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Original poster

SIS....Dyspraxia Info Please!

25 replies

TheRealMrsF · 16/04/2005 22:34

You mentioned your son has dyspraxia...... as i said my son 'seems dyspraxic'

at 11 he still hates teeth being brushed,toe/finger nails and hair being cut, wondered if this is familiar to u??

He also hates slides/swings etc....and never been one for heights.

he has a terribly dis-jointed run...all arms and legs all over the place!!!

Only just mastering cuttlery.....still prefers lidded cups.

was a dribbler- but now he's 11 he doesn't dribble (!!!) but is very wet mouthed

does any of this 'fit'???

OP posts:

Blossomhill · 16/04/2005 22:35

MrsF - please someone correct me if I am wrong but dyspraxia and As do have similarities I believe.

Original poster

TheRealMrsF · 16/04/2005 22:36

yes...the good ol' spectrum strikes again!!!!

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Blossomhill · 16/04/2005 22:39

Is dyspraxia on the spectrum then MrsF?

Original poster

TheRealMrsF · 16/04/2005 22:39

it's back to that 'umbreela' diagram again...each secton of the umbrella is something like ADHD,Dyspraxia and Semantic/pragmatic etc....and they all are part of the ASD...though there are some people who won't accept ADHD...howver many ADHD diagnosis's later become ASPERGERS etc.....Hmmmm.....the diagnosis is vast!!!

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Blossomhill · 16/04/2005 22:40

Yes it's just one huge minefield isn't it MrsF?

Original poster

TheRealMrsF · 16/04/2005 22:43

our paed (though i'm off her at the mo!) described it all like the olympic rings...all overlapping...and the diagnosis being made up of many factors. I just think that if someone has a child with classic Autism...that they'd ahet being 'linked ' to ADHD-as the 2 are so vastly different.......i remember last year reading something about there being talk of taking Asperger's 'out of the Autism' heading and putting it with things like SP,ADHD etc...and that Autism would refer specifically to 'Classic ' autism.

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Saker · 16/04/2005 22:44

I don't think dyspraxia can really qualify as on the spectrum because the criteria for diagnosing it are solely down to problems with motor skills - social and communication skills are not looked at. So a really "pure" case of dyspraxia may only have gross and fine motor problems. As I understand it many dyspraxics have autistic tendencies however and problems with socialisation. However I believe clumsiness can also go along with Aspergers without being dyspraxia. Does that make any sense?

Blossomhill · 16/04/2005 22:46

Yes I think they should Mrs F. It makes so much more sense if these disorders were seperated IMO

Original poster

TheRealMrsF · 16/04/2005 22:47

yes saker- thats why i started this thread- as tom is AS but i'm sure he has 'dyspraxic tendancies'....hoping he will see a OT soon as i'm worried that his 'uneven gait' when he runs (as the pro's call it!!!) is getting worse...seems floppier...looks like a marionnette when he runs...all slack joints etc. (bit worried really )

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Blossomhill · 16/04/2005 22:49

Hope you manage to get something sorted Mrsf. I am worried about dd as she is constantly bumping into people. Has no spatial awareness at all.

Tiggiwinkle · 16/04/2005 22:49

Mrs F-My 16 year old is dyspraxic and my 6 year old is AS.
They do share some common traits but somehow DS5 is very different and it is difficult to say exactly how. I suppose DS5 is more in a world of his own at times, and much more rigid, with the usual routines that AS kids seem to have.
But I must admit I find it all very confusing and wonder how on earth they differentiate between all the different overlapping conditions.

Saker · 16/04/2005 22:54

The book "Dyspraxia: the hidden handicap" by Amanda Kirby has some good suggestions for dealing with dyspraxic type problems. Even if that is not the diagnosis the same methods would probably be useful.

I think you know this site The Dyscovery Centre , but I'll post it again just in case.

We are off there on Wednesday to get my son's speech and language assessed. I think he might have dyspraxia - he has a lot of the problems associated with it but with language problems too. The clinical pyschologist has also suggested he has autistic tendencies. For example he can blank people. However he has very unclear speech and I think this is partly a protection mechanism against people not understanding him. Likewise he doesn't point, but again I think this may be because he avoids anything physical and finds it hard to track and line up a point. I'm trying to say that some autistic tendencies in dyspraxics may be for different reasons though presenting in the same way.

Tiggiwinkle · 16/04/2005 22:55

Also, MrsF, my AS DS5 has "hypermobility" of the joints which is apparently often the case in children with Aspergers.

Pollyanna · 16/04/2005 22:59

hi, I'm reading this with interest too. My ds (aged 6) has been diagnosed with dyspraxia and adhd and also has hypermobile joints (and other associated physical and social problems). I thought he had AS, but the paed seems sure he doesn't. It is very confusing how these conditions all overlap. I wonder whether we'll ever get a clear diagnosis of my son's
condition[s]

Saker · 16/04/2005 23:00

It is confusing, people keep saying my ds2 (3.5y) just doesn't fit into any box.

