ASD compared to Dyspraxia

[allaboutme]

I know there is another similar thread on here at the moment and I have read it with interest. However I have a slightly different question to ask on a similar line...

DS is being assessed for ASD. We have a verbal diagnosis, just waiting for 'official' one now.
I have noticed though that his SALT is giving me worksheets from her 'dyspraxia' folder and it got me curious, so I googled dyspraxia and realised DS shows many of the traits of it as it is so very similart to ASD.
However DS is slightly more clumsy than normal, but walked early, can ride a bike etc and doesnt show any of the other gross motor skill delays/problems. He does have fine motor skills issues.
Does this rule out dyspraxia do you know? It seems like a key area of traits of it.... so I am womdreing if this is the main trait of it that seperates it from ASD?

There is plenty of scope for overlap and there are theories that such conditions relate to similar problems conducting the messages from one side of the brain. ds is dyspraxic but EP didn't completely rule out AS traits, just that the dyspraxia has a significant effect on his day to day situation. I wouldn't rule it out as coexisting but it may not be the dominant issue in your ds' behaviour.

You can have verbal dyspraxia without a lot of physical symptoms though it would be fairly unusual.

Even if the SLT hasn't actually diagnosed dyspraxia your DS may nevertheless benefit from the same the type of therapy that would be used for dyspraxia, based on teaching the DC every individual sound and eventually building them into words IYSWIM. If it is obvious that the DC has difficulty in producing speech sounds this is generally where they will start, regardless of diagnosis

DD1 was never clumsy at all - probably the opposite due to being excessively cautious. Her gross motor skills were delayed but fine motor skills not obviously too bad. There is a massive variation dyspraxias

To answer your question though I don't think the gross motor skill issue would rule out a dyspraxia diagnosis. As someone said on the other thread the list of possible symptoms the Dyspraxia Foundataion lists is just that - symptoms which may be present but need not all be there for a diagnosis

I can'trecallwhich but either the DSM or the ICD-10 mention clumsiness in relation to ASD, I think its probably the ICD-10 (ssearchable online). It'svery common I think,all to do with motor plannning and sensory stuff (forexample ds3 stampseverywhere as he is a feedback seeker, that makes him clumsy). DS1 otoh is exactly as you describe your son- walked early etc and I do think that'scommon for boys with an ASD dx (and probably girls too).

Thre's something I wasreferring to yesterdaya ctually siggesting the triad becomes asquareand sensory issues be added as the fourth point.... i'd be inclined to agree.

Best practice does suggest that a child be assessed by both PT and OT when in asd assessment,but procedures vary between trusts.

Northernsky, that sounds jsut like our experience!

I'd have personally thought that dyspraxia would be unlikely with no gross motor issues.

Might be worth asking for a test though? It's usually tested by the abc movement battery carried out by an OT.

There is a huge overlap between the 2 - my DS2 is Dyspraxic "with some Aspergic traits" (as the paediatrician put it). And as he gets older (he's 11) I see more and more of those Aspergic traits.

There is a difference between Motor Dyspraxia and Verbal Dyspraxia (DS3 has the latter - very poor speech, but no issues with motor skills), so your SALT may be thinking more along the lines of some Verbal Dyspraxia being present, in which case you wouldn't necessarily expect to see motor issues (although I know often there's both). Or it may just be that the SALT is using the same resources, regardless of the diagnosis.