Odd as this may seem to make a Dyspraxia page…on my Dyspraxia blog, I did it for many various reasons:
1) It gives Dyspraxia its own page full of detail in the same format as the other learning differences making it all neat and tidy.
3) Why should I leave out Dyspraxia, considering it is what this blog is about ‽
(dis-prax-see-uh)
[In a nut shell] Dyspraxia is the “Inability to perform co-ordinated movements”~ Symptoms/Attributes ~
| Symptoms/Attributes | Examples/Explanation |
| Gross Motor Control Co-Ordination Skills | |
| Poor Balance | Example- Falling over, disorientation etc |
| Poor Posture | Weak muscle tone and may even have flat feet |
| Poor Integration of the two sides of the body | (Basically difficulty with the whole body working together as one) |
| Poor hand-to-eye co-ordination | Example-Difficulty catching a ball, driving a car etc |
| Lack of rhythm | Problems with dancing, etc |
| Exaggerated Additional Movements | Arms flapping while running |
| Clumsy Movements | Stumbling |
| Lack of special awareness | |
| Tend to trip, fall, bump in things and people | |
| Fine Motor Control Co-Ordination Skills | |
| Lacking in manual dexterity | (The skill in using hands) |
| Poor hand controlling skills | Poor pen grip and find writing across a line difficult |
| Difficulty grasping-Too hard/too soft | Difficulty with tools and other implements (Cutlery, Mathematics instruments etc.) |
| Difficulty with dressing & similar actions | Doing up buttons, tying shoelaces, cleaning teeth |
| Poorly Established Hand Dominance | |
| Difficulty in Hand Dominance | May use different hands for different tasks or switch during tasks |
| Speech & Language | |
| May talk continuously & repeat themselves | |
| Difficulty in organising content and sequence of speech | Make say wrong words or speak words in the wrong order |
| Unclear speech or unable to pronounce some words | |
| Speech having an uncontrollable pitch, volume and rate | |
| Eye Movement | |
| Tracking (The act of moving just the eyes) | Difficulty in following moving objects with eyes-may move head excessively. Tend to lose place while reading. Also eyes may not move smoothly but ‘jump’ |
| Poor relocation | Cannot look quickly from one object to another (Like TV to magazine etc |
| Perception-Interpretation of Different Senses | |
| Poor visual perception | |
| Over sensitive to light | Painful/uncomfortable in bright environments |
| Under/over sensitive to touch | Dislike in being touched and/or loose or tight clothing (Tactile defensiveness) |
| Under/over sensitive to smell and taste | |
| Under/Over sensitive to temperature and pain | |
| Difficulty in disguising sounds from background noise | Like on the telephone and cannot hear the other person because of sounds (music, construction, office noises etc) |
| Lack of special awareness | Can result in clumsiness (see clumsy) |
| Lacking in sense of direction, time, distances, weight, speed etc | Can result in difficulty driving, cooking etc |
| Lacking in sense of direction; difficulty knowing left from right | Map reading skills are poor, giving/receiving directions is difficult |
| Learning, Thought and Memory | |
| Difficulty in planning and organising thought | Faced with multiple/several things to be done and don’t know what to do in what order |
| Poor memory-especially short term | May lose/forget things often |
| Difficulty in staying focused/staying on task | Can be messy/cluttered |
| Slow to start and finish a task | |
| Difficulty with concentration-easily distracted | May wonder about aimlessly/daydream |
| Poor sequencing | Maths, reading, spelling, writing etc can be hindered |
| May only do things properly one at a time but try to many things at once | |
| Difficulty in following instructions | Especially when multiple instructions are given at the same time |
| Accuracy problems | Difficulty with copying writing, movement, sounds etc |
| Emotion & Behaviour | |
| Difficulty in listening, maybe tactless and interrupt frequently | Especially in large groups |
| Difficulty in reading body language/picking up non-verbal clues | |
| Poor judgement of personal and others’ voice, tone, pitch and rate | |
| May take things literally also difficulty in understanding jokes | |
| Slow to adapt to new/unpredictable situations | May even ovoid the situation(s) altogether |
| Easily frustrated-wants immediately gratitude | Frustration when things go wrong |
| Tend to opt out of difficult situations/tasks | |
| Tendency to have ‘Good days’ and ‘Bad days’ | |
| Tend to get stressed, depressed and anxious easily | |
| May have difficulty sleeping | |
| Prone to low self esteem & emotional outbursts | |
| Prone to phobias & fears | |
| Prone to obsessions, compulsions & addictive behaviour | |
~ STATISTICS ~
10% of the UK population have Dyspraxia – 2% of those 10% suffer with it severely.
