Dyspraxia

Intro

Dyspraxia is a condition that affects gross and fine motor-skills and coordination. Like Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, it can affect a child’s progress and learning at school.

The National Health Service refers to dyspraxia as Development co-ordination disorder, when used in relation to children. Please do bear this in mind as you read about the subject. For the purpose of this article, we will use the term Dyspraxia.

Features of Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia can manifest in different ways in different individuals. There are however, some defining features that can be identified in children with Dyspraxia:

• Difficulty in getting dressed by themselves
• Missed or late developing milestones in infancy (e.g. sitting up by themselves)
• Difficulty balancing or moving
• Difficulty with writing or other fine-motor skills
• Problems with moving up and down stairs or climbing apparatus
• Often fall over
• Poor organisation and structuring skills
• Messy and inconsistent handwriting

There are more features related to Dyspraxia but this should give you a good idea of the general identifying features.

What can help?

It’s clear that Dyspraxia has the potential to debilitate a child’s confidence and progress is left unsupported. This isn’t the case for everyone of course! Some Dyspraxic children (and adults) require support to help ensure they progress well at school, particularly if they have important assessments coming up. Here are some things that can help:

• There are many specific tips available relating to specific issues. For example, with handwriting issues having the child write on different materials (e.g. sandpaper, a banana) can help to boost confidence. Using stencils and pencil grips can also help younger children
• Providing structured plans that are partially filled in (e.g. a revision timetable) and then working with the child to fill in the other parts
• Use closed questions when supporting a child with Dyspraxia. Open ended questions can be confusing!
• Break tasks into small, manageable chunks and explain how each stage leads into the next
• Communication with the school regarding additional support that can be put into place. The school SENCO is often the best person to speak to
• Specialised one-to-one support from an experienced Dyspraxia tutor can help to improve structure and boost confidence

Source: Dyspraxia Foundation

Final Thoughts

We hope you have found this guide useful. If you have specific queries relating to Dyspraxia, we recommend you speak to a qualified clinician in the first instance. If you require education support for a student with Dyspraxia please do get in touch as we have a number of qualified and experienced teachers who may be able to help.

Further Reading

The Dyspraxia Foundation – An informative website that provides guides, advice and further reading

NHS Guide to Dyspraxia – A brief but informative guide, focusing on the medical aspects of the condition