Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Asynchronous Development

Hi Lori,

Sorry you had such a bad experience with the doctors. Glad to know your son is doing well now.
FWIW, I have a friend with a child that was diagnosed with hypotonia around birth. Also has sensory integration issues. That child has had all kinds of therapy beginning in infancy. I think my friend would say it's fair to describe child's progress with the support of therapy as marginal. There is no way to know if therapy would have solved the problem and you can't go back anyhow, so please don't be too hard on yourself for not insisting on it.
I am definately from an out of the box type of family. It can be frustrating and sometimes it would be nice to have a set diagnosis and perhaps a manual to go with! Unfortunately, it's never easy and I hope you find a lot of support here.

Incog

Hi Lori,
I'm an SI certified OT and also parent of a GT 6 y/o. What you describe certainly sounds like dyspraxia. I've recently noticed that gifted kids can certainly compensate better than most when it comes to issues related to dyspraxia. Many kids I see look really good until you push them into new areas of motor skills. It's the novelty that trips up someone with dyspraxia. Most kids with good intellectual skills are also really good at what we call "practice to mastery" when they are highly motivated to achieve at a task.

Who are you seeing now for a diagnosis? Try to find an SI certified OT and one who also knows some interventions as adjuncts to OT. I do Therapeutic Listening and Interactive Metronome, both of which are auditory based interventions that can help with dyspraxia. He is not too old to seek out intervention, if he is struggling with differences that cause him frustration or anxiety during daily activities.

Feel free to email me if you have questions. Best of luck. It's good to hear that your son has found things he loves. No matter what, it's most important to just be able to pursue what we love doing.

He does compensate well if he has enough time to practice. For instance, in one of the songs the group did, "King of New York" from Newsies the choreographer had him do a forward roll at the same time as another boy and they were supposed to use a word in the song as their cue. When they were first learning the dance, my son could not do it fast enough, but by the day of the performance he could. I asked him how he managed to do it and he said when he is told to listen for a certain cue he has to come up with his own--usually a word or two before what the choreographer says in order to coordinate his movements with the other kids. His body seems to take slightly longer to respond and this is how he compensates. He also had to do a spin around dance move on his knees that was difficult at first but he was able to do it by the day of the performance and he could do it in time with the music. Another song he had to sing and dance to was "America" from West Side Story and the music is very fast paced. He did well enough on this dance also that his problems were not noticeable--but they put him on the back row of dancers in the more difficult part just in case he couldn't do it.

I wonder if I will always have to help him with quick costume changes. I can't imagine that he will ever be fast enough with buttons to be able to do it himself.

Do you think Therapeutic Listening and Interactive Metronome would be any better for him than what he is already doing? He has had to dance and sing in time to music for the last five years and he has been in piano lessons for four years to help with fine motor coordination.

My special ed teacher friend told me about a friend of hers whose son has sensory issues like my son and is doing listening therapy but he had academic problems that my son does not. My son had always been a very good auditory and visual learner. His difficulties are only motor related like the handwriting, and tests did show that he had visual motor integration problems a few years ago. He homeschools and types most of his work now. Would Therapeutic Listening or Interactive Metronome help with this?

Since he homeschools I wouldn't say his differences cause him that much frustration or anxiety now that we have found ways around handwriting difficulties.

It is when he is around kids his age like at Cub Scouts and not being able to skate with other homeschoolers that his sensory and motor planning issues cause a problem. He has talked about quitting scouts because of his differences.

I would also really love for him to learn how to swim and we can't seem to find a class that allows the extra time he needs to get used to the water and actually learn to swim.

He will be seeing a developmental pediatrician he last saw two years ago. I don't know if their OT is SI certified. All I was told is that testing is supposed to take about two hours.

Thanks. I really do appreciate the support.

Hey Lori - my son had real difficulty learning how to swim. He is very sensitive and cautious about certain things - like sticking his head under water. We found fantastic private swimming lessons at a local university. It literally took about the water equivelent of him taking the 1st level class about 4 or 5 times, but now he's a swimmer and is doing fine in the level 2 class with everyone else. You may be able to find something like that if you call around to local swim programs? It worked well for us!

Good luck!

Lori:
Actually, what you describe in the last post is *exactly* what Interactive Metronome could help. He sounds too high level for Therapeutic Listening although "The Listening Program" might address some of the issues (two different auditory stim programs, similar names, very confusing!). But, Interactive Metronome is designed to tap into the underlying neurological processes of timing and sequencing. What I see after the 5 week program is that the person typically increases in level of automaticity for coordinated movement. I had an adult with Tourette's do the program who reported that before IM he had to think "right, left, right, left" while walking and couldn't dance or catch a ball well at all. After IM, he learned to dance, could "walk and talk" at the same time and was surprised when he reached out and caught a ball that someone had tossed unexpectedly toward him at a picnic. He was thrilled with how it took his coordination to another level, where he didn't have to *think* about every movement.

IM could be worth the 5 weeks time investment, perhaps over the summer when school is out, to see if it will help your son's movements become more automatic. Check for a provider and more info at their website: www.interactivemetronome.com

Thanks. After watching the video on their website it made me wonder if the Dance, Dance Revolution game that my son already has might help him if he would actually use it. I found a site with comments from parents who had tried both DDR and IM and one parent said he got similar results with Dance Dance Revolution. I think we might try that first.

On the IM site, under research, there should be a link or reference to study published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. In that study they compared three groups of boys with ADHD (specific ages, but I forget that right now). The three groups were 1)control group with no intervention, 2)group that played video games (duration, frequency and type of games were not specified in the research article, from my recollection) and 3)a group of boys who participated in IM training.

The IM group and the video game group BOTH showed progress in areas assessed. But the IM group made MORE progress and in more areas than the video game group.

I agree that video game use can improve some skill areas. I think if you can get your son to play DDR and he makes gains, great. The plus for video games is that it is so motivating. We got a Wii console for Christmas. I have no doubt that playing and improving your performance on Wii games (certain sports related games, timing and coordination games) carries over into real life experiences. We just got the purchase of a system approved for our physical rehab dept. I'll be eager to hear how DDR goes for your son!
Good luck!

Debbie,
Do you know at what age such programs are appropriate and effective? My son has problems with coordination and balance (his running is very clumsy, cannot catch a ball well, cannot walk the balance beam no matter how low, etc.). I can imagine interventions like that could be helpful in the future if he does not improve. But he is only 3 right now (almost 4) and I don't know if he would cooperate or enjoy such formal programs. Also, at this age, it is not clear whether he has a serious problem or whether it's just his age and personality. He is very cautious and the activities he prefers are naturally sedentary (reading, computer, etc.). I was that way when I was little - I hated gym classes, occasionally got teased for lack of athleticism, could never quite master those childhood activities that come so easily for many like swimming and riding a bike... I guess I'm a natural nerd at heart, but aren't there a lot of "normal" people like that? Nobody, including myself, ever thought there was anything wrong with me. At what point in the spectrum do we decide what is normal and what is problematic? If my son grows to accept that he will never be graceful and feels perfectly happy to give up on becoming a professional athlete, should I still worry about getting him formal help?

Sorry, I guess I'm starting to ramble. I feel conflicted about how to deal with my son who has many amazing talents but also some unusual deficits. I want to prevent any harm to his self esteem by providing opportunities to correct his problems early on, but I'm also afraid that if I intervene unnecessarily, my efforts might actually do more harm than good. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Junior

Hi Lori -
My DS has been playing a lot of "guitar hero" with his friends. I think it might be an 'half-step" to DDR. There are also finger versions of DDR over the internet.

smiles,
grinity