Re: Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

[Guest guest]

Dana,

Lack of play skills of course could be due to motor planning problems;

since apraxia doesn't affect cognitive or receptive ability they know

what's expected of them. For this reason if they feel self conscious

about attempting an activity they don't feel comfortable with, or one

that they failed at when they attempted it prior, they may not want

to try. Is it all things are just some things your boys don't want to

do? What type of play does your boys enjoy? Do they play together?

Anything? How old are they? And yes there are many tricks in this

area but let me know if this is the area.

It could also be imagination issues which again in this group doesn't

mean autism -sometimes our kids develop later in this area for some

reason. Here's an archive on imagination as this comes up frequently.

It's long and not sure if this answers your question -but will answer

more tomorrow!

From: " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk@...>

Date: Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:28 pm

Subject: Re: Trish-socially engaging but still autistic???/perhaps

not -imagination

Hi Traci, and Trish and all!

About imagination...now this is long!

I wouldn't jump to conclusions that a young child with a

communication impairment has problems with imagination. Like

anything when you are fighting to keep your head above water so you

won't drown, it's hard to enjoy the beauty of the ocean. (yes I was

a lifeguard) In other words -when a child is struggling to

communicate basic needs, imagination may take a back seat. It may

be there, but needs to be encouraged out. Tanner today at 7 years

old is not at 'all' shy. If anything it amazes his teachers how

outgoing he is and not the least bit self conscious of the way he

speaks, even though he still has obvious speaking problems at

times. But...it wasn't always like that. Preschool age and pre -

knowledge age of what Tanner was dealing with -he actually would

withdraw around others and go into a shell. Tanner did well with

one on one playdates -not at all group. Tanner was never considered

autistic or PDD by any of the neurodevelopmental MDs or SLPs or OTs

or teachers that worked with him professionally. Nor was he ever

considered autistic by any lay people. There is a difference in

autism and apraxia -and differences in how to work with both

appropriately. Proper diagnosis of one or both is most important.

I find this to be a very important topic and very misunderstood even

by some professionals. So below is a three year archived history of

some tips we used to assist Tanner in developing a strong

imagination.

Here are some ways to do this that I posted when Tanner was 4

From: "

[Guest guest]

Dana,

It depends on what you mean by play skills. If I look at Mark.... his

`skills`may have always been poor but his desire and his intent has always been

there. So while he may not have been able to put the Lego set together..... he

would have played with it using his imagination and in a social manner. (He

probably would have accidently knocked a few pieces off the Lego... tried

valiently to replace, given up and continued on playing with the broken toy!) I

do feel that this is one of the key factors in him not being labeled pdd-nos or

asd. Though he may not have been good at being social due to his speech..... he

was always interested in socializing. Today, he is definately a party guy!

My daughter, however, is completely neurotypical and rarely engaged in pretend

play. I always joked that she did best with production software as toys! At

the time, I never saw this as unusual but in the end, it did affect her

relationships with other kids. She was born a semi-adult and it has taken a

long time for those other kids to grow up enough for her to be interested in

them! I jest.... but it is kind of true! She really had no interest in baby

toys and finally when entering Junior high, her peers matured enough for her to

relate better to them. She was definately a sports kid and things needed to

have a purpose. So.... sometimes this is not an NDD trait at all but can be a

part of personality. For the most part, however, I feel that she is definately

an exception.

In teaching good play, you really need to get down on all fours to the child`s

level and try to engage them in play. Sometimes building a fort made out of

sheets covered over the backs of chairs..... taking boxes and crawling through

them.... pretending they are castles..... crawling around on all fours

pretending to be barnyard animals.... a sheep, a horse, a cow, a dog, a

kitty-cat.... complete with noises will inspire imagination.

I know that McCarthy has videos out... Teach 2 Play but I don`t know how

good they are. Mark used to LOVE Blues Clues when he was little! I remember

that! Mackenzie loved the Comfy Couch (horrid show, imo).

Janice

Mother of Mark, 14

[ ] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

,

Could my boys lack of play skills be more due to their dypraxia and poor motor

planning than autism? What kind of therapy helps with that?

Dana

[Guest guest]

Hi Janice,

 

We have the teach2play series and I will say that it is really, really

repetitive and boring.  I could see how this would work for a child with Autism,

though, as they really don't know the rules of play.  Also, if the child has

severe motor planning issues, I think it could work as they need to learn the

patterns.

 

I find it interesting that your neurotypical child never really played until

later.   I worry about the lack of pretend play for our daughter, but I can see

that the motor planning really affects her social skills, particullarly in the

communication areas.

 

Thanks for the thoughts.  As always, you lead and we follow.  Thanks for your

help.

