First post on SN Thread - DS just diagnosed with Dispraxia ...

[MadameDefarge]

And I am swinging between being happy that finally we have something to work with, and utter fury that it has taken til his is 9, after being on SEN register since nursery, IEPS etc, that nobody spotted this. Instead his old school banged on an on about his symptoms of dyspraxia as separate issues.

I moved him to another, small private school last year because I could see him disappearing before my eyes.

He had an OT assessment last year on the NHS (after me pushing for it) and came a way without a dispraxia diagnosis and just some pencil grip recommendations.

The private neurophysiotherapist I took him to yesterday said he is on the 19th centile for motor coordination, recommended dumping further handwriting intervention and just get him straight onto a laptop, with scribing being used in school until he gets his touch typing up to speed.

She also recommended that he has a SALT assessment.

I feel like I have let him down badly. I feel his old school and NHS OT have let him down badly. And I have spent the day in tears.

But I am happy we have a way forward for him.

just need a bit of hand holding while I process all this.

sorry about spelling mistakes...

It is crap that it has taken this long , you are right to be pissed off. It is even crapper that no-one will even be surprised it's taken that long! But the good news is you now have certainty and a way forward. My boy has verbal dyspraxia and autism, so a bit different. I hope someone more expert comes on to give help/advice.

thank you sick of. What makes it all the more galling was that I was working with a little boy with CP in the next classroom to ds', and all the while he was sinking, while I was doing all the stuff with my charge that ds should have got. So I knew what to do, dammit, just didn't know he needed that support (in a lesser form) too....

Will he get extra help in school now? Extra OT?

I hope so. Its a very small, loving school, and one of his teachers is dyslexic, so I think they will do all they can. Being private, I don't know how much support they can give me, as obviously there is no funding for it, but at least now we can stop forcing the handwriting thing, concentrate on getting his typing skills up.

But his speech is still a worry. I think we are heading for a verbal dyspraxia dx also.

Upside is that he is a bright boy, and with above average visual perception. ITs all going on in there, its just getting it out, both verbally and in written work is the challenge.

She said he is 19th centile and that he is never going to be able to get his skills to match his abilities, is 19th really bad? I mean, clearly its pretty low, but does it count as dreadful?

eek, I mean support they can give ds...not me, although it feels like i need it too at the moment! clearly a Freudian slip!

I'm no expert at all on centiles but all that 19th thing shows is a point in time - ie where he is now. That tells you nothing about his prognosis, as now he's getting the right help he might zoom ahead. For my Ds's verbal dyspraxia there has been nothing to beat simply practising all the sounds in front of a mirror, or another person, so he can see exactly how the mouth and tongue shape themselves to make each sound. We have also now moved onto practising saying phrases echoically, and that has worked well. His clarity is still poor, but it's miles better than it was. The typing thing is interesting as we are struggling away on handwriting, whereas actually in 10 years let's face it everyone will be using a keyboard not a pen, tapping away on their computers, blackberries, Iphones etc. To me, learning to type is the modern equivalent of learning to handwrite! I am definitely teaching my boy typing, maybe one day we'll give up on the handwriting struggle.

Agree with sickof - there is a lot that can be done and I'm a bit surprised at your neurophysio giving such a gloomy prognosis after on assessment
DD1 has dyspraxia but the OT who diagnosed her ended our first meeting by saying that we must have hope because she could helped. Long term this turned out to be true, but short term it made me at least feel a lot more positive
Don't blame yourself. You have the diagnosis now & can get the help your DS needs
DD1 was discharged by an NHS OT who diagnosed some minor sensory issues and possibly auditory processing disorder - neither of which she was prepared to follow up

She was pretty clear on the fact that she could not get him up to speed however much work he did. She said she could probably get him to 24th centile, but given his high centiles in other areas, there would always be a massive disaparity and she felt it would be more productive just to bypass that and concentrate on the laptop, and speech therapy.

She recommended a bbc touch typing programme, I think tis called dance mat, and you can do it online. I've had a look and it looks fun.

I think also its because it is unclear whether his processing and organising issues are simply a result of not being able to get his ideas out in time, so he simply gets in a muddle, or whether he has more serious processing issues. If we take the handwriting out of the equation, it will become much clearer what his other issues might be, or even might not be!

My son is 8, also dyspraxic, and has taken to touch typing like a duck to water! I knew all those computer games would come in handy one day . Seriously though, the diagnosis has really helped his self confidence and his performance in school has improved as a result - having an explanation for his difficulties has boosted his self-esteem.

If DS1 is anything to go by, development is in no way fixed, as Sickof says. Also, as an ex secondary school English teacher, I have taught many dyspraxic/dyslexic boys who have made huge progress around the age of 14/15. So although you may feel some time has been wasted, there's still an enormous amount that can be done.

He does Dance Mat typing - loves it!

sphil, that is very reassuring. I need to have a good chat with him too, so far we have just said he will get a laptop in class, because it'll help him get all his great ideas out, and he is thrilled.

Academically he is very able, just been really dragged down by this insistance on handwriting, which he simply cannot do fast enough, and while we can improve it, it seems a bit counterproductive to concentrate on that which will never be at his peers level, rather than giving him the tools to do the job properly now and in the future. And yup, how many of us do long pieces of handwritten work anymore?

and agree about the games thingy!

