dysTalk Telling Children About Their Diagnosis - Dyspraxia - Forum - dysTalk

Hi

My twins are 7, nearly 8 and both have DCD. Thankfully their school has been great, and they go early diagnosis so are doing well. I have never talked about diagnosis to them, though we do talk about different people's strengths and weaknesses obviously. Their SENCO advised me to wait until juniors, and they are now year 3,

and I know that one of my daughters senses a difference and think it will come as a relief to her to know. Any tips on how to explain to children in simple terms? I have just read all of my vast collection(well at least 6) of dyspraxia books and found no mention of how to help children to understand without labelling them or making them feel they have an excuse not to try!!! (As may well be case with one of mine)

28/10/2011 18:12:55
aeiz (Member)

Please please tell them, it might be difficult at first but your daughter (and I'm guessing in reality daughters) are realizing that they are different, and they are probably thinking that they are alone in this world, but they are not.

Tell them by emphasizing they strengthens that children with dyspraxia have:

Also tell them about famous people, like Daniel Radcliffe who have dyspraxia.

but then go over the things that will be difficult, but encourage them that they are wonderful human beings and they will be able to do great things, just in a different way.

I wish will all my heart I could of known about my dyspraxia when I was younger, but I was not without a diagnosis, I was told of my ADHD, and I truly learned to embrace it, by knowing about it at a young age. My mom just simply described what it was, and why it wasn't a bad thing but a difference. At first it was hard to accept but I got over it. Also if you know of any older girls that have dyspraxia and have a diagnosis, having them involved in the process could be invaluable to your daughters. I know I felt so different as a kid, and to know I wasn't the only one would of been a huge gift.

04/12/2011 00:51:35
wonderingyoungadult (Member)

also their is an american show called parenthood that has a young boy with aspergers in it, and there is an episode called Qualities and Difficulties where they tell their son about his aspergers, even though they are different conditions maybe watching that episode could help

04/12/2011 01:50:49
wonderingyoungadult (Member)

Hi, my son is now 9 years old and he was diagnosed aged 5. Oliver's brilliant explanation to other children of Dyspraxia is that ''I am a clever boy, my cleverness just gets stuck in my brain sometimes and takes a bit longer to come out because the pipe to my brain gets fuzzy''.

The best thing I ever did was to explain this to Oliver as soon as he was diagnosed, the weight lifted off his shoulders because he had a reason, it wasn't JUST Oliver being clumsy, JUST Oliver not understanding, the list goes on. I have found that many parents who have children with additional needs are worried about them being labelled. This is such a sad misconception, as they will be labelled anyway, (slow, loser, thick, weird, naughty) so a label in the form of a correct diagnosis, where they can be helped and understood is a good thing, especially for the child.

04/12/2011 21:17:00
Gillian Taylor