Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Dyspraxia diagnosis

Does anyone have any information where I can have my adult daughter tested / assessed for Dyspraxia? She is 21 and lives in California. She has had difficulty in school and was in special education classes. She found school too difficult and dropped out at 16.

We went through all the testing available from when she was 6 months on until age 13, and the only diagnosis we got was, a slight case of Cerebral Palsy. She went to Occupational Therapy, speech therapy, but nothing seemed to work, and was told that her symptoms would never get worse.

At the time I accepted that reasoning, only because of my ignorance and trust in the "medical" professional, and education specialists. I also accepted it because I could communicate with her, and she seemed intelligent in what she would speak to me about, but then having to write it down was a whole different story.

I had never heard of dypraxia until I moved to the UK when she was 13 (she had to stay with her Dad) I started reading about it and I was convinced this is what my daughter has had to cope with since a baby. She has the poor motor skills, sensory deprivation, she doesn't like to be touched, but she is a wiz on the computer.

I brought this to the attention of the IEP board at the school she attended, the pyscologist she was seeing, but they had not heard of dyspraxia. I was told that she did not have dygraphia or dyslexia, which I tried to convey to them that I knew that but she should be tested for DYSPRAXIA. Unfortuantely at the time I was told there was no testing or assessment for Dyspraxia. So hence Janie struggled until she couldn't take it anymore.

She has been working jobs since then, and has done some community college, but the older she gets, the harder it seems for her to cope. Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to get her some help? or any groups she can get involved in? I am very limited on resources from this end of the world. If I had her here in England, there are loads of places for her to get help and support as it is a very recognized learning disability. So if anyone has any suggestions, I would be so appreciative.
Many Thanks

From things I have read over the years (and I admit it's been awhile), I think dyspraxia might be a vague and controversial diagnosis, but it depends on who you're talking to. My three older kids all have had speech delays (one is still in speech therapy and OT for fine motor and already did OT for sensory processing, etc.)

As far as treating sensory processing disorder, we had great luck with a short, intensive program in combination with the controversial listening therapy. (see e.g. http://www.starcenter.us/ ) BUT, they were young children. I know they treat adults, but I think it's a lot more difficult to make changes in the brain.

My guess would be that she's a right-brained, visual-spatial learner. See http://www.visualspatial.org/welcome.htm . There are lots of helpful articles at the articles tab regarding kids in school, though I don't know how much of that would be applicable to a young adult. If you think this situation applies to your daughter, there is a fantastic book that's out of print and hard to get but both of you might really appreciate reading it, "Upside Down Brilliance" by Linda Silverman (once in a while the used copies on amazon go down to a reasonable price but they're snapped up quickly).

probably doesn't help, but that's my two cents