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Dyspraxia

What is Dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia is a motor learning difficulty that affects movement and co-ordination. It is described as an impairment of the organisation of motor planning and execution.

For most individuals with Dyspraxia, the cause is unknown. However, research suggests that Dyspraxia is caused by an immaturity of neurone development and neural pathways in the central nervous system. Neurones are responsible for providing the brain with information about our physical condition and the environment around us. Constant repetition of movement allows a more refined, controlled movement in response to a stimulus. If there are immaturities in these neurones and their pathways the result will be difficulties in producing purposeful, co-ordinated and smooth movements. What causes these immaturities in the neurones is yet to be discovered. Associated with the movement difficulties, may be problems of language, thought and perceptions.

The most common characteristics of Dyspraxia include difficulties with:

Body movement - poor fine and gross motor skills
Speech and language - difficulty with pronunciation and articulation
Perceptual difficulties - problems with interpretation of different senses
Poor memory and attention span
Emotional difficulties - anxiety and depression may result due to the above characteristics

Common symptoms of Dyspraxia in a pre-school child include:

Delayed developmental milestones e.g. rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, walking, speaking, toilet trained
Difficulty running
Difficulty catching and throwing a ball
Difficulty going up and down stairs
Difficulty dressing
Slow speed of most actions
Frequently falls over
Fidgets
Poor handwriting grip
Unable to complete jigsaws/shape sorting games
Immature artwork

Common symptoms of Dyspraxia in a school aged child include:

All of the difficulties described above will have had no/little improvement
Dislikes PE classes
Unable to take part in team games
Clumsy gait
Poor handwriting
Poor attention span
Poor memory
Poor organisational skills
Difficulty with fine motor skills
Difficulty with spatial awareness
Excitable behaviour
Requires repetition to learn new skills
Difficulty with maths and writing structured stories
Performs poorly in a class situation, significantly better in a one to one situation
Fatigue - may require more energy than other children to complete the same task
Low self-esteem
Bullied due to differences

Other conditions that are common alongside Dyspraxia include:

If you would like to arrange an initial appointment please email office@asdclinic.co.uk or call 03300 886 693.

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