Dyspraxia can affect a child’s ability to do a wide range of everyday physical tasks. These can include things like jumping, speaking clearly and gripping a pencil. Some kids have mild symptoms and others more severe.
There are lots of ways to help with dyspraxia at home and in school. Learning more about it can help you find the most effective solutions for your child.
Dyspraxia isn’t a sign of muscle weakness or of low intelligence. It’s a brain-based condition that makes it hard to plan and coordinate physical movement. Children with dyspraxia tend to struggle with balance and posture. They may appear clumsy or “out of sync” with their environment.
Dyspraxia goes by many names: developmental coordination disorder, motor learning difficulty, motor planning difficulty and apraxia of speech. It can affect the development of gross motor skills like walking or jumping. It can also affect fine motor skills. These include things like the hand movements needed to write clearly and the mouth and tongue movements needed to pronounce words correctly.
Dyspraxia can affect social skills too. Children with dyspraxia may behave immaturely even though they typically have average or above-average intelligence.
Kids don’t outgrow dyspraxia. But occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and other tools and strategies can help. Kids can learn to work around areas of weakness and build on their strengths.
Dyspraxia can affect different kinds of movement. Professionals you speak to might break it down into these categories:
Makes it hard to complete single-step motor tasks such as combing hair and waving goodbye.
Makes it more difficult to perform a sequence of movements, like brushing teeth or making a bed.
Also called verbal apraxia or apraxia of speech. Makes it difficult to coordinate muscle movements needed to pronounce words. Kids with dyspraxia may have speech that is slurred and difficult to understand because they’re unable to enunciate.
Makes it harder to understand spatial relationships. Kids may have difficulty copying geometric drawings or using building blocks.
Although dyspraxia isn’t as widely discussed as other conditions that impact learning, like dyslexia, it’s believed to be fairly common. Roughly 6 to 10 percent of children show some signs of dyspraxia.
Boys are affected more often than girls. But many people with symptoms are never diagnosed, prompting some experts to dub it a “hidden problem.”
Researchers don’t know yet what causes dyspraxia. Many believe that genetics could play a role. Some scientists suspect dyspraxia may be caused by a problem with the nerve cells that send signals from the brain to muscles.
Researchers also believe that children who were born prematurely, had low birth weights or were exposed to alcohol in the womb may be more likely to have dyspraxia, though it’s not clear why.
Dyspraxia affects some kids more severely than others. The signs you may be seeing can also look different as your child gets older. But generally, the symptoms are present early in life.
Dyspraxia can affect a variety of skills. Keep in mind that there are ways to help your child improve in each of these areas:
Kids with dyspraxia may struggle with different aspects of speech. They can have trouble pronouncing words or expressing their ideas. They may also have trouble adjusting the pitch and volume of their voice. As a result, making friends and being social can be much harder.
Children with dyspraxia may behave immaturely. They may easily become overwhelmed in group settings. This can create problems with making friends, and kids can become anxious about socializing with others, especially as they get older. Their difficulties with sports may also affect their self-esteem and social abilities.
Kids with dyspraxia often have difficulty writing quickly. This can create a number of classroom challenges, such as trouble taking notes and finishing tests. Children who have speech difficulties also may have difficulty with reading and spelling.
Dyspraxia can make it hard to master everyday tasks needed for independence. In elementary school, kids still may need help buttoning a shirt or brushing their teeth. As teens, they could have trouble learning to drive a car or fry an egg.
It’s not unusual for children with dyspraxia to have other learning and attention issues (comorbidity):
Kids with dyslexia might have trouble learning to read. Dyslexia can also make it hard to write, spell and say the words you want to say.
This causes kids to have difficulties with math. Kids with dyscalculia may have trouble remembering basic math facts such as 2 + 2 = 4, doing calculations and estimating quantities and times.
Dysgraphia causes trouble with writing. Dysgraphia and dyspraxia are very different, but they often have overlapping symptoms—like messy handwriting.
ADHD can make it difficult for your child to keep still, concentrate, consider consequences and control impulses. About half of children with dyspraxia also have attention issues.