It has a name!

(Okay, I hope you think this picture is as hilarious as I do. If you can't tell, he's getting a massage.)

After the long wait to get in to see the ONLY developmental pediatrician in Austin, and an even looonger time (3 years 9 months to be exact) of wondering at Cameron's oddities, we finally have a name for his official medical condition (and a justification for our parenting abilities): dyspraxia. Cameron has a neurological condition called dyspraxia. His mixed language disorder is a side symptom.

So what is it? The short definition is: difficulty in conceiving of, planning, and carrying out an unfamiliar motor action or series of motor actions. I.e. he has trouble doing new things. It is a lifelong condition, but the good news is is that it is not linked to intelligence. For example, we read that the actor who plays Harry Potter in all the movies has dyspraxia. So Cameron will most likely be, for all intents and purposes, a normal functioning adult.

Last night Tyler and I were researching dyspraxia on the internet and came to a site that listed the symptoms in children. We were actually laughing because we could not believe how well they described Cameron in so many ways! For example (the bolded items are of no extra consequence):

• Irritable and difficult to comfort – from birth
• Feeding difficulties: milk allergies, colic, restricted diet
• High levels of motor activity: constantly moving arms and legs
• Repetitive behaviors: head banging or rolling
• Continued problems with development of feeding skills
• Toilet training may be delayed
• Delayed language development: single words not evident until age 3
• Highly emotional: easily distressed, frequent outbursts of uncontrolled behavior
• Concentration limited to 2 or 3 minutes on any task?
• unable to stay in one place longer than 5 minutes
• easily distressed
• temper tantrums
• Difficulty Pedaling Tricycle or Similar Toy
  
• no sense of danger, jump from inappropriate heights
• Continue to be Messy Eaters
• prefer to use fingers to feed
• Lack of Imaginative Play
• Do not enjoy ‘dressing up’ or playing appropriately in the home corner or Wendy House. – Limited creative play
• Isolated in Peer Group
• prefers adult company
• Limited Response to Verbal Instructions
• slower response time
• problems with comprehension
• Limited Concentration
• tasks often left unfinished

Wow! So that has been what's been going on all these years! I have gone from feeling like maybe I am not so great at parenting to thinking I rock at it. No wonder Jane has been such a treat. Here we were thinking this was normal parenting!

So what's next? 1 hour of private occupational therapy a week and 2 hours of private speech therapy a week. It will be a long and hard road (and what, it hasn't already been so far or something?) but I think I'm up to the task. Heavenly Father wouldn't have sent him to me if I weren't. And Cameron is making great strides in his language. Tonight I realized he was using "ing" on the end of verbs finally! ("I jumpin" and "I dancin") I am just so relieved to finally have some answers!