5yr old newly diagnosed as Dyspraxic

[MamaBear76]

My son has recently been diagnosed as having dyspraxia after a long history of developmental delays. We are shocked and desperately want to help him, but are not sure how. He gets very anxious, but is a very pleasant, sociable child. He started school in September. I have noticed he can read letters now, but finds writing really tough and avoids any activites involving pencils or crayons. He still needs nappies at night and I am afraid he may be teased about this by the other children. He also wants to join in team games, but doesn't as he is embarrassed about his co-ordination problems, that is, he cant actually kick a ball yet. How can I best support him? Any advice greatly appriciated.

Hi MammaBear

My ds is also being dx with dyspraxia, as a co morbid of asd/aspergers, and is the same age as your ds.

It is really difficult and I totally undertstand, luckily my ds enoys sports, he never joins in but gets enjoyment out of just watching.

Perhaps his participation will come in time. But Im almost sure that they dont tend to join in but just to watch, its just how they feel comfotable. But not sure if that is the dyspraxia or the asd.

He's still very young and lots of kids his age aren't dry at night, unless he does sleep overs noone would know anyway. There are some good games which can help with sequencing and processing as well as giving him a social opportunity - try the Orchard ones or Top Trumps. Has he been referred for OT as that will give you activities to practise at home re. coordination and motor skills. Lego, playdoh, sand and water are good for encouraging motor coordination and strength ie he can "write" and "draw" in wet sand or flour with his finger and make letters out of playdoh.

You may also want to contact the Dyscovery Centre based in Newport as they have much experience in this field:-

www.dyscovery.co.uk/index.pl

Hi my DS is the same age and in a similar position. He too won't have much to do with pencils or crayons. He will squiggle but tells me quite defiantly that he doesn't do writing letters. I've got the triangular shaped pencils and felt tips which are better for them to hold. You can also get writing slopes which make life easier for them. Any pre writing activity will help though from bead threading, puzzles, peg boards, finger painting with shaving foam, playdoh, chalks outside etc
I tried "Write Dance" to encourage my son to mark make but he didn't like the music. There is also a scheme called "Handwriting without Tears" which might be of use.
My DS will opt out of PE sessions unless he has 1:1 support as he is aware he can't follow the instructions.
Our education authority has a programme called "Better Move On" for dyspraxia which was devised by OT's and is carried out by LSA's in schools. I don't know if this is in other LA's.
Is your OT going to support your son in school? Sometimes they will do a block of intervention work and then give you a follow up programme.
Sorry this is a bit rambling. Don't worry about the nappies. We have lots of children in school who are not dry at night and they are several years older. If you are worried about it though your school nurse will support you.

Hi, my eldest daughter age 6 has just been refered to senco at school and we are waiting for assessment in the new year. Does anyone know what this involves? She has handwriting problems and sensitive to sounds and is easily distressed and has tanrums amongst her symptoms.

Thanks for your replies about my son. The community paediatrition who diagnosed my son said that an OT would help him, but our area is under-resourced and there is no chance that he will be seen, as only the most severe cases get refered. That was quite dissappointing, but I guess it is up to me to help him, as best I can. Thank you so much for your suggestions! I do have play-dough and Lego at home, but my son tries to avoid them because he finds them difficult and frustrating. I have also found that the only physical activity that he will participate in is 1:1, like you son Padua. I have started 1:1 swimming with him, and I am going to get the shaped pencils that you suggested too. He has seen a physio and we do his exercises together every night.
I feel the weight of responsibility - the way I handle this, may affect him through his life.
Thanks again for your support. It does help to know that there are others in the same situation experiencing this too.

Have you spoken to the senco at his school. When DS2 (4yrs) was diagnosed in May we spoke to the school and they put him on school action plus straight away. The paediatrition did refer DS to OT but it was a few months before he was seen. The senco at achool was fantastic, she already saw another child with dyspraxia and so put in place a similar OT prgramme for DS straight away. When the OT eventually did assess DS in school virtually all the suggestions the OT made were things that the senco was already doing with him.
I wouldn't worry too much about him still wearing nappies at night my HV told me that they don't consider it a problem until a child is at least 7. MY DS2 is dry at night, but DS1 (6yrs) is still in pull ups.

wouldnt worry about the nappies hun, both ds3 and ds4 started school in nappies, well school requested pull ups. ds3 is still in them at school age 7 now, and the kids dont seem to have a problem with it hun, this is in mainstream btw. i worry so much about how the other kids will be but it doesnt seem a problem at all, and if its only at night then they wont even know.

Hi, MamaBear76,

Is your son low tone/hypermobile aswell? My son is definitely low toned (hypotonic) and hypermobile. I suspect he is also dyspraxic, as his motor planning is poor (I had to teach him how to roll over, crawl, pull to stand, walk, climb playground equipment, dress and undress, unwrap presents and the foil around his sandwiches, etc, etc) and although many of his motor issues could be explained by the hypermobility and his personality, I'm quite sure that, eg, problems unwrapping sandwiches are not the result of a purely physical issue! Hypotonia and/or hypermobility frequently go hand in hand with dyspraxia.

Anyway, things that were advised to us to help with the low tone (which results in, eg, poor pencil grip) and hypermobility and therefore would probably help generally with dyspraxia are: trampolining; writing/scribbling on a blackboard and/or painting standing up or kneeling on the floor with the paper against the wall, as this helps with shoulder stability (and hip stability if kneeling); holding several coins in one hand and manipulating them one at a time into your fingers to post through a slot in a box; trying to pull a coin out of the middle of a ball of plasticine or playdough, etc. And the big, triangular pencils also help my son hugely - he just can't get a good grip on normal pens and pencils. Oh, and wheelbarrow walking is also supposed to be good for building up shoulder stability, which is essential for good fine motor skills, as is playing floor games (eg giant snakes and ladders game, jumbo jigsaw puzzles) or anything that encourages your child to go onto all fours on the floor and balance his body weight onto his shoulders and hips. Presumably, soft play areas are also therefore a good idea!

My son has never had a problem forming his letters correctly (if not neatly), as he has always had a fascination with letters and numbers (and is really quite gifted at reading and with maths). I suspect, however, that he was helped in this by the Finger Phonics books (part of the Jolly Phonics series) - they have large indented letters for you to trace with your fingers, which is why we got them for him, as we were also told that dyspraxic children may learn more easily if they are given more tactile feedback, hence having the letters that they can feel as they trace them, rather than trying to copy something just by looking at it. Our ds used to spend hours tracing his fingers around the indented letters in the direction indicated and was able pretty rapidly to reproduce this on paper.

Anyway, hopefully some of that is helpful for you.