Motor Dyspraxia

I would just wait untill the eval to see what happens. If it does come back as your suspected DX, ask your therapist to see of she qualifies for disablilty. It would help her get extra therapy that would not be covered by your insurence and to help cover co-pauys for PT. My oldest son qwualified and I said no. 8 years later I realize the error of my judgement in turning down extra help to get my son at the "proper" level. I equated it to welfare instead of extra help to get him to the proper level. Just a side bar of your origninal question, but wanted to add my 10 cents :)

J.,
Wait to see what the eval finds. Lots of kids are just clumsier than others but dyspraxia is more than just a little less nimble than others. It may be nothing. If she is very verbal and otherwise bright, it might be because kids tend to develop O. or the other area first.
If the eval shows any areas that need PT or OT, know this: Your insurance may indeed cover it completely. My son needed a few moths of a weekly OT visit for some fine motor development and it didn't cost us a dime thanks to our insurance coverage. No co-pays, nothing. Don't think just b/c she's over 3 it's gonna start costing $$ or maybe you'll have to wait for school to provide these services. Your pediatrician can Rx an evaluation and if she needs therapy, she can easily get it. Good luck!

Here's a good website on dyspraxia: http://spectrumcenter.net/dyspraxia.html

The ballet classes can help your daughter in many ways, so by all means continue them, even if it looks like she's "never going to be a ballerina". First of all, most children who take ballet are never going to be ballerinas, but they love moving, it helps keep them active and develop balance, coordination, flexibility and muscle tone. (gotta tell my credentials here: I'm a Ph.D in dance, taught children for about 20 years, and now teach college-level dance and teach college students how to teach children's dance).

Make sure her teacher and the studio owner are aware of the dyspraxia, but I'd suggest giving them a quick run-down of what to expect--some teachers might be a bit wary of teaching a child with an unfamiliar condition; they might feel as if they're not equipped to handle it, but if you tell them what to expect, putting it in terms of what she CAN do rather than what she CAN'T, they'll accept her and help her. I had a college students with dyspraxia in my college-level ballroom dance class, and it was wonderful to see how everyone in the class was happy to be her partner, very patient and glad to help.

Having her in creative dance as well as ballet will help her to express herself non-verbally, as children with dyspraxia can have problems with verbal communication as well (But here I have to say that I'm definitely not an expert in dyspraxia or other learning or special needs areas, just a mom and a dance prof). And it will help her develop a good social network of friends.

Read up on it, and think in terms of what she CAN do, rather than what she can't. Best of luck!

I don't know anything about motor dyspraxia. My daughter has a left-sided hemipalegia, basically a weakness of the muscle on her left side. She has PT for 2 years and all the therapists we ever saw were wonderful. so i'm sure you'll feel much better once you have her evaluated and find out what can be done to encourage her gait etc.

Just from what you said about running and jumping, my first thoughts are that she might have low muscle tone. does she have a very slight build?Possibly underweight for her age?? You might just need to work with her to strengthen her leg muscles, trampolines can be good for that
If there are any other mom's out there questioning their children's motor skills, in PA it is free to have an evaluation done anytime up to age 3. some children do develop sooner than others etc etc, but if you have a doubt it doesn't hurt to have it check out because if they need help the earlier the better. Unfortunately peds don't always catch the things they should.

Hi J.,

Wait for your P.T. Evlauation and see what is diagnosed and what the treatment plan will be.

Good luck. All the best. D.

you can get free screenings after the age of 3 by the local school district.

Any child with and IEP gets medical access card which does help tremendously with therapy costs.

Might be doing the ballet cause she focusing on it. HOw about a gymnastics class? would help more with flexibility and they do jumping, skipping etc.

This may sound a bit strange, but did she skip crawling? I had the same problem when I was a child. I hated anything that included running or catching a ball. Later, it was frisbee.

I was at a conference and a lady shared about her teenage daughter with the same problem. A doctor suggested they start crawling with her every day. I had a baby at home that I was crawling with and my running and ball catching improved. He's 31. I still don't like to run but I can do it and sometimes catch a slow ball. I laugh as I crawl around with my grandchildren.

Right before my son started walking my Mom was bragging that I skipped crawling and went right to walking.Bingo!

May not apply but certainly can't hurt trying something as simple as crawling games.
Blessings, M.