Our special Eli

My sweet boy Elijah has always struggled with physical tasks, more than other kids his age. Sure, lots of kids are clumsy, but this goes way beyond that. Even walking and climbing stairs prove awkward for him, and he struggles with basic things like throwing and catching a ball. This has been a major source of frustration for him, especially now that he is in school. He has often come home discouraged, saying he is the slowest one in his class, or that he can't climb the rock wall like the other kids. He has always been hesitant to try new things, knowing there's a good chance he won't master them nearly as quickly as typical kids his age. At almost 8, he still can't ride a bike and is just learning how to swim. Fine motor skills are challenging as well, and he has a hard time writing and tying his shoes.

This summer we sought help for him - it started out with the realization that his back and hips were appearing quite crooked. We took him to our chiropractor who was concerned he might have scoliosis. She referred us to our family doctor, who ordered x-rays and referred us to our wonderful pediatrician whom we've seen before for non-related issues.

Last week, our referrals finally came through and Elijah had his x-rays and ped appointment. Scoliosis was ruled out, which was a relief for all of us. He does have a small curve in his lower back towards his right hip, but it is not clinically measureable and definitely not scoliosis.

We were happy to have this ruled out, and expected to be sent on our way with a diagnosis of "not scoliosis". But our awesome pediatrician then spent 45 minutes with Elijah, checking him out from head to toe. He had him running up and down the halls of the medical clinic, climbing the stairs, hopping, balancing, walking, bending, and just about every other physical task you can think of. After a great deal of discussion and obsversation, he was confident in diagnosing Elijah with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), also known as Developmental Dyspraxia.
It is a global gross and fine motor delay, more common in boys than girls. The way our ped explained it to Elijah is that there's a short circuit in his brain when it tries to talk to his muscles. Some other symptoms of children with DCD are facial tics (Elijah has many!) and increased sensitivity to outside stimuli (I can't tell you the number of times I've had to get him a different shirt to wear because the neck bothers him!). The reason his back looks crooked at times is because of muscle fatigue. His muscles have to work harder than normal to complete tasks, and they're just plum tuckered out.

DCD is in no way an intellectual delay. Elijah started reading before he was 4, and by the end of kindergarten was reading at a grade 5 level. He has an incredible knowledge of science, nature, and computers and his thirst in these areas cannot be quenched. He has been in the enrichment stream at school since kindergarten, and is now in his third year of french immersion and fluent in the language. His only area of struggle in academics is his handwriting, and his teacher has been excellent about offering him extra support in this.

What all this means for the future is that Elijah will probably always struggle to master physical tasks. We will go a little easier on him when he takes 10 minutes to tie his shoes (something he just learned how to do at age 7 1/2), and even buy him velcro to make his life less stressful. We will continue to cheer him on in his swimming lessons and rejoice at each small victory, and not get frustrated when it takes him three tries to pass each level. We have been referred for occupational therapy and are hopeful this will also provide us with the tools we need to support Elijah as he grows up.

The best thing that has come out of this diagnosis is that Elijah is relieved to know why he is the way he is. It is not an excuse for him not to try his hardest, but it is an explanation for why he so often struggles with things his friends find so very easy.

I will post more about this when we begin occupational therapy!