Does Your Child Have Dyspraxia?

Updated on July 13, 2008
S.G. asks from San Antonio, TX
4 answers

My daughter was just diagnosed with dyspraxia....if you have a child that has it...can you let me know what activities you are doing at home, and how effective therapy has been with your child? Any information would be greatly appreciated!

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A.J.

answers from College Station on

Hi S.,

I don't know anything about dyspraxia, but what I read was that it affects motor skills, etc. My son had cerebral palsy, and it affected all of his motor functions. You didn't say how old your sweet angel is, but if she is younger than 3 years old, Early Childhood Intervention can do an assessment and provide your daughter with necessary therapies. ECI serves the children until they turn 3. At that time, the public school system will provide the services. Your pediatrician, or the dr. who diagnosed her should be able to make a referral to ECI if she is under 3. The assessment is free of charge, and then depending on your household income, and what insurance you have, you may be able to get the therapies for free. I don't remember if a referral is necessary; I found 2 listings for ECI in San Antonio. You may be able to just call them yourself. My son was seen and treated by ECI from the time he was 6 weeks old. They provided a nutritionist, and also physical, occupational and speech therapies. I had a great experience with them, and I know that the therapies that they provided helped him tremendously. I was so sad when he had to go to school! LOL - but that turned out to be just as wonderful.

Something else that I have leaned on from the time Drew was born until the day God called him home, was my faith. All things are possible with God, and I still lean on Him today. Put your daughter in His hands, and He will take care of her.

There's also a website that you may find helpful if you haven't already seen it: www.dyspraxiausa.org

The listings for ECI in San Antonio are:

###-###-####
14207 Higgins Rd, San Antonio, TX

###-###-####
227 W Drexel Ave, San Antonio, TX

Hugs to you - I hope all goes well. If you ever want to talk to a mom who has kinda been in your shoes, feel free to contact me.

A.

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J.W.

answers from Austin on

Hi S.,

Simply put, Dyspraxia is the learned ability to plan and carry out sequences of coordinated movements in order to achieve a goal.

"Dyspraxia" can have different implications depending on which "therapy" you are referring to... occupational therapy? Speech & Language therapy? Physical therapy? Dyspraxia is also called DCD (Dyspraxic Coordination Disorder)

My own child did not have this diagnosis but as an OT, I worked with many who did and yes, there can be significant improvement with therapy. So much depends on the degree (severe? moderate? mild?) of dyspraxia; the type of dyspraxia; the chronological age of the child; the developmental age of the child; the skill level of the therapist and the follow-through of the parents/teachers with activities at home/school.

Your child's therapist is the perfect person to ask.

There are different kinds of dyspraxia (example: oral dyspraxia? A speech and language pathologist [SLP] AND an OT might work together on this--the SLP might work on speech, language, and articulation, whereas the OT might work on eating/brushing teeth/dressing/riding a bike/handwriting/keyboarding, etc.). Both therapists might work on improving social skills, communication skills, organizational skills, and self esteem. Hopefully the therapists will coordinate and communicate with each other, but if they do not know each other, it is up to the parent to suggest they communicate.

Each child is unique, each child's developmental age and nervous system are unique, and each child's talents and learning differences are unique. Therefore, each child's therapy program will be tailored specifically for him/her, and what may be effective for one child may be inappropriate for another.

However, there may be some general activities, and when you check out these sites, ask your child's therapist which ones are appropriate for your child. It's important not to push the child to do activities at a higher level than he/she is capable, and there are many "tricks" that keep the activities fun and with your child's self esteem intact. The parents' / teachers' attitude and patience are very important. Many people with dyspraxia have very high IQ's, yet simple tasks can be befuddling.

This site is British and geared for therapists, but it might give you an idea of questions you might want to ask your child's therapist. (See "Useful Links" at the bottom):

http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/professionals/pr_oc...

Another British site, describing symptoms of children & adults with dyspraxia, with some book references:

http://www.nldline.com/newpage41.htm

And, another good (British) site with suggested readings:

http://www.devdis.com/dyspraxia.html

If your child's school district has an adapted P.E. teacher, consult with this person, as they are trained in how to teach children with special needs. Perhaps your child could be a candidate for this PE class.

It would be good to get your child involved in swimming lessons and comfortable/safe in the water. So many children who struggle with "land sports" can excel; be more coordinated in; or at least have fun in the water. Perhaps there's a qualified swimming instructor in your area who is accustomed to working with children with special needs. See:

http://www.at4learning.com/index.html ("Adapted Swimming" link) and check out the rest of the site so you can see how assistive technology can enhance learning. There are some OT's in the schools (like in Austin, TX) who specialize in the area of assistive technology via computers in order to optimize a child's learning.

Hippotherapy is another fun option. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippotherapy
and
http://www.americanhippotherapyassociation.org/

Bless you and good luck! jenifer

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S.W.

answers from Houston on

A support group for dyspraxia would be great. Other parents in these support groups can be more knowledgab than your doctor on somethings, because they read and study about dyspraxia.
Anyway, the school system has to by law start therapy and free of charge to your family. It is a federal law that if a child need even occupantial (not spelled correctly) therapy they have to provide for it. If the school does not have one on staff they can pay for an outside place for this.
Good Luck

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K.B.

answers from Houston on

Hi S.-

My 6 year old son was diagnosed with Aspergers, not dyspraxia, but children with Aspergers share a lot of the same difficulties with motor skills, spatial awareness, etc. He has been seeing an occupational therapist for 2 years now and is considered to be at age appropriate level now. He also saw a physical therapist for about 8 months right after he was diagnosed and also tested out of that therapy.

The therapy has helped tremendously. He completed kindergarten this past year and his PE teacher assured me that he was able to do everything that was expected at an age appropriate level. Things take him a little longer to pick up, but he is able to learn how to do them.

Things to do at home would depend on her age. For a young child things that strengthen the hand muscles like playing with clay help with other tasks down the road. Playing games like Simon Says and Follow the Leader help with body awareness.

Please feel free to send me a note with any questions you might have.

Good Luck,
K.

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