and music. I can laugh at myself now and expect little of myself regards balance and coordnation. My sister's favourite party trick was making me carry 2 cups of tea from the kitchen to the livingroom and then taking bets on which one would have the most spills!! Things I can't really do are catch balls, judge if things are in a straight line, cut things out easily, arty crafty things, anything involving spatial awareness. Apart from that, fine, good luck

thank you for your post, confused!

it's so hard sometimes to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

my little girl can get so panicked about things sometimes, things we find so simple to do and she just can't.

sometimes, i just worry well into the morning about what the future holds for her.

DP was talking about dyspraxia to a friend at work when the graphic designer told him she has it too.
She's quite a successful lady but apparently found things really hard for a time.

My son has it. I think I have a mild version too - crappy handwriting, total inability to catch or hit a ball, can't run fast, clumsy etc
He will also get a laptop at school and I've had to be pretty assertive about getting his needs met.