Five years ago when my son was 14 years old he was diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder, more commonly known as dyspraxia. It was the end of an 8 year battle and although I was relieved I was angry as he should have been diagnosed so much sooner.
Before I explain my sons condition I think I should start at the beginning. He was such a happy baby but he was very behind in development. He didn't sit up by himself until he was 8 months old and didn't walk until he was almost 2. Now obviously I expressed concern to health care professionals but they never seemed Worried. He was also very behind with his speech and he did have an assessment with a speech therapist who again wasn't worried and his speech did come in time. Another worry was the amount of times he fell over, he never really hurt himself but he just seemed to topple over for no apparent reason. He also banged himself on walls, doorframes, cupboard doors, you name it he walked in to it.
When he was 2 and a half I mentioned it all to the doctor who pretty much just called him a typical toddler and yet again did not seem worried. When he started school things got worse. Although he could dress himself I couldn't leave him to get on with it as he would get lost after one article of clothing. The only thing that worked was if I stayed with him and handed him each piece of clothing. Following tasks were difficult for him, I quickly learned to break things down simply for him and never to say too much at once as that would stop him in his tracks.
By the age of 9 I was certain something was wrong. He couldn't tie his shoelaces and it was obvious to me he never would. Sports were an absolute nightmare for him, his coordination was terrible. He still fell over a lot and knew it was more than just clumsiness and it broke my heart to see people telling him to be careful or shouting if he broke something. I knew he was being careful. We had a lot of problems with his handwriting which was illegible and no amount of practice could improve it. There was also clearly something wrong with his memory as he forgot pretty much everything after 5 minutes. Surprisingly he shone academically, was an avid reader with an excellent vocabulary and never had any behavioural issues. He continued to struggle with Everyday Tasks and I constantly worried that he was never going to be independent.
It wasn't until he was 12 that we first heard the word dispraxia and a doctor finally took me seriously. It was still 2 years before he got the diagnosis as a lot of assessments were required.
Dispraxia is a fairly common disorder affecting fine and/or gross motor skills. It is 3 times more common in boys than girls and causes the child to perform poorly in everyday tasks. There is no clear cause although it is thought genetics and a premature or difficult birth may be risk factors. There is no cure for dispraxia but therapy may be beneficial.
Once we had the diagnosis things got a bit easier and he had some cognitive behavioural therapy which seemed to help. As he got older and exam time came we were able to inform the exam board of his diagnosis and they took his condition into account when faced with his handwriting. He passed them with flying colours and now has a job that he loves. It's not been easy and he still takes quite a bit of organising but I am so proud of the progress he's made. He has been told he will probably never be able to drive and his memory is still pretty bad but we have worked out all kinds of tricks to help with that. He is even learning to cook, which I thought would never happen. He's grown into and amazing young man and I no longer worry about his independence.
