My 3 yr old DS1 has been diagnosed with global developmental delay. His physical problems are that he is hypermobile, falls over a lot, bumps into things constantly, no sense of danger and was until very recently a nightmare on stairs. He also won't sit still for more than 30 seconds and has an obsession with doors and escaping.
The main problem is his communication which until 6 months ago was non-existent (verbal or non-verbal). He has been having weekly private speech therapy since last June and has come on a lot. He is now saying many single words and some 2 and 3 word combinations. However, his spontaneous speech is very limited and he doesn't often request things. When he does it is very difficult to understand. His SALT has been doing some exercises in the last 2 weeks to check which sounds he can actually make and it has become apparent that he can't say b or p which are quite easy to say. He can't blow or use a straw and he won't stick his tongue out when you ask him to. It sounds to me as though he may have dyspraxia and verbal dyspraxia.
His private SALT says DS1 doesn't say enough to diagnose at this stage and wants to keep an open mind. She has been great but I don't think she is an expert in verbal dyspraxia. I have been chasing the NHS because our NHS speech therapy provision is a joke. They want to keep him in an attention and listening class because he doesn't sit still rather than doing any 1-1 therapy even though he is clearly benefiting from private therapy. I am also waiting for a call back from his OT who we haven't seen since last year and I'm waiting for a multidisciplinary assessment which will probably be in May/June
We have been assigned a locum EP who didn't fill me or the portage worker with confidence. She is currently writing reports and he is going through the statementing process. We will be applying for schools in the winter.
Does these problems sound like dyspraxia or am I barking up the wrong tree? Who is the best professional to diagnose dyspraxia? Am I right to push for a diagnosis now or is it too early to diagnose? I would be very grateful for any advice, in particular how to get the NHS professionals to listen to me seriously about this. I don't want to get a statement which says he is fine to go into a mainstream school with a pitiful provision of SALT and then find out a few months later that he actually has verbal dyspraxia and needs more intensive therapy.