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DS1 just said that the diagnosis had 'explained things to me about myself'. He sounds very similar to your DS - bright, but held back by the slowness of his recording of info/ideas. He also has some attention and focus problems - tends to drift into dreamland, though this has improved a great deal since he was small.

I don't know what your Ds's organisation is like, but one thing we've done with DS1 recently is a visual timetable for school, so he knows what is coming up. We've put it on a cork board, with an exercise book pinned underneath. In the evening after school, he 'writes' a diary of the day's events (he dictates, I scribe). As well as helping with organisation and remembering items he needs, having the day in front of him in visual form seems to have helped with his recall of events, and we've had much more productive conversations about things that he's done well, and struggled with, than ever before (when he would just say 'I can't remember' if I asked him how the day had been).

DS1 was diagnosed as 'moderate' but we've never had a centile reading.

the dx was made by a private neurophysiotherapist at the Portland. eyewateringly expensive but worth every penny. I suppose I can be reassured that she isn't trying to sign him up for a course of physio at £80 a pop.

and hi harman. It is all very bewildering, first day of new future I guess.

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Dyspraxia is still an area many psychologists do not understand and apart from co-odination issues (mentally and physically) until the 1990s no one fully understood it. Schools (unless specialist schools) have a hard job understanding dyspraxia themselves and in my primary school we are lucky enough (mainstream) to have a programme called Monkey mob which allows children to learn about dyspraxia as well as communicate and learn about each other, encouraging confidence and learning about dyspraxia and the gifts/hinderences that come along with it. I am a TA, but am also identified as Dyspraxic and memory dyslexic. It means that you have to a learn differently and harder than others which is frustrating when the teacher/parent does not understand this as it can hinder progress. Positive support and building up confidence is vital! Stratagies such as memory charts, explaining calmly how to deal with difficult situations. I am not an expert however I am a little concerned that handwriting has been dumped as he/she will need this as an adult and practice will not harm although I understand that writing can be difficult. Voice reorders are really good also even if to record teachers imput to play back for further understanding if he is old enough. Sorry to ramble on! I have to say, my first time here and what a wonderful supportive website!

thank you vixma, for that. I think you are right. Its not so much we are dumping handwriting outright (fwitw, his handwriting is beautiful!) its simply that to only use that that is academic and creative outlet will limit him unnecessarily. His level for example is 9 words a minute. This is very poor. He can never physically finish a written task in the time allocated, and worse than that, it confuses his thought processes, because there is such a disparity between his intellectual ability and his physical ability to express that.

I had a great meeting with his head (who is also is year teacher) and she was very supportive...and also suggested a dictaphone as another way forward for him, along with scribing.

Its a question I think of keeping the big picture in mind, what do we want from them? Its to be able to express themselves properly.

If we stuck to handwriting only, then he would never be able to express himself, because, like it or not, time constraints rule in school.

And handwriting is only a tool, after all, other methods are just as valid.

He will continue to use handwriting, for maths, multiple choice, and do art etc.

We will just move the focus off an actvity that is very hard for him, and focus on what that activity is actually about, ie expression.

Just wanted to let you know that percentile ratings can go up with good occupational therapy.

ds started off at less than 5th percentile irrc, but in a year made massive improvements - I can't rememeber the latest figures but I was delighted!

Dyspraxia is a motor learning disability. With the right input it is possible to improve issues.

Glad you will now get more support for him, it is such a shame it has come so late.

thanks chops. I know we could improve his rate, but she seemed pretty firm that it would be effort in the wrong direction, ie she could do all the physio/OT stuff, but that the lag would be still huge, and he would not get up to speed with his peers, and that at this stage it is important for him to be able to be on a level with them in terms of academic output.

But we will be supporting him with doing activity based excercises, like a martial art, piano, games etc.

A couple of questions,

I saw stuff on the penagain, for writing. I've ordered one, to see if ds likes it and if it makes writing easier (I don' want to abandon it totally!)

And another, has anyone heard of David Mulhall? He seems to think you can cure dyspraxia, or summat, with bodybrushing...

maybe its all snake oil and mirrors, but worth looking into?

Welcome Madame.

DS2 is awaiting testing for dyspraxia (well, SENCO promised a letter in June ), he's 9 next month (also have two with asd and one who is NT atm)

The speech can clear up quickly- ds2 couldn't be understood well until ^ and indeed a child in ds3'soldclass had verbal dyspraxia and a statement and is now very well spoken indeed.

BIBIC may be something you want tolook at, it can be excellent for dyspraxia and whilst nto eprfect for everyone suits some very well indeed (google it)

They told us last year ds2 won'tever write clearly,but he's made massive gains since with lots of input at school (they amde the TAs redundant alst week though ) so I think there is always hope and progress

Ah Peachy, thanks for that.

And very heartening to hear about the verbal stuff getting better.

I have to say that I have abandoned all hope of getting help on the NHS and am using my savings for private assessments.

Sencos and their bloody letters. That never get sent. It would be an Ed Psych appointment, wouldn't it? Another route would be to get a referral from your GP, is school is dragging their heels.