July 15th, 2021

Dyspraxia - what is it?

Definition

Dyspraxia is a brain-based motor disorder. It affects fine and gross motor skills, motor planning, and coordination. It’s not related to intelligence, but it can sometimes affect cognitive skills.
 
Dyspraxia is sometimes used interchangeably with developmental coordination disorder.  While some doctors may consider these separate conditions, due to a lack of formal definition, others consider them the same.
 
Children born with dyspraxia may be late to reach developmental milestones. They also have trouble with balance and coordination.  
 
Into adolescence and adulthood, symptoms of dyspraxia can lead to learning difficulties and low self-esteem. 
 
Dyspraxia is a lifelong condition. There’s currently no cure, but there are therapies that can help you effectively manage the disorder.

Dyspraxia symptoms in children
 
If your baby has dyspraxia, you might notice delayed milestones such as lifting the head, rolling over, and sitting up, though children with this condition may eventually reach early milestones on time.
 
 
Other signs and symptoms can include:

• unusual body positions
• general irritability 
• sensitivity to loud noises
• feeding and sleeping problems
• a high level of movement of the arms and legs 

 
 
As your child grows, you might also observe delays in:

• crawling
• walking
• potty training
• self-feeding
• self-dressing

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Dyspraxia makes it hard to organise physical movements. For example, a child might want to walk across the living room carrying their schoolbooks, but they can’t manage to do it without tripping, bumping into something, or dropping the books.
 
Other signs and symptoms may include:

• unusual posture
• difficulty with fine motor skills that affect writing, artwork, and playing with blocks and puzzles
• coordination problems that make it difficult to hop, skip, jump, or catch a ball
• hand flapping, fidgeting, or being easily excitable
• messy eating and drinking
• temper tantrums
• becoming less physically fit because they shy away from physical activities

 
Although intelligence isn’t affected, dyspraxia can make it harder to learn and socialise due to: 

• a short attention span for tasks that are difficult
• trouble following or remembering instructions
• a lack of organisational skills
• difficulty learning new skills
• low self-esteem
• immature behaviour
• trouble making friends

Dyspraxia symptoms in adults
 
Dyspraxia is different for everyone. There are a variety of potential symptoms and they can change over time. These may include:
 
·       abnormal posture
·       balance and movement issues, or gait abnormalities
·       poor hand-eye coordination
·       fatigue
·       trouble learning new skills
·       organisation and planning problems
·       difficulty writing or using a keyboard
·       having a hard time with grooming and household chores
·       social awkwardness or lack of confidence

Dyspraxia has nothing to do with intelligence. If you have dyspraxia, you may be stronger in areas such as creativity, motivation, and determination. Each person’s symptoms are different.
 
If you have a child with dyspraxia and you want help, our friendly therapists can help, just contact us on:
                                    Phone: 03 377 5280                                   Email:  admin@tpl.nz
 
 
Reference Healthline  
 
https://www.healthline.com/health/dyspraxia#adult-symptoms

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