Dyspraxia - Kickstart Learning

Dyspraxia (also know as Developmental Coordination Disorder) results in difficulties with muscular coordination and movement. The muscles themselves are normal but the brain doesn't have the same control over them as other people's. Up to five percent of children in the UK have some degree of dyspraxia and it is currently diagnosed more often in boys than in girls (Lingam et al. 2009).

The Dyspraxia Foundation list the following signs that might suggest a child is dyspraxic:

may not be able to run, hop, jump, or catch or kick a ball as well as their peers can
has difficulty in keeping friends or judging how to behave in company
has little understanding of concepts such as ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘in front of’ etc.
has difficulty in walking up and down stairs
poor at dressing
slow and hesitant in most actions
appears not to be able to learn anything instinctively but must be taught skills
falls over frequently
poor pencil grip
cannot do jigsaws or shape sorting games
artwork is very immature
often anxious and easily distracted
avoids PE and games
does badly in class but significantly better on a one-to-one basis
reacts to all stimuli without discrimination and attention span is poor
may have trouble with maths and writing structured stories
experiences great difficulty in copying from the board
writes laboriously and immaturely
unable to remember and/or follow instructions
is generally poorly organised