Help - what presents like dyspraxia that isn't dyspraxia?

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

Just that really.

Ds1 has a long list of issues which point to dyspraxia (will type list below my post so people don't have to read it if they don't want to).

He's being referred for SALT through school but after a chat with his teacher we agreed it was a good idea to get a referral for dyspraxia testing.

Went to the dr today who is referring him to a paediatrician as the list is so long to rule out any other causes. She skirted around the issue and didn't give me any indication of what "other things" it could be.

Does anyone have any experience with this or should I get back on the case as the referral could take a long time?

He's 4.8 and the very long list is below.

The symptoms are:

Noticed by school;

Finds it difficult to sit still for long periods of time, often fidgety and only recently able to cross legs.

Used to get very emotional when asked to try and put his own coat, shoes etc on. This has improved but can still get frustrated.

Moves at speed across classroom flapping hands. Unsteady on feet and bumps into classroom furniture.

Been referred to SALT as he has difficulty following instructions, understanding complex sentences, he is difficult to understand and his speech sounds are immature (missing out verbs).

We have noticed (some may overlap with above)

Gross motor skills all behind, still cannot skip, hop on right foot (can on left) or pedal a trike/bike.

Potty trained v. Late (3.7 yrs) and still has frequent wetting accidents.

Fine motor skills behind, cannot tie a scarf, do up or undo buttons, struggles with zips only learned how to dress recently (since August for most, October for coat, socks and shoes).

Movement issues, very clumsy, poor spacial awareness, fidgety, arms flap when excited, falls off chairs.

Speech behind, very shrill high pitched scream when excited, cannot vocalise what he wants.

Behaviour, still prone to tantrums, cannot use knife or scissors, struggles to accept new things or changes to routine, very sensitive but highly emotionally intelligent.

Sorry for the epic list!

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

Going to also post on special needs children board.

[IndigoBelle]

There is huge crossover between Dyspraxia, dyslexia, ADHD and Autism.

Lots of people think that they're really all symptoms of the same condition.

You will never find a child who just has symptoms from one of those things.

So your paed is just deciding which label/s to give your DS. But it doesn't actually matter what the label is. The symptoms are what you describe and the treatment is anything you decide to do.

Does sound like dyspraxia to me though......

[proofreader]

well my daughter is dyspraxic and out of the things you have described, only had the bumping into furniture thing (and still does) and the fidget thing going on.

[proofreader]

but then it is such a wide term isn't it?

[willitbe]

Other causes could be other neurological conditions, brain tumours etc would have early symptoms of clumsiness so the gp is referring to rule out any nasty other conditions before a label is applied. Don't worry, it will not be because the doctor thinks that they have it, but just that it would be routine procedure to get a peadiatrican to access first before formal diagnosis of dyspraxia.

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

Oh right, that's put my mind at ease. I don't mind what the "label" is, it's just clear there is something not right and the teaching staff, dh and I want to get the help in place he needs ASAP while he is still in yR if possible so he doesn't fall too far behind as he's very bright, just everything else holds him back.

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

Thank you btw left my manners in the dr surgery obviously

[LIZS]

Visual and auditory processing (presumably you have had eyes and hearing checked), sensory processing issues, global developmental delay and agree dyspraxia overlaps with all sorts of other conditions (think of the Olympic Rings) some of which are classified on the Autistic Spectrum. You may get a multifaceted diagnosis or they may settle on the most dominant .

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

He had a lot of tests as a baby and toddler around that but nothing recent. He was under a paediatrician until he was 2.5 but they never came to a conclusion although autism was mentioned at that point.

Whatever the outcome he's the same child with the same issues.

[RantyMcRantpants]

You have just described my eldest DS and he has a diagnosis of Dyspraxia with mild Autism.

He did sight and hearing tests. The Paed did tests like they would with a drunk person, walking a line etc. He had a Cat? scan, I think it's called, the one where they have to lay as still as possible and they are slide into the tube and it take pictures of the body in slices right through, magnetic imaging?? My DS was absolutlly fascinated with the pictures on the computer with that one. Then he saw an OT who assesed his gross motor skills and an OT who assesed his fine motor skills and we saw the Paed quite few times as well who did a lot of observation. They also came to the school to observe him.

