Dyspraxia moneysaving and support thread.

Indie_Kid

delain wrote: »

You can do what a friend of mine with this had, the school had to print all her worksheets on blue paper, and she had a blue sheet of acetate type stuff to put over any white paper she had to read

I have this. College supplied the paper. They couldn't get hold of lined (I use grey - at uni, I use blue because it's the only colour the department have. Any colour apart from white works) paper so scanned in a piece of lined paper and printed that out on the grey paper.

You can buy an overlay for the computer too. There is also software to change the background colours.

dollydoodah

In true MSE style, I came across this today which would benefit those who are in receipt of DLA for dyspraxia - or any other condition.

http://www.ceacard.co.uk/

newlifeahead

I wanted to subscribe to this thread and see if anyone else is currently going through the process of being diagnosed with dyspraxia.

DS1 had an appointment yesterday with the NHS Mental Health and Social Care. I didn't really want to tell my son why we were going as he is a very sensitive child as it is.

I am happy with what happened yesterday. He will be referred for some classes to help boost his confidence. At the moment he has problems having eye contact with anyone and he can barley say hello due to fear of speaking to people. They will also refer him to an OT to see if he is dyspraxic due to his clumsyness and other things. They will also contact the school to find out how it gets on there and get some kind of report on his behaviour.

For so long I have been trying to get the school to take some notice that things are just not right but they say he is just a day dreamer and very shy and must try harder to get involved more. I have been trying to tell them he just can't do it he is just so fearful. They just didn't seem to understand what I was saying that it is not easy for him at all.

The school breaks up next week so I can't see anything will be in place until when he is in year 5, but I really hope that he gets into some confidence classes before he goes back. I think this will really help him.

DS1 has the confidence issues but ds2 who is 5yo has bags full of confidence and will talk to anyone, he goes to speech classes and sometimes it is hard to understand what he is saying but he will get anyones attention.

Between the two of them they make one great son and have one very tired mum who has many appointment to cart them to.

specsappeal

Hi everyone,
I hope you don't mind me posting. I am not dyspraxic but my son is. He was diagonosed at 4 (he is 17 now). He had all the typical symptoms and in fact he could not talk at all until the age of 5 (he was taught sign language before then). He spent his whole school life in 'special schools' as he was behind in his learning. He had the special cutlery, writing slopes (or posture packs as they were called then) special pens etc.
His speech is still affected (he doesn't vary the pitch or tone of his voice so his speech is very monotone) and he has trouble forming words. He still gets very tired and his concentration is quite poor. He has poor muscle tone in his arms so he suffers from aches and pains in them. He has had some spectacular falls/trips in his time and falls over the smallest thing - even his own feet. He also has problems judging distances so if he goes to put a glass on the table he sometimes misjudges it and it ends up on the floor.
His self esteem is low but we are always trying hard to change this.
On the plus side he has lots of friends who always look out for him and are quite protective of him. He recently met a lovely girl who adores him and he is learning to drive and is actually ready for his test after only 2 months.He is struggling with his theory but is determined to get there.
Goodness this has turned into a mammoth post....sorry , it's just so nice to find other people who understand the condition as it seems that I have always had to explain to everyone what it is as few people have heard of it.

yummymummy79

Very interested to read this thread as my son is currently awaiting an appt to get tested for dyspraxia. Been in contact with GP, 2 hospitals and physio depts since the start of the year but still waiting! his teacher was actually the one that suggested we get him checked out as she had noticed his clumsiness as the main problem, as well as attention issues and a few other bits and bobs.

Having now seen some of the other traits/issues that other people's children have, I appear to have built up quite a list of things that I probably wouldn't have worried about on their own, but once they are all combined, it does lead me to thinking there may be more to it than him just being a clumsy 5 year old. That is one of the main problems actually for me, differentiating between the behaviour of a 'normal' 5 year old boy and dyspraxia symptoms.


So the things I have noticed are:

• General clumsiness - teacher said often falls off stools multiple times in a lesson, he has to stand on a step to write on the board which he usually falls off rather than stepping off sensibly, very rarely sitting still when on carpet preferring to slouch or fidget etc, doesn't sit properly and still on a chair, numerous bumps and scrapes at school from hitting into people or falling over.

• Attention issues - finds it hard to follow more than 1 instruction at a time, often has to be told the same instruction numerous times (is that not just a man thing?!), a bit daydreamy at school.

• Emotional issues - wary of activities where he has to be on his own without me or his dad or anyone else he knows in case he needs help with something as doesn't like to ask people he doesn't know, sometimes says random things about not liking how he looks or having a round head or fat belly etc although these are rather rare, sometimes struggles with talking to me and his dad about things and will prefer to just cry about it for half an hour when it could have been very easily resolved if he'd just said a few words, shy around new people or even people he knows in an unfamiliar situation (schoolfriends at a party etc).

