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London
(North) Support Group Dyspraxia
Newsletter (January 2003) Co-ordinators
Corner Happy new year to
everyone and welcome to the first north London newsletter of 2003. As reported last
summer we had a very successful year with a rolling programme of activity
sessions and community days.. We have formed an executive committee and
adopted a branch constitution. Kathy has volunteered to act as treasurer
and we have applied to Nat West Bank for a local bank account. This will
enable us to manage our small expenses locally. We will be advertising our
first public annual general meeting in our next newsletter. We are in the
process of sorting out venues and dates for more family fun sessions.
Cheryl has kindly volunteered to host a coffee morning in February, so anyone
who would like to meet up for an informal chat and light refreshments please
contact either of us for more details. If you can display the enclosed
flyer at your school or playgroup then that would also help. I�m always glad
to help facilitate meetings in other areas if someone can provide details of a
venue with reasonable access, not too many stairs, in the north London area. I have already
spoken to a group of teachers in the Winchmore Hill area and I�ve been invited
to speak at a Dyspraxia training day in Waltham Forest in April. I look forward to
meeting some of you over the next twelve months Diary Dates Friday 7 February
� 10:30am Coffee Morning Hosted by Cheryl
(local member) at her home in Woodford Green. Tuesday 11 February
� 7:30pm Tuesday 25 February
� 8pm Tuesday 11 March
� 7:30pm Saturday 29 March Further information Contact June Gray -
Local Co-ordinator on 020 8527 6456 or
email [email protected] Working
with The Conductive Education Following our
successful week during the summer holidays, Charlie Morgan has been running
sessions throughout the autumn. Here is her report. Unfortunately
for us, but fortunately for her, she has been offered a post in Canada and so
has had to give up the regular Saturday sessions that she had started. The Conductive
Education Management team is still committed to continuing the work that she has
started and have found a new conductor to continue the classes every other
Saturday. It has been a great opportunity to offer some physical therapy
to children with Dyspraxia who have otherwise found it hard to access mainstream
services. It has also led to a great collaboration with Leslie and other
parents to share knowledge and the achievements that our children make. The term
�Dyspraxia is now becoming more widely recognized and general awareness of the
condition and its symptoms seem to be developing However, there
still appears to be very little in the way of intervention and services for
children with Dyspraxia In addition to this, often the intervention
available to them will only focus on one specific area of the child�s
development. The National
Institute of Conductive Education began running services for children with
Dyspraxia about five years ago. These sessions proved to be very successful and
the programmes available for children with Dyspraxia are beginning to grow
throughout the country. After an open
morning held by the Conductive Education Centre in Muswell Hill and the
Dyspraxia Foundation we decided to establish some groups ourselves. To begin
with we set up a week long summer school for ten children. This was most
successful and from this we had a great deal of interest in continuing sessions
on a weekly basis. We now have fifteen children attending the centre on Saturday
mornings. So what is
it that we do in the groups? Conductive
Education is an educational approach that was developed in Hungary for children
and adults with motor disorders. It aims to equip individuals with the necessary
skills in order to overcome problems they encounter in their everyday living. We
aim to look at the individual as a whole, aiming to promote every aspect of
their development: physical, social, emotional and cognitive. The sessions
themselves are carried out in small groups with no more than 5-6 children and
two conductors. The children carry out a wide range of gross and fine movements
and they are encouraged to think about and plan these movements by vocalizing
the task. The feedback we
have received from parents and children has been very encouraging and most
parents feel the workshops have benefited their children. Some feel that the
workshops have helped promote confidence and self image, while others have noted
that they feel the emphasis on physical tasks complements well with the
development that is focused on in school. Others have found improvements with
handwriting and also awareness and perception of body position. Alongside the
Conductive Education programmes, we have also offered a variety of additional
services. June Gray from the Dyspraxia Foundation has been at hand on specific
Saturdays, offering advice and support and also giving out information and
facilitating helpful activity sessions. In addition to this Lesley Hales has co-ordinated
numerous computer groups. These again have proved most successful and have
complemented the Conductive Education sessions well. So what does the
future hold? From January the computer groups and Conductive sessions will be
provided on alternate Saturdays. We hope that the services we offer will
continue to flourish and grow, providing parents and children with Dyspraxia the
necessary help, advice and support that they require. Charlie Morgan
(Conductive Education) |
