dyspraxia and fatigue.

[nuttyredhead]

Hey,
My ds age 8 with diag of dyspraxia.For over a year he has been displaying behaviour of fatigue following a day at school. He is irritable,frustrated,lethargic,and so not himself.its like some other child and its torture to watch.
I wondered if anybody else had experienced this with their children.School won't acknowledge a problem cause academically he is on target.
It is so getting me down.We have ed psyc involvement but she just wants to deal with emotions.
Thanks for reading.
Justine

Hi
Does he have low tone or hypermobility? These are likely to cause problems and possibly more so if he is growing at the moment. Do you have physio or an OT? They might be able to suggest strategies to help or could advise school on how to regulate his activity level.

I agree with minty - my dd is 7 and has low tone and hypermobility amongst other problems. Her behaviour is similar to your ds after school. It can be very distressing for everyone when nothing seems to help much.

I think after a day of her holding herself upright and trying hard to keep up with her friends she is completely exhausted both physically and mentally. I'm afraid I don't handle it very well, I generally have to leave her to watch T.V. quietly on her own for a while, not ideal but it doesn't need a lot of effort (she will often fall asleep if left in peace), and ds goes and seeks refuge in his room.

Does your ds manage better when he hasn't been at school? Dd seems like a different person when she can pace herself at weekends or in school holidays.

This may sound daft, but what does he eat at lunch time? DS1, who's also dyspraxic, used to be like this when he had a packed lunch, but since having a hot school meal he is soo much better. May not be an option of course (our school has only just started doing meals) but just a thought.

ds is the same, but we thought it was more due to his hypermobility than the dyspraxia. Plus overload due to autism. We find it comes and goes. The school aren't interested because it is AFTER school.

I tend to let him jsut zone out for a while after school. The senco did suggest snacks straight after school, but it didn't help us much.