One of the many possible components of Sensory Processing Disorder is a condition called dyspraxia. The short definition is that people who have it often have issues putting together the right motor activities to perform some skill. That's pretty hard to wrap my head around, because it's not related to intelligence. I've often heard it said that our hands manifest thought, but it turns out that's only true if our brains are fully wired to do so.
Since Simon has been identified as having this condition, I've spent a little time reading about it. The literature suggests that it's pretty hard to know for sure with a young child if they'll develop their way through it, and I can't help but wonder if I've been living with some level of it my entire life. Maybe I'm just trying to rationalize sucking at sports when I was a kid.
It's pretty clear that we're going to have to get him in as much occupational therapy as we can. I'm not so much worried about him being able to catch a ball as much as learning to speak effectively, since that's one of the ways the condition manifests itself in early childhood. It's pretty interesting to me that so much of the treatment involves forcing him to interact with his environment. I happen to know some great places here that have lots of stairs, turnstiles, queues, games and other stimulating environments.
I'm not at all gloomy about this, and in fact it probably gives me more reason to be more patient with Simon. I'm not going to coddle him or protect him from "normal" failure, but I'm also not going to throw my hands up in the air when he gets frustrated and doesn't want to do something.
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