Associated “Symptoms” of Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia

Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia does not just affect one aspect of life.  It can possibly affect many areas other than speaking.  Here are some other "symptoms" that have affect my 3 year old son. 

Gastroesophageal Reflux –

Many children with Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia also have Gastroesophageal Reflux.  Symptoms may include excessive swallowing, excessive drinking, vomiting or spitting up regularly, restless sleeping, bad eating habits – not eating.  Usually children with Gastroesophageal Reflux are classified as “failure to thrive” when they are infants. 

My son was a “failure to thrive” infant, meaning he was content to be hungry and wanted to starve himself instead of eating.   This continued when he was introduced to solids, and as a result was always very thin.  He would drink liquids (mostly juice and water/never milk) all the time; always wanting his cup with him wherever he would go.  He would swallow and smack his lips a lot even when not eating or drinking.  Once or twice a week he would vomit for no apparent reason and with no warning.  He would not sleep well at night, and even had many, many night terrors.  The medical doctors I went to all told me he was fine and it was all in my head – Thank goodness his speech therapist diagnosed him.  Now on medication for gastroesophageal reflux, he eats ALL the time, he rarely vomits unless sick, and he actually sleeps!! 

Eating Problems

Because DVD (Developomental Verbal Dyspraxia) affects the muscles of the mouth, some children have eating difficulties.  They are very sensitive to different textures and very picky eaters.  This could be due to Oral Apraxia.  Oral apraxis is the impaired ability to, on command, perform nonspeech tasks like puffing out cheeks, licking lips, protruding tongue, puckering lips, etc.

Sensitive Sensory Systems (Sensory Integration Dysfunction)

Many children with DVD do not like to be dirty/or to be cleaned up.  Many do not like to get their hands or face dirty, or to have their hands or face cleaned.  I do know from personal experience and by talking with other people that this is very common.  My son would “freak out” if any dirt would get on his hands. He refused to eat with his fingers, and playing in the dirt was definetly out of the question.   Now at the age of three he is much better and will even finger paint!  Now we are working on the face.  Many children with DVD do not like anyone or anything touching their facial area; this can make teeth brushing quite a chore.

 Many children also get over stimulated if  there is too much noise, too many people, etc.  My son does not like to be around a lot of people, especially in a small room.  He has learned to go off by himself (usually to another room or outside) to let himself calm down and relax.  After 5 to 10 minutes he is okay and he may come back.  Before we knew what this was about we would try to make him stay with us and he would always start screaming and panicking.  Now we know that he needs his space and privacy to calm down so we allow him to do what he needs to do.  The most important thing to remember is to listen to your child - he/she knows what he/she needs and will communicate it to you in one way or another. 

For a clearer definition and much more information on SID - please go to www.Sinetwork.org. or www.kid-power.com/sid.html

Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities

I do not have any first hand knowledge of this area because my child is only 3 years old.  However, it is very common in children with DVD and something we all need to know to watch for as our children grow.

Coordination

Many children with DVD also see an occupational therapist. There are different types of Dyspraxia - although all of them are motor planning problems.   Verbal Dyspraxia, Oral Dyspraxia, Limb Dyspraxia, and Global Dyspraxia.  Limb Dyspraxia is when the motor planning is affecting the fine motor skills and/or gross motor skills.  Fine motor skills consist of small, direct movement - such as buttoning a button, or writing.  Gross motor skills are the larger skills - such as riding a bicycle,or jumping up and down.  An Occupational Therapist can essentially teach these children how practice these movements and "re-train" the neurological system to send the messages to the limbs.  It takes a lot of work, but is also a lot of fun.  These children are usually classified as clumsy and un-coordinated.