Stu's Journal

It has been almost 8 months since we recieved the diagnosis of Dyspraxia, alot has happened since this, my Son's diagnosis of Dyspraxia has been thrown into major doubt, and all the assesments will start again due to finding out he has Epilepsy.

We were very upset to find this but also a bit hopefull in other aspects.

Reasons:

We have made a complaint about his  pediatrition as the information we give the doctor at the beginning about Ryans lethargic states and later about twitches (Myoclonic fits) and also the fact he had 2 cousins that had Epilepsy was ignored, and it took an OccTherapist to suggest an EEG which give us the diagnosis of Epilepsy. The time scale was also unacceptable, it took him 10 weeks to write a letter to the Education authority to suggest an education assesment.

He also ended up in hospital with his Epilepsy which is what triggered the complaint, He was then put through alot of blood tests, another sleep deprived EEG and an MRI (alot for a 5yr old boy who does not know whats going on) we did receive an apology from the Hospital about the events, but we are still thinking about taking it further. We dont know how much it has affected our sons life, but it seems he may have missed alot of his schooling as he was having absences all through the day.

He currently attends an Educational Unit to asses his needs, but is doing very well and will return shortly to his main stream school.

It seems that the epilepsy may have had an effect on both his fine and gross motor control which give the apperance of Dyspraxia, his speech was also affected and of course his ability to concentrate. All of these have improved under medication, but we are unable to predict what longterm effect this has had.

I hope this entry in the diary is of some use to someone, we have had a nightmare for the last 6 months, and are looking forward to a better year, if someone out there is unsure of there diagnosis............dont be affraid to question it! we dont know if having epilepsy is better than having dyspraxia, but it is treatable to some extent with medication. It seems when you read an artical about a condition like Dyspraxia, it is easy to make the mistake of fitting your childs behaviour and symptoms into that Box, Ryans epilepsy has fooled alot of people into thinking he had something he may not have.

Finally, he has just had is 6th birthday, 27 kids turned up from his school to his party and a good time was had by all.................He deserved it after what he has been through.