The Dyspraxia Foundation has lots of information on its website which helps to explain the condition.

What is Dyspraxia? The Dyspraxia Foundation explains……..

Dyspraxia, a form of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common disorder affecting fine and/or gross motor coordination, in children and adults.

While DCD is often regarded as an umbrella term to cover motor coordination difficulties, dyspraxia refers to those people who have additional problems planning, organising and carrying out movements in the right order in everyday situations. Dyspraxia can also affect articulation and speech, perception and thought.

Although Dyspraxia may occur in isolation, it frequently coexists with other conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, language disorders and social, emotional and behavioural impairments.

What causes Dyspraxia?

For the majority of those with the condition, there is no known cause. Current research suggests that it is due to an immaturity of neurone development in the brain rather than to brain damage. People with dyspraxia have no clinical neurological abnormality to explain their condition.

How would I recognise a child with Dyspraxia?

The pre-school child

• Is late in reaching milestones e.g. rolling over, sitting, standing, walking, and speaking

• May not be able to run, hop, jump, or catch or kick a ball although their peers can do so

• Has difficulty in keeping friends; or judging how to behave in company

• Has little understanding of concepts such as ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘in front of’ etc

• Has difficulty in walking up and down stairs

• Poor at dressing

• Slow and hesitant in most actions

• Appears not to be able to learn anything instinctively but must be taught skills

• Falls over frequently

• Poor pencil grip

• Cannot do jigsaws or shape sorting games

• Artwork is very immature

• Often anxious and easily distracted

The school age child

The school age child probably has all the difficulties experienced by the pre-school child with dyspraxia, with little or no improvement

• Avoids PE and games

• Does badly in class but significantly better on a one-to -one basis

• Reacts to all stimuli without discrimination and attention span is poor

• May have trouble with maths and writing structured stories

• Experiences great difficulty in copying from the blackboard

• Writes laboriously and immaturely

• Unable to remember and /or follow instructions

• Is generally poorly organised

Speech and Language

Speech may be immature or unintelligible in early years. Language may be impaired or late to develop.

For some children, the primary difficulty is in making and co-ordinating the precise movements, which are used in the production of spoken language, which results in severe and persisting speech production difficulties. The condition is termed developmental verbal dyspraxia: it may occur in isolation or in conjunction with general motor difficulties.

Children with speech and /or language difficulties should be referred to a Speech and Language Therapist as early as possible. A referral can be made by a GP, Health Visitor, other professional or by parents themselves. Speech and language therapists carry out assessments, can identify a child’s presenting difficulties and advise on management and support.

More information

For more information go to Dyspraxia Foundation.

Written by Rachel Harrison on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services.

Speech and Language Therapist.