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Dyspraxia?


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I'm just finding out about this. I talked to an SLP who thinks this could explain the writing problems dd11 has had. I had suspected mild dysgraphia. I've also thought about working memory issues, cognitive load, and that kind of thing.

 

Dd is well-coordinated, physically active, and strong. She couldn't use scissors when she was younger but now can. And she's learning to crochet without a problem. She just struggles with the physical act of writing. It's slow and frustrates her. And her handwriting rarely looks...presentable. When I write for her, her frustration disappears. She sails through her work, and I have to struggle to keep up with her pace.

 

With dyspraxia, I read there is often SPD and hypotonia. We definitely have SPD. She was a somewhat hypertonic when she was younger.

 

Today, dd couldn't figure out how to use her pencil. She couldn't remember the grip. When I showed her, she still couldn't write. She's been tired since having a virus last week so I think that's making everything worse, but still...

 

Can dyspraxia be limited to writing struggles?

 

What kind of specialist could give an evaluation that I could use later if accommodations became necessary?

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Our OT mentioned some praxis in the early appointments and then backpedaled. When we did the np eval, he couched it a different way, saying she needed work to get the motor process of the writing automatic. So I would say yes to everything you're seeing and that it's only a matter of *degreees* not whether. Move on to the better question, which is what to do about it. I'm trying that Dianne Craft thing with the handwriting 8's. We'll see what it does. It definitely threw her for a loop at first. http://www.diannecraft.org/tutor3.htm Just so you know, what you're describing is more than what I see in my dd. It's all just a matter of degrees. Probably all you care at this point is what to DO about it. We tried Callirobics, but it was extremely, extremely hard for her. With Callirobics you're trying to make the movements for the writing/tracing while listening to music. The music was supposed to help, but it just wigged out her working memory and processing and left her frustrated. We tried without, which went better, and got side-tracked by co-op. The DC 8's at least have no bad memories for her, which is why we're doing them now. I guess that's sort of an interesting study to try to isolate what of the writing process (problems) is caused by working memory or processing overload and what is caused by motor control not yet being automatic...

 

And just for the further trivia of anyone who's really fascinated, it was the OT's mention of praxis that made me hone into ds's verbal apraxia once that started coming up as an option. Otherwise I might have been slower to get on board or bought into the "he's going to become an engineer" thing.

Edited by OhElizabeth
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Thanks! I read all about Writing Eight and printed out a guide. At one point I think I watched a video of it being done but now I can't find it. We'll start with it anyway.

 

Besides our issues the other day, dd had to write on the board at coop and I could tell there's just something off.

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