Dreading school tomorrow, No one seems to know what to do with my DS . . .

[worrygirl]

Please help me, does this sound familiar to anyone? My DS is going into year 2 tomorrow. His speech is delayed, but he can now hold a conversation. He cannot read or write and also goes to a special Speech and Language therapy unit two mornings a week from school. He is well behaved when he needs to be, so he is not a problem in the classroom. He does not seem to be able to understand instruction unless it is directed directly to him. He has trouble with his fine motor skills but can catch a ball better than most. We are trying for a statement for him as we have been told he needs a differentiated curriculum. We try and try to teach him to read and write, but the strange thing with him is that you can have a little bit of progress, then the next day is like it never happened. Groundhog Day. We were told he is not on the autistic spectrum but that's about it! Any ideas anyone?

Not too sure i can help in any way. Your DS does sound very much like my DD3 though. She is now 15 years old and has had a statement throughout her education. We had to push to get an assessment, but once she was diagnosed with dyspraxia, dyslexia and specific learning difficulties she got the help she needed. She still struggles with reading and spelling, but is a lively teenager and just like her peers nad her sisters. She gets on well in life and wont let any of her difficulties stop her doing what she wants to do.
I would start with the school SENCO (if no SENCO, go to the head) and start saying that you want some assessments and some help for him.
Dyspraxia is very complex and I am sure others on here will know far more than me, but i do know that some things that DD should not have been able to do, she was brilliant at, but others there was a real problem with. She did not speak at all until she was 5 - 6 then it was only vowel sounds for another couple of years. Then there was no stopping her and her speech was the same as her peers.

I really hope you get some help for DS and that the school are sympathetic and helpful. Do it as soon as possible before he gets frustrated and before other children start to knock his confidence.

Sorry, meant to say that we would spend hours teaching DD something, really feel we had got somewhere with her......next day was just as if it had never happened! Once she "had" something, she was fine, but would take 10 times longer than her peers to "get" it. Very frustrating.

You say you have been told it is not ASD. By whom? (Not saying I disagree with them btw, but it sounds "official".) Who have you seen so far?

Diagnosis of something is always a help towards getting a statement, and even if you don't get a diagnosis of cause the process will document the symptoms in a way that makes it easier to see and argue for what your DS needs. Normally that would mean referral to your local CDC (Child Development Centre) which is usually a unit in the local hospital staffed by paediatricians who specialise in this area. But it can vary.

If school are co-operative/on the ball, they may get their LEA Educational Psychologist in, and the Ed Psych (if they are unusually altruistic) may refer to CDC. But generally it's up to you to ask GP to do it.

You can statement without diagnosis, of course. But they are easier to get right first time than to change subsequently so it's easier if you have all the info.

Thank you for your input. So far he has seen OT who started him off in Hand Clinic, then realised that there was a spatial awareness and other dressing problems. eg, not being able to recognize if a garment is upside down, inside out, back to front. Hand Clinic got left behind, so am chasing that up again. In horrendous queue's for him to see community paediatrician. His speech and language teacher said she did not think he was autistic.