marytheres, your notes about preschool reminded me of another thing - it's been really interesting as my ds gets older because he can now express his thoughts, feelings etc that he didn't really have a way of doing easily when he was so young, so we now have a lot more knowledge of how dyspraxia etc impacts his life. Anyway, your remarks about preschool reminded me of something my ds (now 13) told me just the other day when we were getting ready to go to school and he was putting on his coat. He went to a Montessori preschool where they were encouraging the kids to learn/do things independently from a very early age, so they taught the kids to put on their jackets by laying them out on the floor sorta-upside down, then putting their arms in first and flipping the coat on over their head. DS told me he was so glad that they did it that way in preschool because that way he knew how to put on a coat when he got to elementary school. I know that probably sounds like nonsense or "what's the big deal" to anyone who has an NT child... but things like that are a big deal to kids who don't have the same whatever it is that connects brain to muscle movement. He said he was still putting on his coat the Montessori way well into 2nd or 3rd grade, while the other kids seemed to come into kindergarten just naturally understanding how to and capable of pulling a coat on the regular way.
Which leads to another thing he used to have a tough time with (now he's just slow at it :))... buttons and zippers and changing clothes. He absolutely hates changing clothes because it requires a lot of effort. If only my fashionista dds who used to change their clothes every 10 minutes had a slight tad of dyspraxia lol! Anyway, in addition to ds not liking changing clothes at home, in early elementary he was always struggling with getting ready "fast enough" to get outside with the other kids in class - his teachers used to think he was dilly-dallying at his cubby in the morning when really it took him a long time to get his jacket off, and at lunchtime he used to purposely put on his snow pants etc *before* he ate so that he didn't miss out on any recess struggling to get them on (recess was after lunch). The other kids all took their snow pants and jackets with them and left them on the floor next to where they were sitting while they ate then put them on when they were done. FWIW ds never had enough time to finish his lunch either... ok... way more info than you need on my ds lol!
I think you'll be glad you pursued the neuropsych eval - I wouldn't anticipate you'll have all your answers to everything, and I'd guess you'll probably come away with even more questions... but the info you get will definitely be worth the time and expense.
Best wishes,
polarbear
Last edited by polarbear; 02/15/13 12:08 PM.
