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Updated 22 July 2007
SIAN'S DYSPRAXIA PAGE
Dyspraxia; clumsy child syndrome; perceptuo-motor dysfunction
Minimal brain dysfunction; learning difficulty; developmental co-ordination disorder
STUPID, CLUMSY, AWKWARD, DOESN'T TRY, DISRUPTIVE, OVER EMOTIONAL
Does this sound familiar? Is this the message coming back from your child's school?
This is how my son's teachers described him at his former school. Because of his problem he was marginalised and bullied, and the teachers' stood by and watched it happen! I was eventually forced to withdraw him from school after he had been seriously assaulted in front of one of the school staff (who did nothing to stop it) and came home badly bruised and bleeding. The head teacher dismissed my complaint.
Because I had withdrawn my son from school the Local Education Authority (LEA) refused to provide a suitable school for him, so I had to educate him at home. This situation continued for nearly 3 years. With the help of the local Centre for Integrated Living (CIL), advice from other organisations and a change in the LEA personnel, my son is now in a suitable school.
My son suffers from DYSPRAXIA!
A Brief History of Dyspraxia
The term "dyspraxia" derives from the Greek word "praxis" which means "doing, acting, deed or practice". Practice includes both knowing what to do and how to do it, so dyspraxic children have problems with integrating the thought with the action in order to carry out a task. As a result of this dyspraxic children may often show signs of frustration.
In 1937 dyspraxia was documented using the term "congenital maladroitness". It was recognised that disorders of the actual doing of a task (praxis) resulted in clumsiness. These children were called "Clumsy Children" and dyspraxia was known as "Clumsy Child Syndrome". In the USA it was first given recognition through the work of Strauss and Lehitinen in 1947.
Although the condition has been recognised (under various names) for over 60 years many (professional as well as lay) people have little or no knowledge of the syndrome.
While the cause of dyspraxia is not known, common factors include that most were either born prematurely or two weeks past their due date. In some cases another family member may suffer from dyspraxia, dyslexia or another related condition.
In the United Kingdom it has been estimated that 1 in 20 schoolchildren suffer from the syndrome which affects organisational, motor and language skills and that children with dyspraxia may also have related disorders (in varying degrees) such a autism, dyslexia and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
If you consider that your child may be dyspraxic do not struggle along without help. At the end of this article is a list of links and addresses of helplines (including some telephone numbers) and organisations that provide advice for parents and carers of children with disabilities.
Treatment is generally carried out through occupational therapy exercises, the focus of which is to teach the child how their body works, and the skills that they find difficult. These (O.T.) exercises have to be continued at home after the period of treatment has finished, and, although not a cure, help the child overcome many of the problems resulting from the syndrome.
Above all, remember that your child's clumsiness (dyspraxia) does not mean that he or she is stupid - many dyspraxic children are of above average intelligence.
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms of dyspraxia can include:
not feeding properly
irritability and sleeping badly
May be late in reaching milestones such as sitting, crawling (many never crawl) standing, walking, hopping, jumping
Poor writing/drawing abilities
Inability to keep still
Short attention span
Disorganised (has difficulty in planning activities)
Difficulty in carrying out complex instructions
Frequently falls or bumps into things
Overly trusting and little or no sense of danger
Messy eater, spills things
Difficulty/slowness with dressing, tying shoes
This is not a comprehensive list. Dyspraxic children may suffer in varying degrees, and do not necessarily exhibit all the symptoms.
If you are worried about your child's development, ensure that your General Practitioner (family doctor) knows of your concerns, and your reasoning behind those concerns. If necessary write down the symptoms/problems that your child is experiencing and give a copy of the list to your doctor. Ask for a referral to a specialist (child development) pædiatrician. General Practitioners' (family doctors') are there to treat common disorders and act as a filter for specialist medical personnel (consultants).
Parents are most likely to consider that their child might be dyspraxic (or that there is "something wrong") and in a survey carried out by the Dyspraxia Foundation in the United Kingdom only 9.4% of teachers and 1.8% of General Practitioners (family doctors) are likely to consider this diagnosis.
Diagnosis of dyspraxia is most often made by a pædiatrician. General Practitioners' do not usually make this diagnosis.
Approximately 25% of dyspraxic children are recognised when they start school. This has serious implications on the outcome of their education, especially with regard to the attitude many schools have towards dyspraxic children. This is of great concern as:
Many schools think that in 80% of cases children will grow out of it.
75.5% of teachers think that dyspraxic children are lazy and could try harder when, in fact, dyspraxic children have to work much harder than non-dyspraxic children to complete tasks, especially those (tasks) requiring co-ordination!
