Dyspraxia in adults Less close control – writing and drawing are difficult. Difficulty coordinating both sides of the body. Unclear speech, often word order can be jumbled. Clumsy movement and tendency to trip over.
Tend to get stressed, depressed and anxious easily. May have difficulty sleeping. Prone to low self-esteem, emotional outbursts, phobias, fears, obsessions, compulsions and addictive behaviour.
Developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, is a condition affecting physical co-ordination. It causes a child to perform less well than expected in daily activities for their age, and appear to move clumsily.
Dyspraxics may be overly sensitive to noise, touch, and light and can have balance issues. Perceptual difficulties mean they can struggle to gauge the distance between things, which leads to clumsiness, and they are prone to mixing up right and left.
Dyspraxia (developmental coordination disorder) can cause a wide range of issues with coordination and motor skills. While most people with dyspraxia show signs of the condition by the time they start school, some people have mild forms of the condition that are more difficult to detect.
The 'typical' child with dyspraxia struggles with handwriting, avoids sport, is disorganised and a bit messy, and can seem naughty or difficult because these difficulties can make it harder for them to do the things they want, need, or are expected to do.
Children with dyspraxia are more than just clumsy. They may have difficulty with tasks requiring involvement of their whole body (such as catching, running, riding a bike), their hands (writing, tying shoelaces) or both. It takes much more effort to learn skills, to retain them, and to transfer them to other contexts.
Problems with movement and co-ordination are the main symptoms of DCD. Children may have difficulty with: playground activities such as hopping, jumping, running, and catching or kicking a ball. They often avoid joining in because of their lack of co-ordination and may find physical education difficult.
Tiredness and fatigue are overwhelming for many adults who have dyspraxia due to the effort it takes in planning, prioritising, processing and performing everyday tasks whilst trying not to get distracted.
However, this does not mean that they are the same. Fundamentally, autism is a disorder that affects socialization and communication, while dyspraxia affects motor skills and physical coordination. While coinciding symptoms aren't uncommon, the two are considered distinct disorders.
Gait dyspraxia is characterized by diminished capacity to correctly use the legs for ambulation when this deficit cannot be attributed to sensory impairment, motor weakness, poor coordination, or other identifiable causes.
Individuals with dyspraxia often take things quite literally and cannot sense sarcasm or mood/tone of voice in others. They also have difficulties with articulation of speech and processing of words.
Over sensitive – dyspraxic people are often over sensitive to light, sound and/or touch. Therefore, they may find sounds louder than normal, not like to be touched, squint more often than most or be easily distracted by noise.
Adults with dyspraxia sometimes display social and emotional difficulties, as well as problems with time management, planning and personal organisation. This may affect the person's education or employment. Dyspraxia may make learning a new skill more difficult.
Dyspraxia goes by many names: developmental coordination disorder, motor learning difficulty, motor planning difficulty and apraxia of speech. It can affect the development of gross motor skills like walking or jumping.
Some children frequently seen by an occupational therapist include those who present with difficulties with motor, co-ordination and perceptual difficulties.
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) – often referred to as dyspraxia – suffer much higher levels of emotional distress than their classmates and are frequently anxious and downhearted, research to be highlighted at this month's ESRC Festival of Social Science shows.
Memory deficits are apparent, as children with Dyspraxia have difficulty processing information from the auditory and visual systems, thus making it more difficult to recall, remember, and use information they have learned through those channels.
Living with the fear that you could 'screw up' at any moment can play havoc with your mind, and can lead some people with dyspraxia to withdraw from social situations, such as dating.
Many people with Dyspraxia and other neurological deficits find interpreting the meaning of messages from what we see in the world around us a challenge. Of course some people without Dyspraxia sometimes experience these difficulties too, when trying to decode to us what seems like the impossible.
While they do not get worse over time, their challenges may become more apparent with increasing academic demands. They have to work harder and/or differently than their peers to achieve the same goals. Despite their difficulties, pupils with dyspraxia can and do learn to perform some motor tasks quite well.
Individuals with dyspraxia may have difficulties with their speech and language which can range from mild to severe. They may additionally have a difficulty with their eating and drinking.
Sleeping difficulties, including wakefulness at night and nightmares. Growing awareness of difficulties, affecting confidence and self-esteem. May report physical symptoms such as headaches and feeling sick.
Interestingly, the symptoms of brain fog match many of the diagnostic criteria for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and are also common with other neurominorities where the executive functions are compromised, such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Tourettes and Autism.