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Dyspraxia and sports


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Anyone with a DC with dyspraxia? DS is in swimming and gymnastics and is progressing ok. But they occasionally do more complicated things that are taking him more time and effort than the other kids. I wonder if letting the coaches know he needs extra help with more complex procedures will help or hinder him. Help in that the coaches may be more patient. Hinder in that they may not ask him to do as much and then he won't work up to his potential. My goal for these sports is fun OT. In general it hasn't held him back in these two sports but sometimes he does have frustration and I'm starting to wonder if I should disclose. FTR, nothing competitive, he's 6, and they are Ymca sports to learn basics.

 

Edited for a little clarity

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I have a kid with dyspraxia (most likely 2, but the other hasn't been evaluated for dx).  I think it's worth mentioning, especially as a kid gets older. At 6, some kids are just naturally clumsy or have a hard time coordinating motor movements.  A few years later, a lot more frustration from coaches has been apparent---and kid has internalized some of those messages about not being good.  Are sports ever going to be easy for a dyspraxic kid? No. But that doesn't mean that they are a bad person or dumb or not paying attention. ;)

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I have a kid with dyspraxia (most likely 2, but the other hasn't been evaluated for dx). I think it's worth mentioning, especially as a kid gets older. At 6, some kids are just naturally clumsy or have a hard time coordinating motor movements. A few years later, a lot more frustration from coaches has been apparent---and kid has internalized some of those messages about not being good. Are sports ever going to be easy for a dyspraxic kid? No. But that doesn't mean that they are a bad person or dumb or not paying attention. ;)

Ok, thanks for your perspective. Another problem is it's social hour too so frequently he isn't paying attention either so we're working on it. His sports so far have a lot of goofing off but the last few swim classes have been more grown up and complicated and I'm wondering about bringing it up. The teacher is great (DS will say I can't but she helps and he can do it and she's encouraging). But that's a great point about being proactive with self esteem. We went through enough in our limited school time with that. I think if he wants to continue in swimming and gets older I'll let the coaches know. I think people tend to have a lot more leeway and patience if there is understanding. Though dyspraxia is pretty obscure to common people so IDK.
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I have a kid with dyspraxia (most likely 2, but the other hasn't been evaluated for dx). I think it's worth mentioning, especially as a kid gets older. At 6, some kids are just naturally clumsy or have a hard time coordinating motor movements. A few years later, a lot more frustration from coaches has been apparent---and kid has internalized some of those messages about not being good. Are sports ever going to be easy for a dyspraxic kid? No. But that doesn't mean that they are a bad person or dumb or not paying attention. ;)

Ok, thanks for your perspective. Another problem is it's social hour too so frequently he isn't paying attention either so we're working on it. His sports so far have a lot of goofing off but the last few swim classes have been more grown up and complicated and I'm wondering about bringing it up. The teacher is great (DS will say I can't but she helps and he can do it and she's encouraging). But that's a great point about being proactive with self esteem. We went through enough in our limited school time with that. I think if he wants to continue in swimming and gets older I'll let the coaches know. I think people tend to have a lot more leeway and patience if there is understanding. Though dyspraxia is pretty obscure to coso IDK.
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I have a kid with dyspraxia (most likely 2, but the other hasn't been evaluated for dx). I think it's worth mentioning, especially as a kid gets older. At 6, some kids are just naturally clumsy or have a hard time coordinating motor movements. A few years later, a lot more frustration from coaches has been apparent---and kid has internalized some of those messages about not being good. Are sports ever going to be easy for a dyspraxic kid? No. But that doesn't mean that they are a bad person or dumb or not paying attention. ;)

Ok, thanks for your perspective. Another problem is it's social hour too so frequently he isn't paying attention either so we're working on it. His sports so far have a lot of goofing off but the last few swim classes have been more grown up and complicated and I'm wondering about bringing it up. The teacher is great (DS will say I can't but she helps and he can do it and she's encouraging). But that's a great point about being proactive with self esteem. We went through enough in our limited school time with that. I think if he wants to continue in swimming and gets older I'll let the coaches know. I think people tend to have a lot more leeway and patience if there is understanding. Though dyspraxia is pretty obscure to the public so IDK.
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I don't have a child with dyspraxia (I had to google it), but...

 

I would consider telling the instructor if you think there is a safety concern.

 

My dd7 has some health issues, including very poor vision.  We told the gymnastics instructor about her vision issues, so that she didn't think that dd7 "just needed glasses".  Without her glasses she can only read the 2nd line on the vision chart.  She couldn't see the floor under the short balance beam.  In this case, I think it is beneficial for the instructor to know her (possible) limitations.

 

Just something to consider.

 

 

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Which classes (levels) are you doing at the Y?  My ds has done the entire preschool sequence of swim lessons at the Y and the boys gymnastics sequence.  Is your ds doing the *preschool* sequence or the big kid sequence?  He's 6, right?  At our Y they have leeway there to keep them down in the preschool classes, rather than moving them up to the big kid (pollywog, guppy, minnow, etc.) sequence.  Preschool is pike, eel, ray, starfish, etc.  

