What other diagnosis?

[trunkybun]

I wonder if anyone can help me with what I am sure is a slightly stupid question. My son has been diagnosed with Dyspraxia and Hypermobility syndrome but we are now being told that neither is to blame for his problems with handwriting i.e his fine motor skills are not bad enough to explain why he is unable to produce legible writing. His work has been looked at to ascertain wether he may have Dyslexia, and the consensus is that he doesn't. My question is: what are the other possible dianosis?, he is being referred to an Ed Psych and I would like to know what other thoughts might be in the Psych's mind.

[frazzledbutcalm]

Surprised you've been told dyspraxia is not related to ds handwriting. My neighbour has dyspraxia and her school provides her with a laptop as she cannot write very well. Sorry, but thats my only experience, hope someone else can help more

[ahundredtimes]

Golly, I think bad handwriting is a good indicator of dyspraxia tbh.

Also with the hypermobility he may have trouble holding the pencil firmly enough/or he may hold it too hard and put holes in the paper?

Perhaps his fine motor skills aren't sooo bad, but all the same he is having to concentrate on sitting on the chair evenly without slipping off the side of it and then on holding the pencil and then on making it move, and all that 'crossing the mid-line' stuff is difficult for dyspraxics too, and there can be a high level of reversals of letters/numbers when writing - as opposed to when reading.

Though you know trunky these things do overlap - I mean the Dys's do overlap - and he might well be dyslexic too.

I couldn't second second what the Ed Psych might be thinking. Are there any other issues?

[ahundredtimes]

Second GUESS what the ed psych might be thinking.

[Hassled]

I agree that Dyspraxia coupled with Hypermobility would seem to cause to very poor handwriting. DS2 is Dyspraxic and has appalling handwriting - takes forever and badly formed etc. No one has ever suggested there might be another reason for this - it is generally accepted that Dyspraxia and poor handwriting go hand in hand (I'm sure there's a pun in there somewhere). AGree it's not just the fine motor skills - it's posture, concentration span etc.

[nortynamechanger]

My dd's handwirting is fine (and she is lefthanded)but she has been assessed as having a part-dyspraixic profile (8.5 score when to be DX score should be 10)

Her problems are in muscle tone, peripreception etc not fine motor skills. So agree with Hassled re the concentration, posture and would add fidgeting.

Have you tried ergonomic pencil grips? You don't say how old your DS is. My Dh has the worst handwriting I've ever seen, how his examiners at school/uni could work out what he had written I've no idea. I still struggle to read anything he's written.

[floaty]

My ds has a similar diagnosis he has started at a specialist school in Sept and they describe his handwriting as dysgraphic.
On the face of it his fine motor skills were not bad enough to account for the handwriting problems but a clue came when we had to complete an assess ment form for OT;when I asked him about handwriting he commented that he wished he had gloves to stop the stinging he apparently thought it hurt everyone like this!,it wasn't so much the fine motor skills as the lack of muscle tonme in his fingers which caused it to be difficult.at his previous school he had an alphasmart but we have also had OT specifically aimed at improving his muscle tone in his hands (plasticine is good and so is gripping those streatchy toys) and we have tried the ergonimic pens with limited sucess

[trunkybun]

Hi, Thanks for all your responses! Yes, initially his problems with handwriting were 'blamed' on his Dyspraxia, and then later Hypermobility was added to the mix. He has been receiving physio and O.T regularly for about 6 months now, and his motor skills have improved, as has his muscle tone. He does still have a very poor pencil grip (very upright and awkward) he has about 15 different pencil grips, ergonomic pens and sloping writing boards but nothing so far has made much difference, his writing is truly appalling,mind boggling spelling, letters poorly formed, no gaps between words etc. He also tends to start writing towards the middle of the page and is completely unable to write on the lines (his writing quickly drifts downwards at about a 30% angle) He does fidget and slouch a lot and has the poor concentration and short term memory problems associated with Dyspraxia. Also forgot to mention he is 6 and in Yr 2.

[ahundredtimes]

It's a bit confusing about why he's off to the Ed Psych then isn't it?

Are there concerns beyond the Dyspraxia do you think?

It is quite a large term after all - and can have lots of things included under it - or at least have lots of different features -as the others have said.

[floaty]

When ds2 went for hisd assessment at his current school we took a sample of his work along and the Head said that starting the the middle and sloping down were classic dysgraphia markers .Not sure how that will help but thought it worth mentioning

[floaty]

When ds2 went for hisd assessment at his current school we took a sample of his work along and the Head said that starting the the middle and sloping down were classic dysgraphia markers .Not sure how that will help but thought it worth mentioning

[floaty]

When ds2 went for hisd assessment at his current school we took a sample of his work along and the Head said that starting the the middle and sloping down were classic dysgraphia markers .Not sure how that will help but thought it worth mentioning

[floaty]

When ds2 went for hisd assessment at his current school we took a sample of his work along and the Head said that starting the the middle and sloping down were classic dysgraphia markers .Not sure how that will help but thought it worth mentioning

[floaty]

When ds2 went for hisd assessment at his current school we took a sample of his work along and the Head said that starting the the middle and sloping down were classic dysgraphia markers .Not sure how that will help but thought it worth mentioning

[floaty]

When ds2 went for hisd assessment at his current school we took a sample of his work along and the Head said that starting the the middle and sloping down were classic dysgraphia markers .Not sure how that will help but thought it worth mentioning

[floaty]

Sorry,not sure what happened there!!!!

[mumeeee]

Troble with handwriting is one of the main indicators for Dyspraxia.

[LIZS]

ds is probably dyspraxic, has hyperflexible joints and this definitely affects his handwriting (saw OT this morning about this very issue). It is apparently to do with a lack of core stability which means his body has to compensate in order to keep balance and hold himself still while writing thus becoming more easily fatigued. Also he has loose joints in his hands which affect how he holds the pen and applies pressure. ther eis often an overlap between disorders such as Dyspraxia, Dyslexia , ADD etc but it sounds quite dismissive to have suggetsed your ds'i problems are not associated with the diagnosis. However Ed Psych should be able to look at him as a whole and perhaps eliminate other issues .

[chocolateteapot]

My DD is 9 and has a dx of Dyspraxia & Hypermobility. Her writing has been spectaculary awful until very recently. Finally in the last few weeks I have seen an improvement when she isn't trying to do joined up writing. She has found it very difficult to know where to start on the page.

We have been told the same as Lizs by the physio/OT ie about core stability & fatigue. Her shoulder girdle is very mobile so she has to stabilise that before starting to write and her fingers joints are quite affected as well which doesn't help.

We were discussing her using a lap top at Middle School fairly recently as it was thought that her writing wouldn't improve sufficiently for her to be able to cope if she was copying everything. The jury is still out on that but at no time has anyone ever suggested that her poor writing was caused by anything else other than her Dyspraxia & Hypermobility.

[trunkybun]

Thanks everyone!
I tend to agree that the Ed Psych will assess and say 'hmm, he has Dyspraxia', but we will see. Meanwhile I have to go in on Monday and fill in the referral forms - the SENCO say's this will take about an hour, and with two 18month olds with me will be an interesting experience!
A further question I would like to ask is this; if I had a need to go down the statementing route at any time in the future, is there anything I should insist be put in writing now, whilst DS is being assesed by these Healthcare Professionals. I have read a lot of threads suggesting that having a child Statemented is a very sressful and difficult procedure, and I would like to be well prepared. Thanks again for all your good advice