Son showing signs of Dyspraxia

julie03

get him assessed as soon as you can as you will get more help, my son is being taught keyboarding to help him at the moment because of dyspraxia and hypermobility in his hands, and he goes to small group sessions to help build confidence.
my son also runs funny, he runs like he is about to fall over, he leans forward to far.

misspiggy_2

Thank you all for your very helpful comments and those of you who have given me some faith that he will hopefully be able to lead an independant happy life one day (thats really all I want for him, to be a happy well balanced adult one day).

I will seek more help as it seems that getting him assessed does bring him benefits rather than just a label.

I've arranged a meeting with the school on Monday to discuss my concerns re bullying.

Once again, thank you all for all your time in responding, I no longer feel so alone and confused in all of this. I've decided to draw up a plan of how I intend to help him more on the specific issues he has and I've also ordered a book to give me some practical tips on some activities I can involve him in. If anyone has any specific activities that you think may assist, they would be gratefully recieved.

doodoot

Go to your GP and ask for a referral to your local CAMHS - child and adolescent mental health team.

If you hit a brick wall with your GP, contact CAMHS directly and self refer your son - in fact, give em a ring and ask about dyspraxia.

As another poster suggested, contact your son's school SENCO for support to be offered in the classroom with literacy.

Sorry for the short and sweet post but I'm on my way out on the school run and wanted to post before your school and GP surgery closes!

emsywoo123

misspiggy wrote: »

- poor handwriting; yes

- lacks self esteem (to a point that his confidence is soo debilitating for him). he only has one best friend; yes (unless on stage in acting group-found it to be an outlet for her)

- not very creative or imaginative (so finds English at school very difficult) although loves maths (probably to do with the fact that we've spent a lot of time at home with him on it); no

- very prone to being bullied (this is my biggest worry right now). He was in tears yesterday as a group of lads picked on him and stole his book and called him names. yes

- he's not very organised. Everything is last minute yes

- very forgetful. Can sometimes even walk out of school without his coat? yes

- he's even had his jumper on back to front! yes

- he has very limited short-term memory and can forget quite quickly a list of instructions he's been given. yes

- he runs quite oddly (not sure if anyone will understand this?) lol yes!!

What can I do to help him? I'm at a loss. I don't just want a label on him for the sake of it i.e I don't just want to go to my doc now and get him diagnosed for dyspraxia if they're not going to do anything about it other than just to 'give it a name' if you understand what I mean.

How do you comfort a child who has been bullied? how do you explain it to them? why is it happening to them? It's soo heartbreaking as a mother :-(

My DD is 8 and was diagnosed at 4.

Biggest thing to help I think really is patience and understanding, although at times this is harder than it seems!!

P.S. Rather than see it as a label, often it can be a relief for DD that she is not to *blame* (for want of a better word-DS giving me grief at mo lol!)

peachyprice

misspiggy wrote: »

Thank you all for your very helpful comments and those of you who have given me some faith that he will hopefully be able to lead an independant happy life one day (thats really all I want for him, to be a happy well balanced adult one day).

I'm sure he will lead a great life.

The 'good' thing with dyspraxia is that people learn to live with it, and it's continually improving. Yes, new things will always take longer to learn that 'normal' people, but they will learn eventually.

I've just been upstair looking at which degree course my dyspraxic son wants to take once he finishes his A Levels, I'm sure he's going to have a great career ahead of him. He knows what he wants and knows what he has to do to get it, so whst if he still falls over and I still have to check he has everything when he leaves the house in the morning

jackyann

doodoot wrote: »

Go to your GP and ask for a referral to your local CAMHS - child and adolescent mental health team.

If you hit a brick wall with your GP, contact CAMHS directly and self refer your son - in fact, give em a ring and ask about dyspraxia.

As another poster suggested, contact your son's school SENCO for support to be offered in the classroom with literacy.

Sorry for the short and sweet post but I'm on my way out on the school run and wanted to post before your school and GP surgery closes!

Just to say that I worked as a specialist nurse with children with specific learning difficulties, and know that each area has different methods of referral, and specialists may be based in different departments ( not every area bases them in CAMHS)
The SENCO should know the best way to get a referral, which may be via your GP, through the school, or possibly a common referral system used by some localities.
Dyspraxia is a condition that, like many, has a spectrum, so some kids get picked up early, and others, with more subtle signs, get picked up much later.
Do use the Dyspraxia website, and there is some useful info on addiss - mainly about ADHD, but the 2 conditions share organisational problems so the practical info is useful.
Good luck

sunshine2223

I didn't want to read and run, I'm Dyspraxic but was only assessed 2 years ago (at the age of 24!) and I feel that I would've really benefitted from a diagnosis at school.

All of my old school reports say that I'm shy, disorganised and a day dreamer. My experience of education can be summed up in one word - frustrating! I felt that I tried really hard but never excelled because no one understood that I sometimes needed longer to understand what was expected of me, or needed things repeating because I couldn't remember what had been said etc.

I also skived PE for most of secondary school despite enjoying sports, because I was embarrassed by my poor co-ordination and spacial awareness.

So, from my own experience at least I think it is definitely beneficial to get assessed

If you need any help or advice then please ask, and just to add that I'm a qualified further ed. teacher now, specialising in learning difficulties and disabilities as a result of my own experiences!

Louise03

We feel such pain when our children our hurting. My son is dyspraxic and was diagnosed at 7 yrs, however, he felt such deep rooted anger at being "different" his teenage years were hell. In hindsight there are lots of things I wish I had done different. I wish he had never been labelled because this definatley affected his self-esteem, I wish we just embraced his quirkiness.

He is now grown up with a young family, holds a very responsible job but feels he is keeping it on a wing and a prayer. Everything he does he checks over and over again he suffers severe anxiety. He eventually passed his driving test but does not feel confidence in driving so doesn't.

I was also diagnosed with dyspraxia but obviously not until adulthood. My severe clumsiness as a child and inability to do things other children did, didn't seem to matter. I remember having a bike for my 11th birthday, could never ride the damn thing I used to push it everywhere. I suppose what I am trying to say as that due to not being labelled in my formative years It has not left me with the "damage" my son has. I have always supported myself, bought up two children mainly as a single parent and now run my own catering business. The one thing I excelled at was cooking.

The educational system are so eager to label children these days and I let them do it with my son he was made to feel different and in the log run it has done more harm than good.

peachyprice

sunshine2223 wrote: »

All of my old school reports say that I'm shy, disorganised and a day dreamer. !

This bit^^

Were you really day dreaming though?

I've had this said about by son so many times, that he's not listening and is staring about the window day dreaming, sometimes even with his eyes closed. But he's heard everything that's been said and can tell you anything about the lesson.

He wasn't day dreaming at all, he was visualising. For example if they were learning about Romans, it was all going on in his head, he just appeared to be day dreaming and staring into space. He's very much a visual learner and it was hard getting some teachers to understand that it was the only way he could absorb information.

If they tried making him look forward and do what they percieved to be listening he wouldn't/couldn't hear a thing because he was putting all his efforts into sitting up straight and facing forward. A few teachers finally got it.

WhiteHorse

The OP describes the symptoms of Aspergers very well. He probably isn't borderline, but just over.