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

Thank you for that information, it gives me a good idea of what to expect. It's the waiting that's the hardest and its also frustrating that it looks like he shouldn't have been discharged from the paeds when he was 2.5.

Today (routine change example) I suggested we look for his "number 14" (chocolate advent calendar) prior to him getting dressed, its usually breakfast, dress then calendar. He had a strop saying he didn't want his number 14 he needs to get dressed. Only a small thing but I need to think more before I adjust anything.

[ArbitraryUsername]

When DS1 was assessed by the paediatrician, they were first trying to rule out a neurological condition (or at least that's what the paed said). We're still waiting to see an OT though (and they keep contacting us to check we still want to be on the list, because it's so ridiculously long round here).

[3b1g]

DS2 has (or had when he was younger) seven of the things you listed. In fact everything except the speech delay. He has Asperger's and ADHD. However, he does have other issues too that aren't on your list, mostly sensory and social communication. I suspect that he also has dyspraxia.

[werewolvesdidit]

What's his writing like?

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

werewolves its huge. His name is 7 letters long and he struggles to fit it on one line. He mixes capital and lower case letters too and his drawing isn't great but he's also left handed so we put a lot of the issues down to that as when he's shown things people are all right handed so he has to figure out how to do it left handed. Cutting is a nightmare with that.

arbitrary what area are you in out of interest? I've been told even waiting for the paediatrician will take ages which is really annoying as he shouldn't have been discharged when he was younger as they didn't complete all the testing for his issues then. I don't know if I should really push this, is this where its good to be a pushy parent or not?

[werewolvesdidit]

Sounds like dyspraxia to me. My son is also dyspraxic (but very bright). I home educate him now as it was easier than constantly being up at the school trying to get him the mix of things he needed. My son is much happier now too (though I find the very loud voice hard to deal with at times). I realised that I am also dyspraxic - although in my case, my parents beat me every time I was loud/clumsy (it didn't even stop it).

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

I have dyslexia apparently (was tested in high school) but don't have an issue with letters etc. my issues are clumsiness, knocking things off shelves, poor spacial awareness, drink spilling so I could have been misdiagnosed as it was the 90s.

I suppose we just have to wait for the experts to do their thing. I'm going to read up on it more and put some suggestions into practise for helping him cope with daily tasks he currently struggles with, I can't see that harming.

[IndigoBelle]

The fact that you have dyslexia / dyspraxia (see, I said they're never independent) makes it even more likely that your DS does too.

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

I know. I'm just going to wait for the referral to come through. I'm not gettin much support from some family members and am being made out to be attention seeking, over protective etc. I'm really not. I said I would love for him to be "normal" it's not fun being told your child is clever but because of x y and z they are going to fall behind and need extra help.

[ArbitraryUsername]

I'm in Newcastle. The wait to see a community paed was not bad actually, but we've been waiting over a year to see an OT. The really annoying thing is he'd've seen an OT 6 years ago if we hadn't needed to move for work. Then we had to fight with new schools and health services and nothing happened until we moved here.

Luckily DS1 is bright and manages to muddle through his problems mostly. Although now that he's allowed to use a word processor instead of writing it's exposed his unbelievably dire spelling and punctuation. His abysmal writing had hidden that before.

[IndigoBelle]

and am being made out to be attention seeking, over protective etc - yep, certainly been there.

You just have to ignore the buggers, and find people who will support you.

Check out the Tinsley House Support Thread on the SN children board. Full of really supportive people who are worth talking to.

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

Thank you all, will of course keep you updated. Is it worth keeping a diary of behaviour, is that something that would be asked for?

[IndigoBelle]

It is worth keeping a diary - if only so that you know you're not imagining things when friends, family and school are being less than supportive.

[SantasHugandRollintheSnow]

Thanks I will start one today

[lac13ma1]

My daughter is left handed, which makes writing more difficult for her also but she also has low muscle tone meaning her pencil grip is weak, can't do buttons, wobbly, walked really late, slouches when sitting, can't really stand still on the spot, instead goes back and forth on each foot.
She has not hit a dx if dyspraxia but it is something I have been thinking of looking into, it's just hard when every single problem is a symptom if loads of things. Xx