So to put it simple- For every 1000 people: 100 will have some degree of Dyspraxia and of those 100, 2 will have it severe.
~
Dyspraxia is 4 times more likely to occur in males than females
~
5% of children in the UK have Dyspraxia
~
Professionals think that there is at least 1 Dyspraxic child in every classroom- whether they are diagnosed or not is another matter altogether.
~
Dyspraxia on Mother’s side? 37% chance of it being passed down…
Dyspraxia on Father’s side? 60% chance of it being passed down!
Dyspraxia on Both sides? 82% chance of it being passed down!
~
Dyspraxia is identified/picked up mostly between the ages of 7 and 10, however due to the age of discovery some people in their 30s and above are only being diagnosed now. For the newer generations, we are lucky that Dyspraxia has had a chance to become more known.
~
Dyspraxia, in theory, has been known for about 100 years!
~ FACTS ~
Video games have been proven to help those with Dyspraxia!
~
Dyspraxia is not contagious except for a chance of being passed down the generations, which does not count as contagious anyway; that’s called Genetics
~
Dyspraxia is not curable, but would you want it cured?
~
~ MYTHS~
Dyspraxia doesn’t exist: WRONG! Of course it does
Dyspraxics can’t dance: WRONG! (we have our own dance :D)
Dyspraxia is like Dyslexia: WRONG! They are two completely different learning differences just with similar letters in the name.
Dyspraxia is usually outgrown by adolescence: KIND OF (Mostly from coping strategies, but it can’t really be outgrown and can resurface as new/harder situations come around)
Most people without Dyspraxia are afflicted with similar attributes like Dyspraxia: PERHAPS-But nowhere near the extreme, (I tire of people thinking they’re like that without really knowing)
~ Useful Websites & Blogs ~
DYSPRAXIA BLOGS
Blogger of Something (Life of Alex) lifeofalexguttridge.wordpress.com
Monique’s Blog on Dyspraxia (and other related conditions) Don’t Dis My Ability
Dealing with Dyspraxia: dealingwithdyspraxia.blogspot.co.uk/
Dyspraxic Fantastic Text Version: Fantastic Dyspraxic (Text Version)
Natalie’s Blog: www.theblogwithonepost.wordpress.com
www.whyiwonttalk.com / whyiwonttalk.wordpress.com/
Rosie’s Blog: thinkoutsideofthecardboardbox.blogspot.co.uk
alittlemoreunderstanding.wordpress.com
Jake Borretts’ Writing Blog (Facebook): Crohn’s Disease and Dyspraxia
DCD and Me dcdandme.wordpress.com/
Remus’ Blog on Dyspraxia: A Life with Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia test(s):
Neuroknowhow.com
(They also specialise in Dyslexia and ADHD as well!)
Dyspraxia Charities:
http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/
(They offer information and guidance to Dyspraxia so it is worth a look!)
Dyspraxia Information Websites & Pages:
See information about Dyspraxia from the NHS
NHS INFORMATION (FOR ADULTS)
NHS INFORMATION (FOR CHILDREN)
Dyspraxia Support Groups:
Dyspraxia Support group (13-25) Dyspraxia & DCD Foundation Youth Group
Dyspraxia Forums:
To talk to other people with Dyspraxia is a great way to learn more, cope and get support. However it’s not all about Dyspraxia and you can talk about other things as well!
Dyspraxic Teens
Dyspraxic Adults
(NOTE: Please read their terms and conditions and also note I do not have any control over the topics and comments posted so please be advised there might be things there that might cause offence)