Hi there,
As Anthony developed in his first few years we noticed extremes .. things he was really good at .. and other things that he just couldn't fathom.
On the positive side, he was a very loving little boy who loved his cuddles.
He adored music and dancing , was a superb clear reader, learned his "times table" off by heart and was "champion speller"
On the other hand, he could be naughty and was always worried about things .. coming in late at night to our bedroom .. not having been able to sleep " .. Daddy ..will I be tired in the morning?"
Eventually it dawned on us that although he could read perfectly .. he had no clue what the story was about .. just reading mechanically ..
His writing was very spidery .. and still won't win any prizes - but has improved with lots and lots and lots of practice.
Also the times table although he knew 6 X 6 was 36 without even thinking..... He couldn't translate it into real life ...
So if we said "Anthony if 6 children are given 6 sweets each .. how many sweets are there?" .... The question was met with a blank look .. or often a complete guess 13, 42 , 27 etc. Desperately hoping he would find the answer by luck
I played a lot of back garden ball games with him constantly practicing catching and kicking .
At firts he found it very difficult .. I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t do what I thought were the simplest physical things .. was he lazy?
And suddenly (maybe it was all the practice .. or something clicked in his brain.. but) at age 6 he learned to catch fantastically well, kick a ball properly and learned to ride a bike (Although he was never keen on cycling .. even to this day).
*** Rock climbing on holiday
He wasn't a big fan of Swimming ..but did learn to swim quite well - and at the same time lost his fear of water... which had included large puddles on the beach !
Didn't have the physical power needed for Competitive sports (although became a tough competitor in his late teens).
If anything strikes a chord please post your comments below.
Thanks
Des
The story of my eldest son Anthony who was diagnosed with Dyspraxia at the age of 4. He's now 25 with a lovely two year old daughter of his own (she does not have dyspraxia). A chance to fast forward through key stages of a dyspraxic child's development. Although all children are unique it is something I would have appreciated 20 years ago. I hope it helps you.
5 comments:
I am a therapist for children with learning difficulties.
Your son being upset by loud noises is not a symptom of dyspraxia, it is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
> 1) He didn't sleep through for one single night - until he was 12 months old
Possible food allergies or food intolerances.
> 2) He was a very anxious baby ... and would liiterally make himself sick in his cot if there was no-one in the bedroom with him when he was going to sleep or - if no-one arrived within 2 minutes of him waking up
Anxiety often accompanies SPDs and learning difficulties.
> 3) A very fussy eater
SPD - tactile or taste hypersensitivity.
> 4) He had very sensitive hearing and would wake up at the slightest noise
SPD - auditory hypersensitivity.
> 5) Had one favourite Dummy / pacifier - and wouldn't be comforted by any other new dummies.. In the end it began to disintegrate .. and we were afraid he'd swallow it .. so we had to chop it up and throw it away.
SPD - tactile sensitivity - loves certain things to an almost obsessive level.
Check out http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com.
> 6) He didn't walk until 14months old ... but Unusually based on what we’ve read - he did crawl
Delayed motor development, causing him problems with learning. If he hadn't crawled, it would've been even worse.
You mentioned that your son will be 21 soon. I'm curious - has he recovered from dyspraxia?
Hi,
My son is 11 y/o. He was diaganosed with dyspraxia @ 21mos old. He went through intensive early intervention - speech, occupation & some physical for 6 yrs. Reading your entries is like reading my son's story. Everything in his life had to be prompted/rehearsed step by step. We use this strategy to controll any phobias or sensory issues, too. We've always had him in sports since age 3 to help with coordination. Esp. swimming since it works both sides of the body at the same time. He still plays 2-3 sports per year for coordination and socialization. Since we caught it early he was able to go to regular education @ public school. He is now in the gifted program. No one knows about his dyspraxia outside of the family. The only thing he still hasn't mastered is his speech. As a toddler he was difficult to understand. We used sign language with verbal approximation until the speech came out through therapy. However, now that he's 11 he's begun stuttering. He has problems planning his respiration and rate with his speech. He even has repitions of sounds (again, I know it's a planning thing). Two teachers have commented about his disfluency. I told them we are addressing it privately. He is so over going to therapy and we've become quite therapoor from all the bills. I'm considering purchasing a delayed auditory feedback hearing aid that people with disfluency use so they cannot hear themselves talk. He did very well with this protocol in therapy using headphones. Can you elaborate on your son's middle school and high school years? Did he have friends? How is he now as an adult? Did he continue on to university? Can you comment on his professional and social life as an adult?
Best regards,
Maria in Miami
Hi Gargamel,
Thank you for your comments and the link to the SPD website.
I guess all these terms are not purely black and white and there are plenty of new things to be learned using this wonderful worldwide media.
Dyspraxia is an umbrella term and covers a multitude of difficulties.
Possibly Sensory Integration Disorder and SPD are another labels.
What I would say is that the label originally helped us as parents - but is something our son has taken a while to shake off.
Labels are not something to get too hung up about.. they are great as a means to understand the problem .. However any label can become a burden in the long run..
In that the child always has an excuse or a glass ceiling which they feel they cannot break through.
Only last month Anthony saw a psychiatrist regarding his Obsessive Compulsive disorder... and basically he was told he had "grown out" of his dyspraxia and the psychiatrist gave him permission to get on with the rest of his life.
This was like a heavy anchor lifting from Anthony's shoulders. We've definitely noticed him becoming much more independent and self-sufficient since then.
Even jokingly commenting the other day .. while frying eggs .. "I'm not disabled you know"!
Thanks for writing
Cheers
Des
Maria, Thanks for you comment.
I'm happy to correspond 1:1 but in answer to the last part of your post, Anthony now aged 21 has become a strong confident young man.
I'm sure his natural connection with girls helped this - He's had 2 long term relationships (both 2 years plus) since he was 16 and half a dozen short term ones in between too.
Aged 16-18 he studied Business Studies at Technical College - although not academically gifted.
Job wise - he works six days a week - 5 days in a call centre - where the repetitive nature of his job suits him perfectly - and on Saturdays still works in the same retail store (which he has done since he was 16).
He has a younger (18) brother and is very protective of him.. although it's true that his youger brother helps him too.
In a way he really has outgrown his dyspraxia and he is starting to push the envelope - as he becomes a man.
Cheers
Des
Sensory Integration Disorder is the old name for SPD. I'd just like to share an interesting finding. I have a mildly autistic kid now (7 y.o.). He started biomedical treatment 6 weeks ago. Last week, his mum reported that he started eating fruits by himself! And, asked for more! Before this, he refused to have even a scrap of fruit or veggie in his mouth. As he is not doing any sensory integration therapy, I know that the improvement came from his biomedical treatment. I supposed his brain chemistry has normalised somewhat and has tuned down his sense of touch to normal. It's not so much about having the stigma of being "labeled" - labels or diagnoses are there to help you find the right solution!
Maria - you might want to try biomedical treatment for your son. I think he has too much mercury.
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