DYSPRAXIA AND FINE MOTOR SKILLS!!!

[cherryliquormonster]

i have just received a report on my 7.3 year old son from the OT. the report says that he has significant difficulties in all aspects of fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor integration and manual dexterity.
the tests performed put him on the 3rd percentile rank for visual perception, the 1st percentile rank for visual motor integration, the 2nd percentile rank for manual dexterity and his overall movement assessment on the 9th percentile rank.according to the report all the scores are really low, and any score on the 5th percentile or lower will require intervention, however his ball skills was on the 25th percentile and his balance was on the 63rd.
i have been advised to apply for the personal care element of DLA for him and to try and get funding for him to go horseriding and swimming as we are on a very low income. does anyone know how this will work please? i know how to fill in the forms but i would like more info before i do it. thanks xx

Seeing your Q on the other thread (was above, may not be now), there is another thread (below) asking about GDD and DLA. I can't help you I'm afraid, but you may get some answers on there.

Also, www.cerebra.co.uk (i think) offer some great help with form filling in.

You can apply for DLA if your child requires substantially more care and support than an average child of the same age ie things like still having to dress/wash/feed him and do therapy. There are 3 different rates for different levels of disability (well actually the extra time the carer has to put in) low- medium and high. DLA sometimes entitles you to concessions. We have a money advice unit locally who can help with the filling in of forms - the words used can be important.
Ds 8 has autism and LD but also very low centiles (overall 4th) on movement/ coordination and recently did a riding course organised through our local ADHD/ASD support group. I really do think it has helped his balance and empathy!!

www.cerebra.org.uk/parent_support/DLA_guide.htm

thanks to all. magso- he doesnt need me to do those things for him but he does need help with most of them, for example he has a habit of putting things on back to front, and his shoes on the wrong feet, also i need to do all his fastenings for him. he can feed himself but still uses his fingers and a fork/spoon- he cant use a knife. i have to brush his teeth for him, and wash him when he showers. i do therapy with him for his fine motor skills ie puzzles, cutting out and sticking, and various other things like threading and tug of wars to strengthen his grip. he also has been recommended to go horseriding to help improve his posture. i also have to watch him like a hawk when we are out as he has no road sense at all and no sense of danger- he was hit by a car just outside our house in may as he just ran across the road without lokking.

Hi my DS is 4 and was diagnosed with Dyspraxia in May. We have just been awarded middle rate care DLA for him, the forms are awful things to fill out but the DLA guide on the cerebra website is a great help.
Reading what you have written about your DS it's like reading a description of my own except he also has problems with his gross motor coordination and core stability. We got some of the Junior Caring Cutlery for DS, he still reverts back to his fingers if he thinks we aren't watching but they have made a big difference.
If you get middle or higher rate care for him you could apply to the family fund for a grant, I'm not sure if they would fund horse riding or swimming lessons but it's worth a try.

The horse riding my son went on was paid for initially by lottery money. The support group applied for the funds and organised the riding. We have continued it (£17 a session) because we think it is helping - and Ds has a real rapor with the horse (us next eh)! Is there still a charity that in my childhood was called Riding for the Disabled - probably got a different name now. Does the OT know of any charities or riding/swimming schools that could help?
I hope your son was not badly hurt!. Have had several near misses on roads ourselves (an ever present nightmare - ds is so large to hold onto/ drag out of the way now)- there is a low rate mobilty element to DLA which you should/may get.

thanks magso- no he wasnt badly hurt, thankfully the car was only doing 10mph, but he could have been. just thankful that it was that car which hit him, they normally tear up my road doing at least 60mph. he had some severe grazing and bruising to his left foot and a big graze on his hip. he still has scarring on his foot, one fingernail sized which will be permanent but the rest is fading now. he is thankfully not too big to hold/drag, he is quite small for his age. its funny though, i was reading up about it and most of the research indicates that balance is usually a big problem, and riding a bike is something that kids like him usually have problems with- he has been riding without stabilisers for two years now since he was 5. will ask the OT about the riding and swimming. thanks

My ds can ride a bike too, but he can't ride a trike. After talking to the OT about it we think it's because when riding a bike your body weight is above the pedals and DS uses his body weight to make the pedals go round whereas with a trike the pedals are in front of the body and he just hasn't got the strength in his body to move them.
It's just a theory.
He can still fall over the pattern in the carpet though, lol.

metalmummy- its funny isnt it. now u mention it ds can also ride a trike, but not a scooter- he doesnt have the co-ordination for it.