Speech "Motor Planning" Issue Related to Behavior?

I think you have enough reason to go to a Developmental Pediatrcian and get a full evaluation that includes both speech/langague and OT, and what every else you need to get a full picture of what is going on, including the compulsivie behaviors, poor sleeping, and the inablity to respond to typical dicipline, so that you do not have to guess. What kind of evaluation was done and what kind of Doctor performed it? It took us years to understand all the areas that we needed to have evaluated for our children with issues like this, unfortunatly, you should expect a pretty steep learning curve, and you may not get the whole answer the first time, or the second...it is a moving target, and it can be a frustrating road. More than one time in my journey with my children, I found myself asking "why was I not told this before?" It is a sad, but not uncommon experience. Just suggesting that though you may think you know everything you need to know, you may not know yet what you don't know.

Any glitch in development is going to have the potential to effect behavoir, so knowing for sure if all these things add up to something else is going to be a good thing to know. She may benefit from many other theraputic interventions that will help her with development. Motor planning is an issue best delt with in Occupational Therapy, and will effect her ablity to do global tasks (like cleaning up) and will have a significant impact on many self guided tasks that seem easy enough for a child of her intelectual level, therefore, we interpret the inablity to complete these tasks that require more motor planning skills than the child has, as definance, refusal, laziness, or being stubborn.

I would add these up, and don't try to diagnose her, or disqualify a diagnosis on your own. By far, Developmental Pediatricians are going to be your very best bet.

M.

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speech delay, constipation, lining up toys, whining, low muscle tone are red flags to me. (no these issues are not typical) Did the school evaluate her or a developmental ped?

You are asking a lot of good questions regarding your daughter. My question is who evaluated her? If the school district evaluated her, then I would suggest that you have her privately evaluated by a child psychologist (Dr. McCaskill in Plymouth, MI), a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist to evaluate her motor skills, etc. A developmental pediatrician is a good idea as well, as most peds aren't trained in specifics - they are trained to note problem areas and to refer to specialists.
Also, whatever the school specialists recommend, always double it! (Ex. if they says she needs 2 hours of speech therapy a week, she should receive 4 hours a week - funding issues...)

Since your daughter is behaving well in school and not at so well at home, I would gently like to suggest that you receive some guidance on how to re-direct, guide, and appropriately handle your daughter at home. (Dr. McCaskill is a "parent coach" as well - so she might be a good fit for you! Since your daughter appears to do well with the very structured routine at school, maybe you could try to have a structured routine at home as well... which I know is really hard! But, she seems to work better in that environment, as it probably makes her feel safer because she knows what to expect next. Something simple like a little chart (make it up on the computer which lists simple things like... brush teeth, make bed, put toys away, etc.) that she puts stars on with a small reward at the end of the day would be nice... ex. read extra book at bedtime.

Another thing you might want to start doing... when your daughter is done playing with one thing, she needs to put it away before she is allowed to play with another thing. It makes cleanup a whole lot easier and not so overwhelming to them! Plus, it's a good life skill!

It sounds like you are a great, caring mom who is doing a great job trying to find ways to help be the best advocate for her daughter! Your daughter is very lucky to have such a caring, observant mom!

Hopefully this helps you!

I tell anyone who is concerned about their child's speech to get an evaluation done as soon as they suspect something is not right. I knew my son was speech delayed, but I listened to everyone, including his dr (no longer his dr), to just wait, and that he would catch up. Well, he didn't. Finally when he was 2.5 I contacted ECI on my own and they said he does have a severe artic delay. He was only in their services a few months til he turned 3, and is now in ST with the schoold district. I should have gone with my gut and called sooner, but I listened to everyone else, when I should have gone with my mommy gut.

When he did his eval with both ECI and the school district, they looked at everything, not just speech. THey asked if I had any other concerns (which I didn't). If you get an eval done, bring up your concerns, and they can tell you if they think it's related or not, or if there's even need to be concerned.

The worst they can tell you is that she's fine!! Talk to her pedi, and go from there. GL!

Ideally, talk to your Speech Therapist... because there are usually a Team of developmental professionals who do a FULL assessment of a child... on all aspects.

Some of what you say is just developmental, or personality.
So, unless you know the difference and/or the developmental spectrum that is considered 'normal' or not.. .it is very hard, to say finitely or absolutely, that your child is or is not, displaying non-typical or typical developmental concerns.... PER her age.

You need to ask your Pediatrician... and/or be referred to a child development specialist.

Apraxia... can SOMETIMES affect other motor skills...ie: motor programming/planning/execution... that is something you should ask your child's Speech Therapist. I assume, she has one?