Global apraxia and ADD link?

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

My 8 year old son with verbal and motor apraxia was just

diagnosed by a respected children hospital neuropychologist as ADD.

Is there some kind of tendency or coincidence with the occurance of

ADD and apraxia? The neuropschologist said that whatever caused the

global apraxia is probably the same thing that caused the ADD.

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

-there is lots on this. My sister was diagnosed dyslexic -

my (maritime attorney) brother was diagnosed hyperactivity child (now that's

known as

ADHD)by Dr. Gold in NYC who many of you still see, genius runs in my

mom's side of the family -I have one son with ADHD and one with

apraxia -and Dakota my ADHD child just got almost straight A's (only

one in all subjects ...and conduct too!!! And Tanner too is

now one of the top students in his Kindergarten class even though he

too has a " learning disorder " ...which is what all falls under.

Here is some info from sites -again much more out there:

" There is often an overlap in some of the signs and symptoms of

Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and ADD. For example, some children with

Dyslexia share symptoms such as problems with balance, bilateral

integration, spatial skills and sequencing, in common with children

with Dyspraxia. Some children with Dyspraxia display certain

features of Dyslexic-type learning difficulties although they are

not truly Dyslexic. Both groups at times share problems of attention

and concentration, particularly stimulus bound effect. Where

features of all 3 disorders coexist, NDD is often an underlying

common denominator. "

http://www.inpp.org.uk/INPP_5_3_NDD_factors_ADD.htm

" From the back cover of " The LCP SOLUTION-The Remarkable Nutritional

Treatment for ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. "

This important new book presents a major breakthrough in the

treatment of the three most widespread learning disabilities-ADHD,

dyslexia and dyspraxia ( " clumsy child syndrome " ). Although these

conditions have reached epidemic proportions, treatment has been

limited to physical therapies, educational strategies, or the

controversial prescription drug Ritalin. Now B. Stordy,

Ph.D., a leading researcher in the field, reveals a stunning new

treatment based on nutritional supplementation with LCPs (long chain

polyunsaturated fatty acids). The LCP SOLUTION is the first book to

describe this natural treatment and to explain how children (and

adults) can incorporate it into their daily lives.

As a member of a family with a long history of dyslexia, Stordy

discovered in a pioneering experiment that many dyslexic and

dyspraxic children who began taking LCPs experienced dramatic

transformations in the quality of their lives. At the same time,

parallel studies conducted at Purdue University came up with similar

results with children who had ADHD. The effect of this dietary

supplement was nothing short of revolutionary: within three months,

dyslexic and ADHD children became calmer, more focused, easier to

teach, while dyspraxics improved significantly in dexterity and

balance. "

http://www.drstordy.com/lcpbook.html

BTW -global apraxia is also called limb apraxia, clumsy child

syndrome or dyspraxia in other countries. Here in the US there are

many apraxic children that have " motor planning problems in the

body " What's interesting to note about this is that in other

countries instead of apraxic children with motor problems in the

body -instead many of the dyspraxic diagnosed children have " motor

planning problems of speech " ! Interesting isn't it how the two

(same) conditions vary in how they are presented depending upon

where you happen to live in the world.

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[Guest guest]

Hi Kim!

Dr. Stordy I believe was the first to state this for our (dyspraxic)

children. However -Dr. and Dr. Portwook state

the " research has already shown a clear link between diet and some

of the behavioral and learning problems associated with dyslexia,

dyspraxia and ADHD. Certain key fatty acids found in fish oil and

evening primrose are crucial in shaping brain development and

function, but they have been disappearing from many modern diets.

These fatty acids matter to everyone, but they seem particularly

crucial for individuals predisposed to these kinds of specific

learning difficulties. "

http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/020322.shtml

The success is because they used an O3/O6 formula with higher EPA.

I know this because of my ADHD son Dakota's amazing results with EFAs

without drugs.

It (again) also doesn't matter which brand name you use -or even

if you use borage or primrose oil for the small amount of GLA (Omega

6) It does matter that you use fish oil together with a small

amount of primrose or borage oil -I've tried both and happen to like

the borage more -that's personal preference.

You see when I first learned about EFAs -or fish oils in 1999, I

heard about Efalex -probably due to Dr. Stordy's work on dyspraxic

children leaking out to a handful of parents of apraxic children.

http://www.drstordy.com

I started Tanner on Efalex -and that is when he had amazing changes

in just weeks -however -when that bottle ran out -I ran out to the

store and bought " fish oil " ...after all -I thought they all stink

and they were all the same. I tried various fish oils -and the only

one that " worked " and that Tanner didn't regress on was Efalex - 3 and a half

years

ago -ProEFA or EyeQ didn't exist.