 

The reason I'm making hay over that is that out our Y the preschool classes get the better teachers, and the *expectation* is for extra patience and more hands-on.  So they EXPECT that they're going to have to put their hands on them and physically help them do the strokes, because they know little kids don't have as much ability to imitate.  In that sense, a dc with praxis will fit in and naturally be accommodated, simply by putting him in the younger class, kwim?  My ds blends in with the preschool class and would have problems functioning in the big kid classes targeted to age 6+.  At our Y the director can choose, at her discretion, to keep in a child for significantly longer even, if the SN warrant it.  So for instance they've kept kids with autism in the preschool class till age 7-8, because the teaching dynamic fit them better.

 

No, I don't think disclosing the disability will make the teacher more patient.  The right teacher would have seen it already and modified.  My ds has the head of the swim program for his teacher and has been with her for almost a year now.  She has been teaching probably 35+ years.  Seriously.  She was the first person to use the A word with me, long before anyone else (outside my circle of SN friends) ever did.  And she knows exactly how to teach him, because she has been doing it for 35 years and can see the issues and just change.  Telling her the exact problems *helps* her change, but she already sees it.  When he was being taught by college kids, THAT was problematic.  It didn't matter how much I told them, because they didn't have the experience and maturity to bring more to the table.  But once I disclosed his disabilities, they started making sure the most experienced person got him, kwim?  They had 2 teachers in a class, so they worked it so one person was with him consistently and THAT person was focused on making sure his needs were met.

 

So no, I can't guarantee telling them will help anything.  What you might do is talk to the head of the aquatics program, rather than his current teacher.  Ask the head of the aquatics program what your options are and tell them your scenario.  When I had that talk, I said he was having anxiety and that I wondered if the adaptive aquatics program would be better for him.  The adaptive aquatics is taught by an OT they bring in.  Same price, more skilled instructor.  They were happy to connect me for that, but then they realized that if we kept him in the preschool program we would have their top teacher for his classes.  Once we had that click, we were good to go.  So a LOT of it is about the teacher.  I would change the class to get the right teacher.  That will make more of a difference than anything.  If you're getting the random, entry level teachers, they just don't have the experience and maturity to think every week this is how I can work with him better, kwim?  Someone more experienced, in a smaller class, with lower expectations, where they can drop the pressure, and they have more expectation that they're going to have to be very one-on-one, that can help.

 

As far as the gymnastics, yeah we've had days where I was out there telling him get in line, I'm not here to watch you dance a jig, lol.  He had to learn about turn taking.  He still has a lot of socially inappropriate behaviors (guarding, cutting, too close in conversation, pointing, etc.).  He has a very patient, patient coach.  If you can watch the class then *before the next class* have a little pre-talk and practice your new social skill, that can help.  Don't have that talk afterward, when he's all hungry and tired, kwim?  But that's what we do.  I just have pre-talks.  And I've had to have a lot of basic talks like pay attention so you get back in line, it doesn't matter who was right or wrong, the important thing is nobody gets hurt, etc...  

 

But to me those talks aren't inconvenient, kwim?  To me those are part of his education and very important!  We're working hard on social at the Y and I'm GLAD when these things come up and give me another chance to see another thing to work on, sigh.  

 

Maybe if he's really rambunctious in class, maybe you don't yet have his activity high enough to wear him out?  My ds is doing 4 hours of gymnastics a week and two swim classes a week.  Then he stays after and plays with kids in the gym.  I supervise that, obviously, because he shouldn't be wrestling little gymnastics girls and throwing them to the ground, lol.  I'm just saying there's a LOT of energy there.  Might take even more burning to get it burnt down enough to where he chills a bit.  And I'm trying to think here.  I'm pretty chilled out his behavior now, where I can leave him at the bench and think he'll probably stay in the building and do what he's supposed to and go to class.  That has taken a full YEAR of this to get to that point where I could do that.  That's 3-4 days a week for a YEAR.  So it might take a while, if you're doing it 1-2 days a week, to build up those experiences to where he starts to get the drift on how it rolls and what the plan is, kwim?  These are very formative skills that have been taking a long time on my ds, not something like I signed him up and 6 weeks later wow, kwim?  A YEAR later, yes, enough change that I'm very happy.  We're in it for the long-haul.

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Sorry, I wasn't meaning to discourage you there.  I spent a LOT of time watching swimming crying, because his progress was so slow and faltering compared to other kids.  If he were in with the 6 yos, it would be very sad.  But by just accepting his timetable, and accepting that it's OK that some things take longer, we could just enjoy it, kwim?  So we do way more than everyone else to get to the same place.  And he DOES make progress.  You can see it when you look back a year.  But just to do a term (6 weeks) and see progress?  Nope.  And it's true, everyone else's kids WILL be changing and zooming and it makes you sick to your stomach.  

