mri scans

[kerry0115]

hope someone can help.im really scared and confused.i have a 3yr old who has been having problems with walking/clumsiness since walking at 16mths.nursery were concerned about him constantly walking on toes.i took him gp ,she very concerned about him having poor muscle tone.she refured him to peads as urgent,he saw pead in june ,had bloods taken,had letter to go bk 8 wk after 1st appointment and ive now had letter to take him mri scan next week.noone mentiond poss mri at last appointment so what could this be for ?do u think they checking poss yspraxia/autistic spectrum or could it b more serious ,need to no as if poss more serious need prepare for possibility

Hi kerry. I'm no expert but as far as I am aware, the MRI will not be anything to do with possible dyspraxia or ASD - these would be diagnosed clinically based on observations of your child's behaviour and what he can or can't do, and possibly you filling in a questionnaire.

The MRI is to check if there is any physical difference between your son's brain and what is considered 'normal' for a child his age. The MRI could, for example, show up a difference in the cerebrum, the main area of the brain known to be involved in motor control. I imagine that in particular they are checking for cerebral palsy, which has several different types, and other mumsnetters know far more about it than me.

If the doctors are willing to fund an MRI scan I would go for it - if anything like this is going on it is far better to know as soon as possible and then receive the right kind of help than to carry on wondering what is happening with your child.

thankyou he will def hav mri as if dr feel he need it they must b checking whats "wrong" with him just wasnt sure what they were checking,i didnt think mri were done for dyspraxia or asd but i dont really know anything about mri's

try not to worry though i know easier said than done. my ds had an mri as part of the diagnosis process to rule out things before he got an autism diagnosis (and then later on got a dyspraxia label too!) it was to rule out any brain damage or differences in the brain, he alo had a blood test for fragile x to rule tat out and a urine test for something but i dont remember what. when all those came back clear and a few professionals who had seen ds agreed thats when they diagnosed autism as they were sure it was not the other possibilities if that makes sense, so they could well be doing that rather than suspecting something else they could just be being thorough.

just to warn you though if the letter didnt say your ds will probably be given some kind of seditive to relax him enough to lie still for the mri - my ds was 2.1 when he had his and this was a battle but worth it and over soon enough!

hope that helps

thanks ,does make sense as hospital dr said he didnt think it physical ,not sure about dyspraxia ? but gp thinks it possible and from what ive read up so do i. letter said about sedative which will b fun trying get into him but b worth itas quicker get diagnosis the better