Hi
We recently had a private OT evaluate DS7 (he currently has a gifted IEP and is in gr. 1 French Immersion in Canada). We asked for the evaluation because of various puzzling behaviours, mostly difficulty with handwriting and other fine motor skills, but also some sensory issues and other puzzling behaviours (e.g. high frustration level with certain types of tasks). Other things he does well - e.g. he met or exceeded all milestones when he was younger, he began walking at 11 months, was able to ride a bike at 5 yrs. We were just not sure what was going on, if anything.
The OT used the Motor Assessment Battery (M-ABC2). I watched the evaluation, and most of the tasks he completed fine, but slowly. He had trouble with the ball catching and one-leg balancing (on a balance board).
On Friday we got the results - he came out at the 5th percentile and the OT is suggesting Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). DH and I were rather taken aback - I could see he was struggling at some things and figured he would score low, just didn't expect that low! On the other hand, when she tested his printing and copying skils, his writing was legible and the speed was within the average for his age (although some of his letter formations are odd). So, I'm still rather confused - how can this be if he's at the 5th %ile?
I spent the weekend trying to absorb this and (of course) reading the materials she provided and googling.
I am wondering a few things...
What do we share with his school (if anything)? Since we don't have an official diagnosis, what do we tell them? She did give us a really great brochure with school accomodation suggestions (from
http://dcd.canchild.ca/en/). I do think some of the items will be very helpful - especially if they are able to modify his gym instruction (he currently hates gym class - now I have a possible reason why).
Would/should this get added to his IEP? Or do we need an official diagnosis for that?
Should we pursue a diagnosis with his pediatrician? How does that work - does the ped. do this or do we ask for a referral?
How do we talk to DS about this? Since it's not an official diagnosis, what do we tell him?
ETA: The OT also suggested DCD was a possible explanation for his observed difficulty with reading - he decodes and comprehends at a high level, but strongly resists reading long passages of text and strongly prefers being read to. He often loses his place in the text and skips words. I am wondering if vision therapy would help with this?
