Dyspraxia has not been long recognised by medics or eduacationalists. Dyspraxia, like dyslexia is a neurological condition. That means that it is concerned with the brain's ability to process information. In the case of a dyspraxic child/adult, it influences the ability to co-ordinate and plan movements, but more than that it affects any activity that requires planning, including socialising and time management It can manifest itself with slightly differing symptoms depending on the age of the child and on the child, as again it is on a spectrum (its own) ranging from mild to severe. 0 to 5 years You cannot know that a baby is dyspraxic just by looking at it! However it will become more obvious as the child develops and is late walking and possibly talking. However little things may be obvious beforehand that concerns the parents: the baby may not be able to hold its own bottle when others of the same age are; the baby may not be interested in crawling, but bottom shuffles instead. These are indicators of low muscle tone which often goes with dyspraxia. They may also have trouble feeding as it is hard for them to co-ordinate the muscles of the mouth and tongue and throat. This may affect speech and they may need the help of a speech therapist. They will find using cutlery difficult too and possibly dribble when they drink from a cup. As the child does start to become mobile, he/she may be more clumsy than others, as he/she finds it harder to judge distances/heights etc... and/or they might be very cautious. This could be caused by hypermobility of the joints (like being double-jointed) which again often accompanies dyspraxia. You may find that these youngsters lack the resilience of other children. They will sit examining their leg to see if there is much damage after falling over, when others would bounce up and be off again. This is because they are much more aware of the feelings in their muscles and lack of certainty in them. While other children will start climbing and swinging and balancing, the dyspraxic child will stand and watch fearful to try, or if they do, quickly give up the minute anything wobbles. Balancing is especially difficult. However, dyspraxic children need to learn to do these things, so even if you don't know why your child is not joining in, encourage them to, give them even more opportunities to do so as they will need extra reassurance, extra help and lots and lots of practice! Ball catching will be hard, as will hitting balls with bats. Dyspraxic chilren will find it harder to learn to ride bikes and learn to swim - but again, most will, given time and practice and encouragement. With some children, their muscle weakness is so severe that they need help from a physiotherapist and occupational therapist. Something else that may be noticeable at this age is that the child may not like changes to routine, and this may lead to tantrums and upsets when routines have to be changed. This is something that dyspraxics share with autistic people. Therefore, as with all young children, having a daily routine will help. It is common for dyspraxic children to be later at joining in imaginative play. They may avoid playing with bricks and toys involving spatial awareness. It is also likely that you will think they have learnt to do something, like for example walking up stairs, only to find that when they go to some one elses's house, they go back to going up one step at a time. This is because they are not good at transferring knowledge to a new setting. They may not like social settings like playgroups. They may seem to have trouble understanding what is said to them. They may show undue sensitivity to loud noises, textures (including different textures of food in the mouth and different materials in clothing), touch and light. 6 to 10 In addition to the previous section, as academic work starts in earnest, the dyspraxic child will not necessarily have trouble with reading and spelling (unless they have other difficulties as well, like dyslexia, whcih is not uncommon) but they may be terrible day dreamers and very slow to do anything. You may give them instructions to do something only to find that it hasn't been done! This can be very frustrating for the parent/teacher. The child may have difficulty holding a pencil - again due to low muscle tone. Holders to help correct pencil grip may help, but they may still have an awkward grip. They may not be able to press hard snough with a pencil to begin with and later may then press too hard. The dyspraxic child is very likely to struggle with letter formation and size and keeping them uniform, as well as spacing them. They wiill move their hand from the shoulder joint, as they have difficulty with coordinating movement in the small joints of the hand. This will lead to a less natural way of angling the paper in relation to the writing tool. See here for help with this: www.skillsforaction.com/handwriting/overview-difficulties-joint-hypermobility-DCD-dyspraxia Some have trouble with shape and space maths problems too. Dyspraxic children will most probably need help structuring their days and remembering all the things that need doing. You will spend a lot of time trying to work out if they have avoided chores, are being lazy (as special needs children are just as prone to laziness as all children can be) or have genuinely forgotten! In fact, you will probably spend much time trying to establish whether they are not working because they are lazy, or whether the work is too hard and finding the right balance. You will chide them, probably often incorrectly! But this will be the biggest problem; we know they must fit into a world that will not excuse them because of a label. So we will want to try and help them to manage their problems so that work is done, chores are carried out etc.... We cannot let them say 'I'm dyspraxic, therefore I can't........!". Mistakes are better than inaction! Your child will not be harmed from the occasional misjudgement, they will be more harmed from being overprotected from the real world. Children at this stage may not like playing group games, as often they can't follow the rules. If they do, they may just completely get the wrong end of the stick! If they do play with others, they might insist on strict adherence to rules and get upset if other children do not keep to them. They may be quite possesive of their own toys, as interference from others who are unpredictable makes it harder for them to keep control. Dyspraxic children tend to prefer playing in isolation or with well trusted children. They can easily get frustrated/angry/upset if things go wrong and you will find yourself chiding them for being selfish, not sharing and wondering why this child finds it so difficult! Basically, because the child has such difficulty planning, they like to be in control. They cannot just adjust and be as flexible in their thinking as other children. Therefore they can come accross as immature, however in other situations they may seem more mature, especially as they may prefer adult company. You may also notice a lack of natural eye-contact too. 10 plus As dyspraxic children mature, they will overcome some of their physical movement problems and even learn to manage social difficulties, however the time-keeping problems seem to hang on. Work maybe completed late, or not at all! This can make exams difficult, in addition to the practical problem of not being able to write quickly, some dyspraxics still have comprehension problems and also may find it hard to transfer knowledge from a known setting to an unknown. They may find it hard having to sit the exam in an unknown setting, with possible unexpected things happening as they are easily distracted. So you can see that this is not just a movement problem, or a case of children 'being clumsy' as is often cited. We also see that some syptoms do overlap with autism, however there is a difference as dyspraxia is diagnosed by the underlying movement difficuties and the social ones are secondary, but with autism the social problems are the main emphasis, with movement being secondary, if it is present. So what can be done? Well, most dyspraxic children will make progress in all areas, but they will need more help, more explanation and more time and encouragement. They will need skills broken down into smaller steps and will not just pick things up through trial and error as others may do. They may have other issues besides dyspraxia, like autism, or dyslexia. If you are at all unsure about your child's development, speak to your health visitor or doctor. Further information can be found here: www.dyspraxiauk.com/ dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/dyspraxia-children/symptoms/
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Welcome!After studying for an Early Years Specialism degree (B.Ed. Hons), and teaching in mainstream education, I home-educated my own children, after my husband and I were persuaded of the need to take responsibility for bringing up our children 'in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' (Ephesians 6:4) We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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