Hi thanks lizzie. I'm going to get hold of my hv and ask her to refer us maybe then i'll get somewhere. Sometimes i think maybe it is just me and i'm over reacting with things but then i'm like no i know there's something not right but i won't give up for her.

jew x

Hi - have you looked at the Dyspraxia Foundation website at all?  It is worth a look just from a symptom point of view.  We beleive my eldest (4 - about to start school) is showing a lot of signs of dyspraxia but all professionals invovled to date believe he is fine.  There are a number of regional support groups through the Foundation and I have found this really helpful - mainly as there are parents there who have been through the same and know what did and didn't work in getting what is a difficult diagnosis.  

I hope you get the answers you need soon - it is very worrying.  I didn't stop crying for days when I realised that perhaps there was something wrong.  I pop on here from time to time and would love to hear how you are getting on with things.  Lots of ladies here having similar problems who are always happy to help.

Hi Jew me again meant to say that if she is that bad they will pick it up as a little boy in my dd group was picked up in reception he is now sen as he was worse than melissa he is now slightly better than melissa but he has had more one to one but there are 5 in mels group and she is the only girl. When all the class are doing normal school work they have to take the group to one side and they do their own work obviously because they are that far behind. So i know mel is not the worst or wasn't i will speak to teachers in Sept. Good luck. Sharon x

Hi Jew i am sorry to hear about the problems you are having with your dd. The speech therapist probably said she would sort it out for you as she probably thought that when she gets back to work she will get in touch with the school to the psychologist. My dd is 6 tomorrow and as had a lot of problems the hv wanted to send her to speech therapy when she was younger as at nearly 4 people could hardly understand her and she got scentences the wrong way round, and still does sometimes. Like charlie and the chocolate factory she says chocolate and the charlie factory and lots of other things like that. She was also late out of nappies just before she turned 3 about 2 wks before and she is still wetting the bed. She is a year delayed at school, she is going into year 2 in Sept and still at reception level, will see how she goes, she is always on the go, fidgets, low concentration, gets angry quickly but normally ott with everything and gets very frustrated. She has just learnt all the alphabet and to count to 20 but writing down she really struggles with she gets letters and numbers back to front but i heard it is normal until the age of 7. I left her as she is one of the youngest in the class but so was my other dd and she is a lot further ahead than mel was at this time and even she was  a little behind but not as bad as mel. You may have to wait until Sept and start nattering them, i am going to do the same, as it isn't because she isn't interested she is really trying but she just can't grasp it. Hope you get it sorted out. Sharon x

OMG i'm so annoyed, phoned speech therapist and the receptionist said that the speech therapist only works during term time so to phone back in september and speak to her plus to top it all off she said that it's up to the school to sort out her seeing a child phcologist AAAAGH.

Why the hell then did the speech therapist tell me that she would sort it out. What the hell do i do now. Who do i speak to about it feel completely let down and dumped.

Am so worried for dd how will she cope without the help.

jew x

Hey again. It's not a bad idea to be persistant if you don't hear anything from professionals-unfortunately too often it is left down to us to make a nuscience of ourselves before anyone sits up and takes notice-why I don't know!! I know what you mean about it being hard with other children-I also have two boys (13 &3) and to cap it all the three year old has cerbal palsy and ataxia just to make life REALLY interesting(!) Keep at it and don't be afraid to INSIST that something is done. Remember-if you see someone and you aren't happy with what they say you have the right to ask for a second opinion. It can also help to get soemone like your health visitor onside-my daughter' HV was fantastic and basicly camped outside my GP's room until he agreed to refer her to our local child development centre. Good luck and let me know how you get on.

Just like to say thanks very much for the reply and having the time to read my post. I'm really glad that there's someone who can relate to what i'm going throught which can be quite hard especially with 3 other children.

I'm going to phone the speech therapist on monday and see what's going on as i'm tired of waiting and being messed around she needs the help now.