 

We started at the Y literally a year ago.  I can look back and be SO happy about our progress.  I suppose if you put a more typical child in the same amount of classes they'd have been at a different place.  That's fine.  We are SO happy right where we are, doing our thing.  That's my advice, just to dig in and let it take whatever time it's going to take.  Even things I thought would NEVER come are slowly coming on my ds.  He can do something that sorta resembles a cartwheel.  Seriously!  He can sorta do a (not competition worthy, lol) version of a roundoff.  But that's after 4 months of doing the same class every week, a class where most kids just go in for a term (6 weeks) and nail it.  And it's ok.  He just has so much fun there anyway and the teachers love him.

 

If I had said his slow progress wasn't good enough, we wouldn't have gotten here.  I've spent SO many hours at the Y.  Tons of hours.  If you know you've got the best person they can place you with for his instruction, I'd just give it time.

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My ds9 started martial arts 2 years ago and it has been great for him. We let the staff know but for the most part I don't think they remember. He is just slower than his sister dd13 in picking up the skills. They were testing belts together but now she has passed him. Luckily he doesn't mind. 

 

He just started swim lessons this year and I didn't mention it. 

 

I'm finding that these coaches work with so many kids at different levels that so far it hasn't been a problem. 

 

 

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TBH, ds still isn't swimming independently. We let him try level 1 swimming four different times (and fail four different times). We've now gone the route of having private lessons with an adaptive experienced instructor.  He can finally move his arms and legs at the same time in a semi-coordinated manner. That fit between instructor and your kid is important--and that's why I am pro-disclosure. They may not know what dyspraxia is, but they do understand "physical condition that makes coordinating motor skills really challenging". 

 

The social gap popped up around the age of 8----when the other kids noticed he was struggling, when coaches/scout leaders/etc became less patient, when the internal messaging started going super negative....

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You can check your Y website or call their aquatics director to ask about the adaptive aquatics prairie mentioned.  At ours it's an OT.  They had brochures around but it wasn't the kind of thing you saw advertised a lot.  That's exactly the kind of situation it's meant for.  They can take everything from ADHD to physical disabilities, you name it.  You're just going to get a lot more help if you call and talk with the aquatics director, since they know who that person is, who does private lessons, etc.  They might decide to bend some rules and get you in a section where he would be a better fit.

 

And yes, after 4 rounds of classes my ds still wouldn't even go under water, which is what you have to be willing to do to get out of Eel.  He went every day saying he was going to drown.

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I gave up group swimming classes with my oldest because she was going nowhere and spent a fortune on private lessons when she was younger. By the time she was 13 we had relocated and I had found a fantastic group class. I spoke with the coach beforehand so that he'd be aware that she was trying hard even if it didn't show much. It was a great experience and it gave her the confidence to do the compulsory swim term in high school.

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While not the cheapest option a strategy that has always worked well for us is to set up a few private sessions with the instructor beforehand. That way we have time for them to get to know ds, and for us to figure out if they are a good fit for ds as an instructor.

 

There is a great series of books out called either can I tell you about or let me tell you about blank disability. I know they recently came out with one for DCD/dsypraxia. It might be worthwhile to get as it is great to give to coaches and others that may not be familiar with DCD (which is often the case!)

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Don't know if my kids have dyspraxia, but the oldest has severe motor planning problems, so he probably does (his assessment was looking for autism only, but his pt and therapists all commented on these issues). They just didn't include that in his initial assessment. Anyway, for swimming, we went with private lessons-between his sensory problems and motor planning problems, group lessons seemed a complete waste of time. Anyway, after 10 (yes, really 10) sets of lessons, he's passed level 1. But, he's getting into deep water, getting his face wet and can glide a little, so I figure we're about half way there. I'm hoping to get him to the point that he won't drown if he falls in water, and maybe can enjoy swimming a bit. He is getting more comfortable every time. We spend about 90 minutes in the water every week, about 30 of it in lessons, the rest with me. I'll spend some of that time practicing his lesson skills and doing deep water exercises (mainly getting in). This is working, but slowly, and obviously I'm setting my goals for him pretty low. 

 

Other sports (soccer, gymnastics) were a complete bust. He couldn't keep up and was terrified of the other kids (soccer in our community is a blood sport). The gymnastics coaches were super supportive, soccer tried, but we had different people every week. He likes to run, so I'm hoping as he gets older, that's something he can do for fitness. We're still working on riding a bike, but hope springs eternal. My goal is not for team sports-that's completely unrealistic for my son. But something he can do to keep active, and maybe have a social outlet as he gets older-running, paddling/rowing, cycling, etc. He loves to body surf (how we finally got over the sensory problems around splashing), and surfing is really big here, so maybe that could be something when he learns to swim. 

 

No real advice, but at least for my son, progress has been slow but has happened. And so long as no one asks him to hit a baseball, I don't know that his motor problems will really hold him back in real life. 

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