General Chat

Does anyone have a child with Dispraxia?

My son was diagnosed last year. He started comprehensive school last September & is still having problems settling in.

I just wondered if anyone had any tips for helping him.

Hi, i have friend with it,whilst i dont really know bout it i can speak to him later & pm you if you like.Also if you google there bound to be info.But presumably first hand but be good too.

I'd be very interested in any tips too Chrisa.

My little one was just diagnosed last Friday so we are a bit all at sea at the moment and could do with some advice.

Dianne xx

Thanks Wild Cat. Over the past year I've been on the Dispraxia Foundation website quite a few times & got some good tips but as you say its first hand experience & advice that usualy helps most.

x

No prob :) Catch you later i'm off now & running late.

Hi Dianne

Have you got any appointments with Occupational Therapy & Phisiotherpay yet?

They give you some good excercises that you have to do at home & are really supportive.

My son was having real problems with PE at school & the teacher that visited the school to teach PE was horrible to my son. He put him down all the time & told him he was useless. They wrote a very strong letter to him as well as the letter they sent to his head teacher. I found them very helpful for support for me as well as my son.

My son seems to be in a world of his own at times & says he's not bothered about not having many friends but then he'll have moments when he admits he feels isolated.

I hope you find your sons therapists as nice & supportive as my sons were. He no longer sees them as the way the system works is that when they start comprhensive school they no longer recieve treatment which is a shame as my son was only diagnosed a few months before he left primary scool.

If you need to talk to someone I'm happy for you to PM me.

x

off to meet mam for lunch now but I'll be back later

x

My nephew has dyspraxia and was diagnosed when he was around 7 years old...he's now 20. The school were very good when he was small and then he just carried on as normal through secondry school.
It all depends on the level of dyspraxia..some are worse than others but so long as the school are aware of it then can allow for the extra time it takes the child to do the work set.

Thats the problem he's having Devon Dweller.

The teacher who deals with the special needs co ordniation from the school is aware & some of his teachers don't seem to be taking this into consideration. He's always being told off for not having enough work done in class or because his work is so untidy.

It's so hard to deal with in secondary school because he has so many different teachers for the different subjects. At primary school every teacher knew him & knew that he was doing his best & praised him for it.

Hi my son has dyspraxia also and is due tostart secondary school in this sept and these are the worries i have for him. He never saw anyone for a few years but after constant badgering the school nurse agreed he should be seen and helped me. The OT is currently coming into school to help with the transition. I have written her a note today as we have some concerns. Like your son mine does not have a wide range of friends, infact he seems to get on better with girls and a couple of boys who are quite quiet and shy.It some of the emotional problems i find difficult to handle.

Star

One of the problems my sister found is the difference between dyspraxia and just being a teenager...sometimes they seem similar.
Schools should be educated for the needs of any disability. Just because you can't see it they shouldnt be allowed to get away with ignoring it.

My sister is pretty vocal and a secondry school teacher herself so made sure they didn't ignore it.

Thank you Maz.

Star

Your son sounds just like mine. He was always more friendly with the girls at primary school & spent alot of time with the younger ones.

When he was due to start secondary school in september I worried like mad. He still isn't settled properly. He spent every break & lunch time in the Library right up until Christmas break. He is mixing more now but still spends a lotof time alone & he is bullied. I worry that after the summer holidays he's going to be alone again at school.

I contacted the school he was joining around this time last year & spoke the special needs co-ordinator. His primary school passed on all the reports they had from Physio &OC including the one specific to PE. The Physio & OC also gave me copies of all reports which my son took to the school on his visit day for the teacher who would be his head of year to read.

Could you not ask yours to prepare reports for you now so you can pass them on to his new school in plenty of time?

I hope everything goes smoothly for your son in September.

x

Devon Dweller

Parents day is coming up soon so I will be having my say with the worst offenders. It's the only chance you get to speak to individual teachers.

The special needs co-ordinator is a very experienced woman & great teacher & she is one of his maths teachers. She taught at the same school when I went there. She's retiring this summer. (another worry...who's taking over form her??..)

His head of year is understanding & when I've spoken to him in the past about it he was quite angry that some of his teachers were so ignorant. He said there was no excuse for it because they had all been given a report about my son & should have been well aware of what was involved with teaching him & if they weren't aware they should have asked.

Since then most of them are fine with him but others still have a go so I'll be telling them what I think of them..