Anyway better go to bed .

Saker · 16/04/2005 23:00

It is confusing, people keep saying my ds2 (3.5y) just doesn't fit into any box.

Anyway better go to bed .

RTKangaMummy · 16/04/2005 23:00

DS is nearly 10 and has Dyspraxia and is Hypermobile joints esp knees.

Blossomhill · 16/04/2005 23:01

Saker - tell me about it, same with dd!

Saker · 17/04/2005 08:29

Obviously it would be good to get a diagnosis but I could sort of live without except as a consequence they don't do anything for him. For example the SALT saw him three weeks ago and said she honestly didn't know what to do with him. She didn't make any suggestions of things I could do with his language. She has gone away to discuss with her boss but her boss is on holiday and then they will have to find a convenient date so see him again...etc. Meanwhile time ticks on and nothing gets done. That's why I'm taking him to the Dyscovery Centre for a speech and language assessment. I hope that they will be able to sort out where his speech is and what we can do to help.

Sorry for the rant - it's so frustrating because he is so ready to learn at the minute and I need to know we are doing the maximum we can for him.

Blossomhill · 17/04/2005 08:50

The thing with all of these disorders is that they overlap so much.

sis · 17/04/2005 12:52

Hi, sorry I missed this last night. Well the paed neurologist diagnosed ds as definately dyspraxic and poss mildly autistic whilst his Ot said he definately wasn't dyspraxic - but he had sensory integration disorder.

Ds had some fairly intense OT over the summer holidays last year and we try to follow through with some OT at home on a regular basis. He has improved a lot in terms being able to socialise on a one to one basis with other children - he still refuses to play in a group of two or more other children.

He is very, very cautious about any activity so has to be heavily bribed to even try climb the first rung of a rope ladder, will play on the swing in our garden but not in playgrounds, he is happy to go down small (toddler) slides but is patchy on bigger slides.

Ds was extremely ticklish, so showering was often a trial and haircuts were also a bit traumatic but after a couple of weeks of daily body brushing, he is a lot less ticklish and we have kept up the body brushing for the last six months or so.

I am not sure my rambling is of any use, but, i suppose apart from the dribbling, ds had most of the things you decribe you son having - whether the label for ds is dyspraxia or autism or sensory integration disorder or a combination of two or more of these, who knows?! But the 'syptoms' have been improved a great deal by the OT he has received and we have been really lucky with his fantastic class teacher this year she has supported the OT exercises at school. As the OT was done privately, she also did a visit at school to talk to his teacher about the sort of things the teacher could do to help ds.

Sorry to be so rambly - ask away if you have any specific questions and i will do my best although, I am by no means, any sort of an expert.

Original poster

TheRealMrsF · 18/04/2005 09:45

thanks sis...I will mention the possibility of OT help when i see their Psychologist on friday...the body brushing is something we have not tried...sounds helpful.

Also...thanks to those of you who mention 'hypermobility' joints...again something that has never been directly explained to me...looking at ME and Tom And Leigh for starters ...we all have joints that flex BOTH ways...what i always called 'double jointed'.... now funny thing is....so does my brother and so does my dad...and they too i believ are ver AS???? Is there a link ????

Leigh is still able to put his toes in his mouth (yucky do......he even bites his toe nails......disgusting....what will his wife say on their honeymoon!?! ) Tom's most 'flexi joint' is his little fingers....they bend back at first knuckle through 90 degrees....like an l shape.....so wondering if OT would liknk his 'disjointed' running to this...as i assume he has other joint 'bendiness'....he got really touchy when i tried to examine him last night!!!!

OP posts:

Original poster

TheRealMrsF · 18/04/2005 09:46

my 'weird' joints r my little fingers which i can click in and out of the sockets...and my brothers can do the same with his thumbs!!!

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RTKangaMummy · 18/04/2005 10:05

DS joints are very loose and hypermobile

His knees are the ones that affect him the most.

his legs are not at 180 degrees but go beyond that naturally more like 200 degrees

They hurt him when he is walking because there is so much movement in the knee joint adn the ligaments have to support knee IYSWIM

He too puts his thumb on his wrist and foot in mouth etc.

The OT and Physio have helped him with exercises to stregthen his joints.

Sapphire1975 · 05/05/2005 16:42

Hi
newbie here
My eldest ds is 10 and has dyspraxia (diagnosed when he was 6) and aspergers syndrome/asd (diagnosed last year)
he also suffers from depression (talking of suicide and self harming)

He has socialisation problems, obsessions, irrational fears
as well coordination gross and fine motor problems.

I also wanted to point out that dyspraxia can also affect speech as well as having simularities to autism (I have a very severely autistic older brother so have grown up with this.)

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