It has taken us 4 years to get diagnosis for our son who is now 6

by Kim Hodge
(Essex)

When our son first started walking at 14 months he was always falling over and bumping into things, which at first we thought he will grow out of this. After about 5 months this was still happening and we became concerned and contacted our GP. Upon seeing him he referred us to a pediatrician we waited about 4 months for the referral and was advised that his right foot stuck out slightly and that was why he was falling over so much nothing could be done. When we potty trained our son it took such a long time to get him clean we just put it down to him being a boy as they take longer. When finally clean he seemed to go to the toilet much more than normal, which was confirmed when he started pre school as they also raised concerns, again another appointment was made at GPs (and again referral made). This referral diagnosis was that he must have a weak bladder and was put on medication for this (now been on for 3 years).




Our next concern was teaching our son to write seemed to be a problem even though he was trying very hard. When he started primary school they put it down to his muscles taking longer than normal to develop which is normal for boys. They agreed to give him some extra help at school to help with his writing. About 6 months into reception their was still no improvement so again another trip to GP and yet another referral made at the Child Development Centre again this appointment took some time to come through and we were told to try Eye q capsules for 6 months to help with his concentration, which we did but saw no improvement. We finally had a follow up appointment on the 18th June 2009 and the doctor was fantastic and did lots of simple tests with our son and finally he looked up and said well its not ADHD as first thought the diagnosis is our son has a Perception Deficiency and Sensory Motor Delay. We have never heard of this and need help with how we can help our son until we have a date for Occupational Therapy. Can you point us in the right direction please.



Comments for It has taken us 4 years to get diagnosis for our son who is now 6

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starstarstarstarstar 		re: delayed diagnosis.
by: annesmith02

This story struck so many chords with me I'm surprised you didn't hear it resonate where you live. I fought for 9yrs to get a diagnosis for my son, nine years of doctors/child therapist etc etc to be accused of being "paranoid". I always knew there was some thing other then him just being "clumsy" or "a typical boy" my family has a history of learning disabilities yet still no one listened to me. I had a really bad pregnancy, my son was prem and a low birth weight he struggled with the transition from bottle to solid foods, delayed speech the list is endless so how after all this time is it only now that we are going through all the RIGHT appointments now? I am a student Occupational Therapist so I do see both sides of the coin however I do worry how many children have missed out on beneficial help just because no one listened to the parents.
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starstarstarstarstar 		weighted pencil, how to?
by: Anonymous

Where do you put the bolt on the pencil?
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starstarstarstarstar 		Similar problem
by: Anonymous

I can understand your concern. My son is 6 years too and we are still trying to figure out the problem and it just sounds like we see with mine. He had been to neurologist and psychiatrist and had MRI on his brain but nothing came out of it. His school is helping but still no diagnosis of what is causing his motor delay. He has a very abnormal posture (raises the shoulder and stiffens, extends his hand and arm) and looks like having such a hard time when trying to write. Currently he is going to OT but not much improvement. We are yet to see a developmental pediatric and hoping they would steer us in the right direction.

Even though nothing did help him so much now, I was suggested to make him use the Therapy Putty for strengthening his fingers, crab walk to strengthen his upper body etc.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Lots of at home activities
by: Kim Sullivan

Working across the midline (center of the body) is great. Patty cake is fantastic. Another thing for the writing is taking "chip clips" and squeezing them together between thumb and pointer finger and placing them on something (we use a clothes drying rack). Medicine balls carried from one place to another like a game helped my little guy. Pushing, pulling, crab-walking, jumping jacks (that took a long time but did help), and a weighted pencil (you can make one by adding a bolt from the hardware store to a regular pencil). There are lots of little things you can do, even having him help carry in the groceries. All these things help in different ways. Good job finally getting this diagnosed, parental involvement is the key to getting kids like ours help.

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