 

 

Sharon

 

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Sharon Lang

From: Janice <jscott@...>

Subject: Re: [ ] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 1:37 AM

Dana,

It depends on what you mean by play skills. If I look at Mark.... his

`skills`may have always been poor but his desire and his intent has always been

there. So while he may not have been able to put the Lego set together.... . he

would have played with it using his imagination and in a social manner. (He

probably would have accidently knocked a few pieces off the Lego... tried

valiently to replace, given up and continued on playing with the broken toy!) I

do feel that this is one of the key factors in him not being labeled pdd-nos or

asd. Though he may not have been good at being social due to his speech..... he

was always interested in socializing. Today, he is definately a party guy!

My daughter, however, is completely neurotypical and rarely engaged in pretend

play. I always joked that she did best with production software as toys! At the

time, I never saw this as unusual but in the end, it did affect her

relationships with other kids. She was born a semi-adult and it has taken a long

time for those other kids to grow up enough for her to be interested in them! I

jest.... but it is kind of true! She really had no interest in baby toys and

finally when entering Junior high, her peers matured enough for her to relate

better to them. She was definately a sports kid and things needed to have a

purpose. So.... sometimes this is not an NDD trait at all but can be a part of

personality. For the most part, however, I feel that she is definately an

exception.

In teaching good play, you really need to get down on all fours to the child`s

level and try to engage them in play. Sometimes building a fort made out of

sheets covered over the backs of chairs..... taking boxes and crawling through

them.... pretending they are castles..... crawling around on all fours

pretending to be barnyard animals.... a sheep, a horse, a cow, a dog, a

kitty-cat... . complete with noises will inspire imagination.

I know that McCarthy has videos out... Teach 2 Play but I don`t know how

good they are. Mark used to LOVE Blues Clues when he was little! I remember

that! Mackenzie loved the Comfy Couch (horrid show, imo).

Janice

Mother of Mark, 14

[childrensapraxiane t] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

,

Could my boys lack of play skills be more due to their dypraxia and poor motor

planning than autism? What kind of therapy helps with that?

Dana

[Guest guest]

Back when Mark was little, there was a group called Sharon, Lois & Brahms that

had wonderful cd`s & videos urging kids to sing, to dance, to pretend..... They

were upbeat, interesting and really fun. Lots of high intensity involvement

which is what would probably appeal to most.....

Janice

[childrensapraxiane t] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

,

Could my boys lack of play skills be more due to their dypraxia and poor motor

planning than autism? What kind of therapy helps with that?

Dana

[Guest guest]

Sharon,

 

My guys with autism do not like the Teach2Play DVDs.  I think it is the way they

are done.  They do not capture their interest at all.

 

Dana

From: Janice <jscottinterbaun (DOT) com>

Subject: Re: [childrensapraxiane t] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

@groups. com

Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 1:37 AM

Dana,

It depends on what you mean by play skills. If I look at Mark.... his

`skills`may have always been poor but his desire and his intent has always been

there. So while he may not have been able to put the Lego set together.... . he

would have played with it using his imagination and in a social manner. (He

probably would have accidently knocked a few pieces off the Lego... tried

valiently to replace, given up and continued on playing with the broken toy!) I

do feel that this is one of the key factors in him not being labeled pdd-nos or

asd. Though he may not have been good at being social due to his speech..... he

was always interested in socializing. Today, he is definately a party guy!

My daughter, however, is completely neurotypical and rarely engaged in pretend

play. I always joked that she did best with production software as toys! At the

time, I never saw this as unusual but in the end, it did affect her

relationships with other kids. She was born a semi-adult and it has taken a long

time for those other kids to grow up enough for her to be interested in them! I

jest.... but it is kind of true! She really had no interest in baby toys and

finally when entering Junior high, her peers matured enough for her to relate

better to them. She was definately a sports kid and things needed to have a

purpose. So.... sometimes this is not an NDD trait at all but can be a part of

personality. For the most part, however, I feel that she is definately an

exception.

In teaching good play, you really need to get down on all fours to the child`s

level and try to engage them in play. Sometimes building a fort made out of

sheets covered over the backs of chairs..... taking boxes and crawling through

them.... pretending they are castles..... crawling around on all fours

pretending to be barnyard animals.... a sheep, a horse, a cow, a dog, a

kitty-cat... . complete with noises will inspire imagination.

I know that McCarthy has videos out... Teach 2 Play but I don`t know how

good they are. Mark used to LOVE Blues Clues when he was little! I remember

that! Mackenzie loved the Comfy Couch (horrid show, imo).

Janice

Mother of Mark, 14

[childrensapraxiane t] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

,

Could my boys lack of play skills be more due to their dypraxia and poor motor

planning than autism? What kind of therapy helps with that?

Dana

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Janice.  My guys are VERY active.  They want to jump, spin, and swing

ALL the time.  They take interest in their toys but only to mouth them.  I am

sure some of their lack of play is also the extreme sensory seeking behavior. 