Thanks again

jew x

Don't be too concerned about a new class-her old teacher should have had a discussion with the new one and given them all the information on your daughter. I know what you mean about trying to get people to listen! I had the same problem when my daughter (now 10) was little. I knew there was something wrong with her development but she didn't get officially diagnosed with dyspraxia until she was six and I had paid over three hundred pounds for a private assessment although the peadiatrician first mentioned she might have it when she was four! ALl you can do is keep on at everyone until they get soo sick of it they take notice of what you are saying. Also try keeping a record of what she can/ cant do and how she reacts in certain situations to take to appointments with you-it really does make it easier to keep a clear head and get your points across because, if you are anything like me, the minute you walk in you will forget everything you wanted to say!!

It does sound like she may either be on the autistic spectrum or possibly dyspraxic-my daughter displays an awful lot of that type of behaviour although she is a little better now than she was. One thing that helped Kerri-Ann when she was younger was preparing her for changes in routine such as holidays by making up a photograph book with pictures of the things we would take with us and also the place where we were staying. I also used to take a few of her favourite teddies with us to try and make the room look as much like her room at home as possible. She still doesn't like certain noises and all you can do is to talk to her calmly and give as much reassurance, particularly non-verbal as possible. A reassuring hand on her arm is usually enough with Kerri-Ann to calm her down.

If you are concerned about September then maybe try to make an appointment after she goes back to talk to her new teacher and explain your concerns-a word with the school senco can often help to put you at ease as well. Most important of all-remember you are not alone even when it feels like you are and trust your instincts. If you believe there is an additional problem than just her hearing loss keep shouting until someone listens. Because they will one day. HOpe this helps and don't hesitate to pm me if you want a shoulder to cry on or someone to vent at!

Hi my story is very long so will just try and keep very simple.

My dd is 5yrs and from birth she was deaf but wasn't picked up till she was 6mths and she was 12mths before they treated her for glue ear.

As a baby she was a good 2 - 3 mths behind in sitting crawling ect which looking back don't think it had anything to do with her hearing. By the time she was 2 she still wasn't talking so was refeared to a speech therapist and was 2 1/2 before anyone saw her and they said she was a good 18mths behind with her speech, understanding ect.

Thankfully the speech therapist was great and have really brought her on and she now talks even thought people think she is only 2 because they have trouble understanding her as she tends not to space her words and pronounces alot of them wrong or gets them back to front but we have kinda learnt her way of talking we call it abbey babble.

What i'm getting at really is the other things that i've noticed but no one seems to be taking me seriously.

1) she has just learnt to dress herself if there the right way up and not folded inside out or has a leg or arm of her clothing tucked in. She still cant put socks on or shoes.

2) she was late being dry and was 3 before we got her out of nappies and 4 before she was dry at night.

3) she hates load noises like fireworks, jets, cars backfiring, thunder ect even when we've tried to explain what they are she still totally freaks out and screams with her hands over her ears and will not look until the noise has stopped.

4) its also taken us awhile to teach her to use a fork and eat withour spreading all over the table off her plate trying to pick it up.

5) i've also noticed that she likes to play alot on her own and will  spend hours watching the same carttons and dvds, At the moment it's fireman sam dvd and she knows the dialogue of by heart.

6) she also doesn't do change very well and likes things to stay the same for example we changed our ironing board cover and she noticed straight away and was abit upset about it also my mil changed her toilet seat cover and dd wouldn't go up stairs for ages because of it.

The speech therapist has reafeared us to a child phycologist because she did notices acouple of things like she wanted everything in order and the picture cards had to all face the same way and be neatly piled also she noticed that when a lady came into the room dd completely blanked her and wouldn't even look at her it was like this women didn't exsit and dd had just shut down in her head.

There are so many other things but just too many to write down. Am i just being daft even the school say she is quite behind the other kids and doesn't cope well in groups larger than 2 or she'll start to get anxcious and want to move away from them. The school know about everything that has happened but are struggling to give her the time and extra help she needs.

I'm so worried as she starts yr1 in september and her new teacher won't really know her and i just don't know how dd will cope with the change. Do you think she is just a fussy child or is there something going on i've heard nothing from no one and have been told she will struggle without help.

Thanks for taking toie to read sorry it's long.

jew x