Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Can a social child have Dyspraxia?

This list really sounds more like a description of Asperger's or NVLD (which frequently have dyspraxia as one component) than pure dyspraxia, and the difficulties with social relationships, literal language, attention, and auditory processing (and hand flapping!) are the parts that are most characteristic of those other syndromes. Pull those out of the list and you have something resembling "pure" dyspraxia.

Interesting!

I thought my son was autistic when he was a younger because of his early interest in letters and reading (hyperlexia). His pediatrician wouldn't even consider it. His preschool teacher said that he was too social and interactive (she has a high- functioning autistic son). The only unusual thing she noticed was that he wasn't crossing the midline as much as other kids. That was my first clue that something was off.

My son's OT treats a lot of autistic kids. We see them in the waiting room. A lot of them are *extremely* bright. One little boy has apraxia too, so he uses a computer to speak. He is a brilliantly smart boy, but he can't make his mouth make the sounds. I can't even imagine how frustrating that would be. :'(

Thanks everyone for the responses. It is particularly helpful to see the lists of yes/no for symptoms on the list for kids who have the diagnosis. I got the list from the dyspraxia foundation website (a UK site.). Here's the link http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/services/gu_symptoms.php

Here is the complete list of symptoms that they provide for younger kids too:

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The symptoms
By 3 years old
Symptoms are evident from an early age. Babies are usually irritable from birth and may exhibit significant feeding problems.

They are slow to achieve expected developmental milestones. For example, by the age of eight months they still may not sit independently.

Many children with dyspraxia fail to go through the crawling stages, preferring to 'bottom shuffle' and then walk. They usually avoid tasks which require good manual dexterity.



Pre-school children - 3 to 5 year olds
If dyspraxia is not identified, problems can persist and affect the childís life at school. Increasing frustration and lowering of self-esteem can result.

Children with dyspraxia may demonstrate some of these types of behaviour:

Very high levels of motor activity, including feet swinging and tapping when seated, hand-clapping or twisting. Unable to stay still
High levels of excitability, with a loud/shrill voice
May be easily distressed and prone to temper tantrums
May constantly bump into objects and fall over
Hands flap when running
Difficulty with pedalling a tricycle or similar toy
Lack of any sense of danger (jumping from heights etc)
Continued messy eating. May prefer to eat with their fingers, frequently spill drinks
Avoidance of constructional toys, such as jigsaws or building blocks
Poor fine motor skills. Difficulty in holding a pencil or using scissors. Drawings may appear immature
Lack of imaginative play. May show little interest in ëdressing upí or in playing appropriately in a home corner or wendy house
Limited creative play
Isolation within the peer group. Rejected by peers, children may prefer adult company
Laterality (left- or right-handedness) still not established
Persistent language difficulties
Sensitive to sensory stimulation, including high levels of noise, tactile defensiveness, wearing new clothes
Limited response to verbal instruction. May be slow to respond and have problems with comprehension
Limited concentration. Tasks are often left unfinished

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As for DD here is her yes/no list for age 7:

1. Not really, unless a teacher is too strict or "scary". Difficulties in adapting to a structured school routine

2. Yes. Difficulties in Physical Education lessons

3. BIG yes! Slow at dressing. Unable to tie shoe laces

4. BIG BIG yes!!! Barely legible handwriting (actually not legible at all)

5. BIG yes! Immature drawing and copying skills

6. No. Limited concentration and poor listening skills

7. No. Literal use of language

8. Not usually a problem but can be occasionally. Inability to remember more than two or three instructions at once

9. Yes. Slow completion of class work

10. Sometimes. Continued high levels of motor activity

11. Clapping but I always thought of it as part of her enthusiastic personality. Hand flapping or clapping when excited

12. BIG yes! Tendency to become easily distressed and emotional

13. What knife and fork? She prefers her hands but will use a fork when forced too. It usually ends with her asking one of us to help her or a "Will you please feed me?" Problems with co-ordinating a knife and fork

14. Big No. Inability to form relationships with other children

15. Yes but better in recent months. Sleeping difficulties, including wakefulness at night and nightmares

16. BIG BIG YES!!! Reporting of physical symptoms, such as migraine, headaches, feeling sick

As for the earlier symptoms she was most definitely a high needs baby with sleep and feeding issues but she achieved her milestones well ahead of schedule.(Except that she refused to let go and just cruised for months and months before deciding to walk on her own shortly after her 1st birthday.) She never developed a "normal" crawl - instead crawling with one leg while walking with the other. For the preschool list we really didn't have many issues with tantrums but of course there were some. She LOVED imaginative play and dress up and was always great at making friends with other children. She was also always strong with language and comprehension and was also clearly right handed. It was very cute as a preschooler watching her respond to social cues – she was so in tune that anytime an adult knelt down to talk to her she also knelt down to talk to them.