In spite of ADHD suspected -I never gave Dakota any fish oil until

September 2000 when Dr. Stordy's book came out and I read The LCP

Solution when I learned it could help ADHD too. We just didn't

know. I again messed up and gave Dakota all the reject fish oils that didn't

work for

Tanner -which ended up being all the pure Omega 3 fish oil capsules -just

DHA and EPA -because again -that's (unfortunately) all reported -the

importance of either the DHA or EPA (Omega 3) Dakota had little

change on the Omega 3 alone either -same as apraxic children.

Over time I started Dakota on the Efalex too -and in school they

reported positive results of that -but he was still considered

either ADD or APD by various teachers and pediatric neurologists and

Dr. Agin too. After Tanner had the surges on ProEFA on a much

smaller -one capsule a day (and cheaper) dosage of ProEFA -I

switched both my boys to ProEFA. The Efalex at 4-6 capsules a day

was getting to be over $17 a week! Again -Dakota had improvements -

but as I reported here to the group -and to the neurologists -it

didn't help as dramatically as they helped Tanner and others like

him. I was highly encouraged by more than one neurologist to begin

Dakota on Aderol " He doesn't have enough dopamine and it's just

going to keep getting harder for him " My husband and I were and

are resistant to medicating Dakota. Again -my brother was ADHD -and

yes he was a handful -however he was the youngest captain ever -and

was then made the youngest maritime law partner in one of the

world's largest Maritime Law Firms. I'm from the school of thought

that ADHD adults can achieve more than the average if they just

learn how to channel the energy.

When CHERAB hosted The First Apraxia Conference -I had the pleasure

to speak with Dr. -and she told me about EPA at that

time. I then read about the research Dr. did with higher

EPA and ADHD -and was thrilled. Anything to not do meds for

Dakota. Soon after I ordered the ProEPA to " up " the EPA in the

ProEFA for Dakota. (the rest of the story is here

http://www.speechville.com/alternative-therapy/efa-faqs.html

(I have Dakota and Tanner on a 2 to one ratio. One ProEFA to 1/2 of

ProEPA, or 2 ProEFA to 1 ProEPA) It's been well over a year now -

and it was a year before I told anyone here at the list. I waited

to see if what worked for my two -was also working better for others

that I spoke to. Yes it did. Unfortunately -no US company is making the right

formula we need.

How good is the higher EPA added to the ProEFA? I'll put it this

way -Dr. Sinha -Dakota's last neurologist from Bridgewater, NJ asked

me for the exact formula she noticed such a difference -and if she

can have others call me. She said " There is no point even seeing me

again " She then added " Dakota will probably make an excellent

doctor " Each intelligence test he has received (he was classified

at the end of last year by the school as ADHD so that has been about

four times now counting the private neurologist testing too) has

shown a marked huge increase in his testing from above average -to

superior. Dakota in some cases almost tests perfect now in areas!

His grades again in third grade were straight A's with one B -and

most impressive -an A in " conduct " too! The teacher doesn't notice

any ADHD characteristics -and most that I've met here when I tell

them that Dakota was classified in NJ as ADHD state how " oh they just like

to diagnose these kids " Try to explain that to all his past

teachers & MD's! Dakota was hyper -and still can be at times -however -he

now knows how to focus and learn.

If you have a child with ADHD -the best thing I can tell you is that

once I gave Dakota the higher EPA with the Omega 3/6 -for the first

time in his life since he's been walking -he actually stayed with my

cart at the supermarket!!! (you have no idea!)

What's amazing is that the higher EPA has also worked wonders for

Tanner. Again -wait till you guys hear the talking page update.

Tanner's report card doesn't have grades -but he's on target for

all -reading, writing -and also -speech too!

You can read about Dr Stordy at the link above. Here is some

information on the other doctors who did the study on EFAs to treat

ADHD/dyslexia

Dr

Dr is a Senior Research Fellow in Neuroscience at

the Imperial College School of Medicine at Hammersmith Hospital in

London, Co-Director of the Neuropsychiatry Research Group at the MRI

Unit there, and a Research Affiliate at the University Laboratory of

Physiology, Oxford. Her current research centres on the role of

fatty acids in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Recent

work includes treatment studies that show beneficial effects of

fatty acid supplements in the management of dyslexia, dyspraxia and

ADHD and reveal insights into the likely mechanisms underlying this

kind of treatment.

Dr Madeleine Portwood

Dr Madeleine Portwood is a Senior Educational Psychologist in County

Durham. Her research over the last eleven years has involved more

than 400 children / young adults and their families. Since

publication in 1996 her book " Developmental Dyspraxia – a practical

manual for parents and professionals " has sold more than 10,000

copies, not only in the UK, but in many other countries including

the USA, South Africa, Australia, Iceland, Greece, China and

Singapore. Professionals have purchased more than half, mainly

teachers who have designed and implemented school based programmes

to develop the skills of their pupils.

Madeleine's work has been the subject of television documentaries,

radio and newspaper features.

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