• Other random things - still not great at knife and fork usage and prefers to use fingers sometimes despite being regularly told and instructed how to do it correctly, avoids eye contact wherever possible. We're also havig poo issues with him, i.e often not going for a week or more but regularly having soiled pants which he can't help, have had lactulose and some sachets to mix into water which really just seem to making the soiling worse without any massive improvement in toilet frequency. I've come to the conclusion that its definitely more than just constipation and there are issues with the muscles or 'pipes' inside as well as something to do with the trigger of him knowing when to go, as has been mentioned by others, he often has to go to the toilet right there and then with no build up or warning.

However on the positive side, he is very good at using the computer/DS/Wii etc and has good hand/eye co-ordination, has progressed well at football training (apart from when he won't stay unless we stay too), plays well with his baby half-sister and does seem proud of her, getting on well academically especially with reading, and I'm sure there are plenty more things!

Blimey, sorry it turned into an essay! Anyway, will be interesting to see what the physio people say, although am expecting them to say it;s not their area and he needs to see someone else involving a few more months of waiting.

newlifeahead

I am feeling really bad today.:(

My son fell off his bike on Sunday and hurt his elbow. There was a little bit of blood as he scraped his skin. I didn't think it was anything too bad as he always falls over and then continues to complain for a few days.

When I dropped my son off to school on Monday after his appointment with the health service the school called me to pick him up again as he was complaining that his arm was still hurting.

I collected him and he seemed fine for the rest of today watching tv while I worked. He has been playing with his brother and I have noticed he doesn't say it hurts then. It only hurts when he is going to school....

Dropped him off this morning at breakfast club and as soon as I got back in, the school ran and demanded I take him to the Hospital.

He had an x-ray and the told me he has a hairline fracture and now his arm is in a sling. He has to go back to see a specialist on Friday.

How bad do I feel now. The hospital asked why didn't I take him in on Sunday to have it checked out. He falls over all the time and hurts himself. How am I supposed to know when it is really bad and when he is just dragging it out?

This parent thing is not easy at all. I feel like I now have everyone at school wondering what is going on with my son as he is never without some sort of pain, bruise or mark on his body. I am so glad now I had a meeting with the senco at the school and mentioned his clumsyness.

I have a lot of making up to do with ds1 later. I feel so awful

yummymummy79

I'd be exactly the same though newlifeahead, once you hear every 5 minutes that something hurts you start becoming more blaze towards the next pain. Plus I'm not one for running to the docs/hospital for every ailment anyway. My son slipped over in the kitchen and hit his head on a stone step, was bleeding cos scalps always do a lot and he got quite upset, at the blood I think more than the actual pain. Just kept a towel on it until it stopped bleeding and kept a close eye on him for that evening, put him to bed later and told school the next day to keep an eye on his too, but I'm sure that most of my friends would have gone to hospital instantly.

emsywoo123

yummymummy79 wrote: »

I'd be exactly the same though newlifeahead, once you hear every 5 minutes that something hurts you start becoming more blaze towards the next pain. Plus I'm not one for running to the docs/hospital for every ailment anyway. My son slipped over in the kitchen and hit his head on a stone step, was bleeding cos scalps always do a lot and he got quite upset, at the blood I think more than the actual pain. Just kept a towel on it until it stopped bleeding and kept a close eye on him for that evening, put him to bed later and told school the next day to keep an eye on his too, but I'm sure that most of my friends would have gone to hospital instantly.

YM79, I would have taken DD to be fair :rotfl:

As far as I recall, I am not a doctor, and for something like that, I would rather be safe than sorry.

But that's the joys of parenthood...........:D

julie03

yummymummy79 wrote: »

So the things I have noticed are:

• Other random things - still not great at knife and fork usage and prefers to use fingers sometimes despite being regularly told and instructed how to do it correctly, avoids eye contact wherever possible. We're also havig poo issues with him, i.e often not going for a week or more but regularly having soiled pants which he can't help, have had lactulose and some sachets to mix into water which really just seem to making the soiling worse without any massive improvement in toilet frequency. I've come to the conclusion that its definitely more than just constipation and there are issues with the muscles or 'pipes' inside as well as something to do with the trigger of him knowing when to go, as has been mentioned by others, he often has to go to the toilet right there and then with no build up or warning.

However on the positive side, he is very good at using the computer/DS/Wii etc and has good hand/eye co-ordination, has progressed well at football training (apart from when he won't stay unless we stay too), plays well with his baby half-sister and does seem proud of her, getting on well academically especially with reading, and I'm sure there are plenty more things!

.

my son is 8 and has the poo issue, he can be sitting outside a toilet and still soil himself. he is on the sachets and has to be reminded to poo at the same time everyday.

the doctor has said he may have poor muscle tone and as without the medicine he only goes every 3-4 days he has so much in there that it leaks out and because of the muscle tone is unable to hold it till he gets to the loo and cant really feel it till the last minute.

it has improved as long as we remember to remind him to go, weekends are worse as he is out of his routine.

Gingham_Ribbon

newlifeahead, it's not your fault. At 38, I'm still constantly bruised, though I don't fall over much any more. How were you supposed to know it was worse than usual?

My son has been given an excellent programme to improve his writing and I'm AMAZED at how quickly things are changing for him. He loves doing it too, which is fantastic. I've tried everything to get him to write, draw, colour in with little joy, but he actually asks to get this out.

It's called Write From The Start.