DYSPRAXIA or DEVELOPMENTAL COORDINATION DISORDER
(DCD)
What is
Dyspraxia or DCD?
Dyspraxia or DCD means difficulty with co-ordination. This
can be with large movements of arms and feet making people appear
‘clumsy’. With small (fine motor control) movements difficulties can be
experienced with pen handling skills including writing and drawing. It can
often be labelled as ‘dysgraphia’, which is difficulty in drawing and
writing.
There are varying degrees of clumsiness and some children
have problems with fine motor skill, some with balance and others with the
larger movements of the limbs (e.g. awkward catching or throwing or
running). Some can have all these problems.
The World Health
Organization states in their 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV', that
it affects 6% of all children to varying degrees, while other estimates
vary between 10-20%.
The cerebellum is involved in using sensory
information to allow the learning of movement skills to take place. In
other words the cerebellum is responsible for controlling the body’s
output control to the muscles, by utilizing all the incoming sensory
information. These sensors include external senses like vision and hearing
as well a body detectors like touch (tactile) sensation and internal
movement sensors such as movement detectors in the joints and muscles.
This allows trial and error learning from birth which allows us to
become more and more able to perform complex skills, many to the point of
automaticity.
With Dyspraxia there is often a difficulty in
coordinating the left and right sides of the body and also between the
upper and lower body. This can lead to those who have Dyspraxia often
avoiding sporting activities, especially if ball-handling skills are
required. Sometimes there is also heightened sensitivity to noise and
touch.
Some individuals with Dyspraxia have speech difficulties, such
as stuttering or slurring words when young. This can be referred to as
oral dyspraxia or verbal apraxia. Many speech symptoms are managed through
early speech therapy training but this does not deal with the underlying
cerebellar disorder.
Dyspraxia can often occur in children born
prematurely and results in an immaturity of brain and cerebellar
development. This means that nerve messages are often not being
transmitted properly. Many people find ways of masking the symptoms or
circumventing it as they get older, using avoidance techniques.
Children with Dyspraxia often do not crawl as a babies. However many
seem to have normal early milestones such as walking. This is because many
early skills are inborn but take time to show because the brain of a
newborn child is very under developed. Consider an animal which is born
with a more mature brain and can walk and run almost immediately without
learning the skill. It is only when more skilled movements are needed
(e.g. running or using buttons or cutlery that one often notices dyspraxia
for the first time.
It is also the time when the cerebellum has
developed and can start to aid the learning process.
Key features of Dyspraxia
Children with dyspraxia can exhibit the following
characteristics:
-
Small objects can be difficult to pick up in younger
children;
-
Unable to properly complete jigsaws / sorting games;
-
Difficulty in holding a pencil / handwriting;
-
Cannot sort shapes or sort toys effectively;
-
Throwing / catching games are difficult;
-
Low muscle tone (can lead to lax joints)
-
Difficulty in dressing or tying shoelaces;
-
Using a knife and fork is uncoordinated;
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There is confusion in laterality – child changes between
right and left hand and may not develop a fully dominant side
-
Inability to recognize danger;
-
They may tire easily;
-
They may demonstrate general irritability or limited
social skills;
-
There is often poor posture or body awareness;
-
Often poor spatial awareness;
-
They may give inappropriate verbal responses or seem
immature.
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Limited ability to concentrate;
-
Late development in language;
-
Difficulty in understanding prepositions e.g.
(in/on/behind /underneath)
-
Unable to follow sequential instructions;
These are the commonest symptoms described in dyspraxics.
Some are rarer than others, some are elements of other problems like
dyslexia or ADHD.
How can Dore help?
The exercises given on the Dore treatment program will
make a big difference, even though at the beginning this can seem like an
insurmountable challenge to the individual with Dyspraxia. Children can
improve dramatically as the exercises encourage the neural pathways in the
brain to form correctly.
The program at Dore is tailored to each
child’s specific needs.
The exercises are not the same as those given
by Occupational Therapists or Physiotherapists which usually involve
practicing specific skills which are poor. Ours are designed more to
stimulate the cerebellum and hence improve the function in this specific
area. Once this has been established learning new skills come more easily
without having to practice them excessively. So any existing skill will
improve more quickly as well as the learning of brand new skills in the
future.
Try our quick and free assessment to see if the program
could help you or call our Client Support Team for more information on
877-855-DORE.