Dyspraxia

BillieTheBot

Does anyone have any experience of this.
Lenny hasnt been officially diagnosed with dyspraxia, but the school doctor has said thats what she thinks he has, for 2 years running, although seems reluctant to give a more formal diagnosis - This is a pain, because although his school have been excellent and are great with giving each individual child what they need, with or without a diagnosis, I think its going to be a pain as he progresses through his school career if that is the case. As it is, certain things reception class knew about him, werent passed up to his year 1 teacher and ive had to go through the same discussions again and again trying to explain his difficulties. It seems it is notoriously hard to diagnose so i can understand they dont want to get it wrong, but ive thought this for years. it would just explain so much about him. He ticked about 80% of the boxes for dyspraxia to some degree or another.

Former Member

I'm mildly dyspraxic and have been all my life I think. It was only recognised last September when I decided to do Beauty Therapy and wasn't exactly very apt at picking up the massage movements!

I haven't been formally diagnosed..well I was diagnosed by a Learning Support person who put me through some tests but I don't have a certificate to say 'I AM DYSPRAXIC'. Not sure they even exist!

My brother is dyspraxic too but more severely. He's 23 and still has to ask for help to open up a tin of beans for example. It hasn't really hindered him in anyway and he isn't picked on. We're just both known as a bit clumsy and cackhanded I guess.

Former Member

Is there a doctor outside of school he can go to? I'm not sure where my brother got diagnosed with aspergers, but it was only after we noticed he had the charactaristics of a severely dyslexic person. A mother at the school had 2 grown sons with aspergers and she taught them at home and now specialises in teaching kids with learning difficulties. She suggested it all and he was diagnosed. After he was diagnosed the school were much more helpful. Until then they thought he was just lazy and had a temper when he couldn't do the work.

I'll try and find out how it all works.

Former Member

moonrat has this and wrote an article for thesite on it, have you seen it?

Former Member

I have worked with a couple of teenagers with this as I used to work as a private tutor of maths and science. I'm not an expert on it by any means and it is quite hard to make generalisations about how it affects people as it effects different people quite differently. Both the girls I worked with got outstanding GCSE results but had to put in some extra work to achieve them.

Hope things go okay for you and Lenny

Former Member

I`ll have a look at the artical thanks.
I havent taken him to my GP about it because i dont really see the point. Hes seen an OT (who said she didnt think he was dyspraxic as he could hop. His gross motor skills tend to be fine, its his fine motor skills and the cognitive stuff that he seems to have most trouble with

Former Member

SuzyCreamcheese wrote:

Does anyone have any experience of this.
Lenny hasnt been officially diagnosed with dyspraxia, but the school doctor has said thats what she thinks he has, for 2 years running, although seems reluctant to give a more formal diagnosis - This is a pain, because although his school have been excellent and are great with giving each individual child what they need, with or without a diagnosis, I think its going to be a pain as he progresses through his school career if that is the case. As it is, certain things reception class knew about him, werent passed up to his year 1 teacher and ive had to go through the same discussions again and again trying to explain his difficulties. It seems it is notoriously hard to diagnose so i can understand they dont want to get it wrong, but ive thought this for years. it would just explain so much about him. He ticked about 80% of the boxes for dyspraxia to some degree or another.

Hi...

Basically I was diagnosed with dyspraxia at the age of twenty, but it was hard to find a consultant as a lot of them charge a lot... However, you can get a diagnosis through school as well. Basically the 'special needs' department in my university didn't really seem to help and it was only in the last month of doing my A2 exams I got any help. I had to go from Wrexham to Cardiff to get a diagnosis and it has probably been one of the best things I ever did.

Dyspraxia is a developmental disorder which affects people in different ways. Some people have terrible depth perception, some have awful balance, others issues with social skills or tracking objects with their eyes. It is more of a collection of symptoms that are connected to a certain part of your brain. It is not that well heard of either...

I do find dyspraxia difficult sometimes because I find reading tiring, often miss points and have a poor short term memory. I can't ride a bike and can't dance, but I think people like that and think it's funny in a nice way.. Ohh and I have floppy wrists! Awesomeo! The thing that gets me down most actually is that it affects my relationships... I sometimes have difficulty with body language, I often find it hard to say how I feel and explain thinks. Like anything anecdotal... I am glad for accepting friends.

However I'm a shit hot chef so it's all good.


An article on dyspraxia

Dyspraxia Foundation

Former Member

The more i find out about it, the more i think it may explain a few things about myself too actually, although not in the same way as it affects Lenny.
It might not be that, but I know it can be hereditary to a certain extent too. I have floppy wrists too, and am hypermobile (not as much as Lenny) crap coordination etc