Some children frequently seen by an occupational therapist include those who present with difficulties with motor, co-ordination and perceptual difficulties.
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.
Signs of dyspraxia in older children include: Difficulty with walking up and down stairs. Difficulty with balance — they may bump into objects, fall frequently or seem clumsy. Difficulty with sports and activities, such as riding a bike; jumping; and catching, throwing or kicking a ball.
Dyspraxia, also known as developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD), is a common disorder that affects movement and co-ordination. Dyspraxia does not affect your intelligence. It can affect your co-ordination skills – such as tasks requiring balance, playing sports or learning to drive a car.
Emotions as a result of difficulties experienced:
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.
Dyspraxia is commonly identified alongside dyslexia – some reports even suggest that half of dyslexic children exhibit symptoms characteristic of dyspraxia. Attention difficulties and dyspraxia may also co-present, as can dyspraxia and autism spectrum disorder.
Instead, most healthcare professionals use the term developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) to describe the condition.
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.
Apraxia is usually caused by damage to the parietal lobes or to nerve pathways that connect these lobes to other parts of the brain, such as frontal and/or temporal lobes. These areas store memories of learned sequences of movements. Less often, apraxia results from damage to other areas of the brain.
Dyspraxia can make it difficult for children to develop social skills, and they may have trouble getting along with peers. Though they are intelligent, these children may seem immature and some may develop phobias and obsessive behavior.
A learner with dyspraxia may have limited concentration skills and poor listening skills – giving too much information quickly can overwhelms pupils and makes it hard to process and pick out key information. Asking questions and wanting immediate answers – pupils need time to process what has been said.
Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) or Dyspraxia is commonly associated with difficulties with movement, when in fact there are many strengths associated with this neurotype. Big picture thinking, problem solving, tenacity, creativity and empathy are all qualities associated with DCD.
For children under 7 in Australia, a formal diagnosis of DCD can form the basis for an Early Child Early Intervention Plan with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Funding through this plan may assist with the necessary therapy.
Students with dyspraxia are often visual, lateral thinkers. Therefore, they are creative and imaginative and can give interesting input to discussions or projects. They are often good orators and are lively and engaging. They are generally very honest.
So although there are similarities, autism is primarily a social and communication disorder and dyspraxia is primarily a motor skills disorder. If your child has one of these conditions but you feel they also have other difficulties, you may think about further assessment.
They do not usually have the accompanying learning disabilities associated with autism, but they may have specific learning difficulties. These may include dyslexia and dyspraxia or other conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy.
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.
This suggests that dyspraxia is associated with reduced social skill and empathy, but only in those without a diagnosis of ASC. Cassidy and colleagues suggest that the lack of association between dyspraxia and social skills in the group with autism could be due to under-diagnosis of dyspraxia in this population.
Daniel Radcliffe (Actor)
Best known for his titular role in the Harry Potter films, Daniel revealed that he had a mild form of dyspraxia in 2008 in an interview for his Broadway debut in Equus. He was unsuccessful at school and 'he sometimes still has trouble tying his shoelaces.
Two of the commonly co-existing issues that people with ADHD have are developmental coordination disorder (DCD), commonly known as dyspraxia, and dyslexia. DCD is a condition that affects physical coordination.
Types of learning difficulty
People who have dyslexia can find it hard to read, write and spell. , attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyspraxia and dyscalculia. A person can have one, or a combination. As with learning disability, learning difficulties can also exist on a scale.
Kerry: Sleep can be a real problem. Like many with dyspraxia, I have a sensory processing disorder. So, if you know that you can't sleep but can't quite pin down the reason why, take time to evaluate what your senses are feeding you.
Dyspraxia is most commonly caused by stroke or acquired brain injury. There are 2 types of Dyspraxia: (1) Oral dyspraxia– difficulty with non-verbal tasks - when asked to do so (E.g. please poke out your tongue), however the person can perform non-verbal tasks successfully and automatically (E.g. licking an ice cream).
'Dyspraxia (some people call it DCD) means that your brain is 'wired up' differently. It is a very clever brain that somehow has got 'mixed up' and that means that things to do with moving, learning and perhaps speaking too are harder for you.