I am confused about whether dyspraxia would encompass dysgraphia or be an additional issue. When I sent Dr. Beljan some of DD's writing samples after a phone consult he said "The writing is obviously dysgraphic and the spelling looks dyslexic." Would looking at dyspraxia be in addition to this or would it be likely to replace the dysgraphia? When she was in the hospital for her 48 hour EEG the admitting diagnosis from the neurologist said “Uneven development profile” which again sounds like it could include this possibility.

As I look through this list with all it's BIG YES answers it sure looks like a possibility - especially with so many of you saying the social stuff is not required. So do I wait for her new neuropsych eval or is there a way to investigate this through the school?

It could be dyspraxia. I would definitely look into it.

So, I looked at the list.
The only items that fit DS are the messy eating, and not wanting to write/draw because it's difficult. His fine motor skills are actually on par with peers, so it's more about his perfectionism and dyspraxia making it more difficult for him.

Other things like having high energy, being intense, having sensitivities to sensations, being ambidextrous, preferring adult company are all highly gifted traits.

Many of the things on the list don't fit. He is the most imaginative child I have ever met, so that definitely doesn't fit.

Also, realize, that DS has a very mild form of dyspraxia. So mild, it will probably work itself out with therapy. Because it is so mild, the teachers have a hard time "seeing it." sigh.

Pemberley, here's the 7 year old list for my ds:

By 7 years old
Problems may include:

Difficulties in adapting to a structured school routine - yes, but he didn't act out in an obvious way, instead he was very quietly anxious and upset

Difficulties in Physical Education lessons - not obvious to us at that point, but he moved very slowly, didn't get excited about PE class, and appeared to be inclined to be a couch potato (the difficulties with PE lessons have become much more obvious as he's gotten older).

Slow at dressing. Unable to tie shoe laces YES YES YES. When he was around 7, he fought getting dressed a lot too. He didn't learn how to tie his shoelaces until he was 9, and then forgot again during Christmas vacation when he didn't wear his tie shoes for a few weeks.

Barely legible handwriting - you could read our ds' handwriting, but his teacher said it was one of the "2 or 3" least legible in his 2nd grade class. He also hadn't stopped reversing letters or learned punctuation, mixed up caps vs lower case, spacing was very uneven, words didn't follow lines on paper, and his spelling was horrible.

Immature drawing and copying skills - ds is actually very good talented at drawing, and this isn't unheard of in dysgraphic kids - drawing uses a different skill set than handwriting. He absolutely had problems copying written work, still does, and according to his neuropsych most likely always will.

Limited concentration and poor listening skills - NO

Literal use of language - yes

Inability to remember more than two or three instructions at once - Absolutely NO! But I have a non-dysgraphic dd who can't remember 1/2 an instruction on a good day, and apparently has no LD whatsoever

Slow completion of class work - yes in K/1, by 2nd grade for the most part he wasn't even starting school work.

Continued high levels of motor activity - Absolutely NOT. He's SLOW. Really slow!

Hand flapping or clapping when excited - no. FWIW, my older dd hand-flapped for awhile when she was around 4-5 years old. She's the dd with no known LD or anything else that remotely resembles a diagnosis

Tendency to become easily distressed and emotional - YES. Still true. Don't ask me about my day today!

Problems with co-ordinating a knife and fork - yes.

Inability to form relationships with other children - somewhat. He had 2 close friends that he met in Kindergarten that he kept throughout most of elementary school, but as most of the kids started branching out and making new friends as they got older in elementary, ds had a tough time making other close friends. This wasn't because other kids didn't like him - other kids have always liked him a lot. I think for ds it was related to his expressive language disorder, which I don't think is related to dyspraxia (but I could be wrong on that!). This year when he switched schools for 6th grade, he had no problem making new friends and right away found a good friend to pal around with.

Sleeping difficulties, including wakefulness at night and nightmares - Nightmares were never an issue, but when he did wake up in the middle of the night at 7 he would be easily scared by household sounds like someone walking across the floor or the furnace creaking etc. He also never needed much sleep. He continued to predictably wake up in the middle of the night up until he was around 6 years old, and he still goes through periods where he wakes up in the middle of the night. He's always stayed up late and wakes up early in the morning.

Reporting of physical symptoms, such as migraine, headaches, feeling sick - when he was 6 he went through a long spell of stomachaches which his ped said was actually the way migraines often present in young children. We eventually figured out it was related to stress and anxiety.

DS also became an extremely picky eater starting at around 6-7 years old, and I think that *is* related to his dyspraxia. Prior to that he used to eat just about anything, and he's starting to branch out a little bit more now at 12 years old, but he feels full very soon after he starts eating so he has a hard time eating enough at any meal to last very long.

polarbear