 

Dana

From: Janice <jscott@...>

Subject: Re: [ ] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 1:37 AM

Dana,

It depends on what you mean by play skills. If I look at Mark.... his

`skills`may have always been poor but his desire and his intent has always been

there. So while he may not have been able to put the Lego set together.... . he

would have played with it using his imagination and in a social manner. (He

probably would have accidently knocked a few pieces off the Lego... tried

valiently to replace, given up and continued on playing with the broken toy!) I

do feel that this is one of the key factors in him not being labeled pdd-nos or

asd. Though he may not have been good at being social due to his speech..... he

was always interested in socializing. Today, he is definately a party guy!

My daughter, however, is completely neurotypical and rarely engaged in pretend

play. I always joked that she did best with production software as toys! At the

time, I never saw this as unusual but in the end, it did affect her

relationships with other kids. She was born a semi-adult and it has taken a long

time for those other kids to grow up enough for her to be interested in them! I

jest.... but it is kind of true! She really had no interest in baby toys and

finally when entering Junior high, her peers matured enough for her to relate

better to them. She was definately a sports kid and things needed to have a

purpose. So.... sometimes this is not an NDD trait at all but can be a part of

personality. For the most part, however, I feel that she is definately an

exception.

In teaching good play, you really need to get down on all fours to the child`s

level and try to engage them in play. Sometimes building a fort made out of

sheets covered over the backs of chairs..... taking boxes and crawling through

them.... pretending they are castles..... crawling around on all fours

pretending to be barnyard animals.... a sheep, a horse, a cow, a dog, a

kitty-cat... . complete with noises will inspire imagination.

I know that McCarthy has videos out... Teach 2 Play but I don`t know how

good they are. Mark used to LOVE Blues Clues when he was little! I remember

that! Mackenzie loved the Comfy Couch (horrid show, imo).

Janice

Mother of Mark, 14

[childrensapraxiane t] Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

,

Could my boys lack of play skills be more due to their dypraxia and poor motor

planning than autism? What kind of therapy helps with that?

Dana

[Guest guest]

Hey !

 

My guys are 4.  They do not play together.  I know autism does play into it, but

I just wonder if motor planning and dyspraxia are more of a problem.  They love

toys but they just want to mouth them.  They have extreme sensory seeking

needs.  They always have to be on the go, running, spinning, rocking, swinging,

mouthing EVERYTHING.  If they had a bucket of duplo legos to play with they

would dump the bucket over, get all in the legos on the floor, pick them up,

bang together, and mouth them.  Then move on to something else.  When they are

running around with a toy, if they see something else of interest, that toy just

gets flung to the floor in a loud crash and on to the next toy or object of

interest.

 

They are very hyposensitive and VERY sensory seeking, have low muscle tone, and

poor focus.

 

Dana

 

From: kiddietalk <kiddietalk@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: Can lack of play skills be from dyspraxia?

Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 12:27 AM

Dana,

Lack of play skills of course could be due to motor planning problems;

since apraxia doesn't affect cognitive or receptive ability they know

what's expected of them. For this reason if they feel self conscious

about attempting an activity they don't feel comfortable with, or one

that they failed at when they attempted it prior, they may not want

to try. Is it all things are just some things your boys don't want to

do? What type of play does your boys enjoy? Do they play together?

Anything? How old are they? And yes there are many tricks in this

area but let me know if this is the area.

It could also be imagination issues which again in this group doesn't

mean autism -sometimes our kids develop later in this area for some

reason. Here's an archive on imagination as this comes up frequently.

It's long and not sure if this answers your question -but will answer

more tomorrow!

From: " kiddietalk " <kiddietalk (DOT) com>

Date: Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:28 pm

Subject: Re: Trish-socially engaging but still autistic???/ perhaps

not -imagination

Hi Traci, and Trish and all!

About imagination. ..now this is long!

I wouldn't jump to conclusions that a young child with a

communication impairment has problems with imagination. Like

anything when you are fighting to keep your head above water so you

won't drown, it's hard to enjoy the beauty of the ocean. (yes I was

a lifeguard) In other words -when a child is struggling to

communicate basic needs, imagination may take a back seat. It may

be there, but needs to be encouraged out. Tanner today at 7 years

old is not at 'all' shy. If anything it amazes his teachers how

outgoing he is and not the least bit self conscious of the way he

speaks, even though he still has obvious speaking problems at

times. But...it wasn't always like that. Preschool age and pre -

knowledge age of what Tanner was dealing with -he actually would

withdraw around others and go into a shell. Tanner did well with

one on one playdates -not at all group. Tanner was never considered

autistic or PDD by any of the neurodevelopmental MDs or SLPs or OTs

or teachers that worked with him professionally. Nor was he ever

considered autistic by any lay people. There is a difference in

autism and apraxia -and differences in how to work with both

appropriately. Proper diagnosis of one or both is most important.

I find this to be a very important topic and very misunderstood even

by some professionals. So below is a three year archived history of

some tips we used to assist Tanner in developing a strong

imagination.

Here are some ways to do this that I posted when Tanner was 4

From: "

[Guest guest]

 that is just like my nice she is just like a little monkey. that is funny.