DYSPRAXIA

What is dyspraxia?

It is an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. Associated with this there may be problems of language, perception and thought. It is also known as:

• clumsy child syndrome
• perceptuo-motor dysfunction
• minimal brain dysfunction
• motor learning difficulty

Movement

Gross and fine motor skills are hard to learn, difficult to retain and generalise, and hesitant and awkward in performance.

Language

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

Perception

There is a poor understanding of the messages that the senses convey, and difficulty in relating those messages to actions.

Thought

Dyspraxic children of normal intelligence may have great difficulty in planning and organising thoughts. Those with moderate learning difficulties may have these problems to a greater extent.

Cause

For most children there is no known cause, although it is thought to be an immaturity of neurone development in the brain, rather than brain damage. Dyspraxic children have no clinical neurological abnormality to explain their condition.

How to recognise a dyspraxic child
The pre-school child:

• History of lateness reaching milestones e.g. rolling over, sitting, walking and speaking
• May not yet be able to run, hop or jump
• Appears not to be able to learn anything instinctively, but must be taught skills
• Poor at dressing
• Slow and hesitant in most actions
• Poor pencil grip
• Cannot do jigsaw or shape-sorting games, and art work is very immature
• Has no understanding of in/on/behind/in front of, etc.
• Unable to catch or kick a ball
• Commonly anxious and distractable
• Finds it difficult to keep friends or judge how to behave in company

The school-age child:

• All the problems of the pre-school child may still be present with little or no improvement
• PE is avoided
• The child does badly in class but significantly better on a one-to-one basis
• Attention span is poor and the child reacts to all stimuli without discrimination
• May have trouble with maths and reading
• Great difficulty may be experienced in copying from the blackboard
• Writing is laborious and immature
• Unable to remember and/or follow instructions
• Generally poorly organised

Where to go for help
Pre-school children:

Talk to your GP and Health Visitor. A referral should be made to a paediatrician or a child development centre. Assessment can then be made by a psychologist, physiotherapist, speech therapist or occupational therapist, as is deemed appropriate.

School-age children:

Talk to your GP, school nurse or school doctor (appointments can be made through the school or local health centre), teacher or year tutor, as appropriate. For further information refer to the DFE booklet "Special Educational Needs: A Guide for Parents", obtainable from the DFE by telephoning: 020-7925 5000. Hospital referral may be required for special tests or treatment.

The future

Prognosis is usually hopeful in that, although dyspraxia is not curable, the child will improve in some areas with growing maturity. He/she can be helped to a large extent with appropriate treatment and suitable leisure facilities in order to overcome the continuing problems which he/she will undoubtedly face.