Over 50% of schools think that (dyspraxic) children are naughty or disruptive
Over 33% of schools blame dyspraxia on bad parenting
For a personal view the difficulties encountered by persons suffering from dyspraxia click on the link below:
***DYSPRAXIA: THE INVISIBLE HANDICAP***
I recommend this site to anyone wishing to learn more about this syndrome
A new very informative leaflet "Dyspraxic Fantastic" is available for download at "Matthew's Hideout"
Please feel free to download and print the .pdf document (or save to floppy disk) and forward it to your child's school.The document will be updated on the site from time to time as necessary.
LINKS: (see also useful addresses in the UK, below the links for Canada)
UNITED KINGDOM (UK)
Early Indications of Dyspraxia
E-mail: notts@dysf.fsnet.co.uk
Dyspraxia Connexion
21 Birchdale Avenue
Hucknall
Nottingham
NG15 6DL
Help Line Telephone No. 0115 9632220
For general information on Dyscovery E-mail: info@dyscovery.co.uk
For information on Dyscovery's products E-mail: products@dyscovery.co.uk
The Dyscovery Centre
4a Church Road
Whitchurch
Cardiff
CF14 2DZ
Telehone: +44 (0) 29 2062 8222
Facsimile: +44 (0) 29 2062 8333
Cyswllt Teulu Cymru / Contact a Family Wales
Room 153 S, 1st Floor, The Exchange Building, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff , CF10 5EB
Tel 029 2049 8001
Fax 029 2049 5001
E-mail: wales@cafamily.org.uk
Contact a Family Scotland
Norton Park, 57 Albion Road, Edinburgh EH7 5QY
Tel (0131) 475 2608
Fax (0131) 475 2609
E-mail: scotland@cafamily.org.uk
Contact a Family Northern Ireland
Contact a Family Northern Ireland,
Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street,
Lisburn BT28 1XP
Tel/Fax 028 9262 7552
E-mail: nireland@cafamily.org.uk
Contact a Family England
(Registered Charity No: 284912 - help for families with any disability or special needs)
Contact a Family, 209-211 City Road, London EC1V 1JN
Tel 020 7608 8700 Fax 020 7608 8701
Helpline 0808 808 3555 or Textphone 0808 808 3556 - Freephone for parents and families (10am-4pm, Mon-Fri)
E-mail: info@cafamily.org.uk
EIRE
The Dyspraxia Association of Ireland
E-mail: dyspraxiaireland@eircom.net
Write to: The Dyspraxia Association, c/o Communications House, Unit 58, Spruce Avenue, Stillorgan Industrial Estate, Co. Dublin, Ireland
LA FRANCE
PRAXIE
Dyspraxies de l'enfant et répercussions Scolaires.
DEUTSCHLAND
Diese Website handelt von wortlichem Dyspraxie (Apraxie)/This site is about verbal Dyspraxia (Apraxia)
AUSTRALIA
E-mail: information@dyspraxia.com.au
NEW ZEALAND
The Dyspraxia Group of NZ (Inc)
E-mail: praxisnz@xtra.co.nz
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA)
(a site with links to information on dyspraxia and various other topics)
CANADA
ECHO - Apraxia Canada Support & Resources
OTHER USEFUL ADDRESSES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Write to: Fourth Floor, Churchgate House, 56 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 6EU
E-mail: advice@rathbone-ci.co.uk
(RATHBONE-CI is a Registered Charity No: 287120, which provides free advice about different types of special needs education, school support, statementing procedure and assessments, appeals and tribunals, annual reviews, finding a school, school admissions, school exclusion, education law and procedures).
Special Education Advice Line Tel: 0800 917 6790 (Monday to Friday: 10 am to 4 pm)
Special Needs Consortium
C/o Council for Disabled Children, 8 Wakley Street, London EC1 7QE
FOR COPIES OF
"Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (November 2001)" (DfES 581/2001)
"Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 600 -The Special Educational Needs Tribunal Regulations 2001"
"Parents and Carers Guide" (DfES 0800/2001)
"SEN Toolkit" (DfES 0558/2001)
Write to: DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottinghamshire NG15 0DG
Email: info@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
Or order by telephone/fax
tel: 0870 000 2288
fax: 01928 79 4248
For online text of:
Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (November 2001)
*WARNING* the above document is 217 printed A4 pages long, you might find it more useful to save it on your computer
Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 600 -The Special Educational Needs Tribunal Regulations 2001
SEN Toolkit Sections 1 to 12 can be downloaded HERE:
Links to other SEN documents can be found HERE:
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