Why would an Assessment be necessary?

If a person was experiencing some or all of the following symptoms of Dyspraxia:

Symptoms of Dyspraxia/DCD in Children

Children with Dyspraxia tend to fall loosely into two groups 1) Those with high muscle tone and low sensitivity who tend to be overactive, loud and over responsive and 2) Those with low muscle tone and high sensitivity who tend to be underactive, slouching, quiet, under responsive. Both groups experience difficulty with coordination, balance, planning, social skills and confidence. The symptoms of dyspraxia can vary between individuals and may change over time. Any one child might only experience a few of the following symptoms.

• May tend to be over-active or under-active
• Frequently bumps into objects and trips or falls
• Unusual gait (way of walking or running)
• Difficulty with pedalling a tricycle or learning to cycle
• Lack of any sense of danger or overly cautious (jumping from heights etc)
• Messy when eating, face gets more dirty than average
• Avoids constructional toys, such as jigsaws or building blocks
• Poor fine motor skills. Difficulty in holding a pencil or using scissors.
• Drawings may appear immature
• Difficulty using knife and fork may prefer to eat with their fingers,
• Clumsy movements often spills drinks or knocks things over
• Difficulty with school routines, e.g. sitting still, lining up, organising his/her lunch
• Difficulties in Physical Education lessons
• Slow at dressing. Difficulty with shoe laces, buttons, belts etc.
• Difficulty with forming letters, slow awkward handwriting
• Immature drawing and copying skills
• Limited concentration and poor listening skills
• Inability to remember more than two or three instructions at once
• Slow completion of class work
• Hand flapping or clapping when excited
• Tendency to become easily distressed and emotional
• Often lacks confidence
• Difficulties forming and retaining relationships with other children
• Sleeping difficulties, including wakefulness at night and nightmares

Symptoms of Dyspraxia/DCD in Teens

The symptoms of Dyspraxia can vary between individuals and may change over time. Any one person might only experience a few of the following symptoms.

When a child with Dyspraxia moves up to secondary school it may expose their social weaknesses, as they are now the youngest in the school. Difficulties in keeping up with their peer group will now become more and more obvious and they are at real risk of becoming isolated. Teenage language and chatter is fast, witty and difficult to keep up with.

In some cases Dyspraxia is not identified until the child reaches secondary school. They may have managed to cope in their previous schools with only minor difficulties. The structure of secondary schools with different teachers and movement from class to class may prove to be more difficult for the young person.

• Difficulty keeping up with the Teacher in class
• Difficulty following instructions
• Difficulty coping with the organisational skills that are required in secondary school, books/locker/classes
• Difficulties with physical activities especially team sports.
• Difficulty with eye-hand and eye-foot co-ordination (i.e. cookery, science, art woodwork)
• Poor posture, body awareness and clumsy or awkward movements
• Tendency to lose or forget things
• Poor concentration in class
• Poor short term visual and verbal memory - copying from the board, following instructions
• Writing difficulties both with style and speed - frequently students have an awkward pen grip
• Difficulty getting the information from his/her mind down in writing, e.g. essays or long answers
• Particularly sensitive and easily upset
• Problems with time keeping, needs constant reminders
• Often have poor exercise tolerance, tire easily and may require longer periods of rest and sleep
• Extra sensitive to external stimulation e.g. different levels of light, sound and smell
• Particularly fussy about food
• Overly aware of the ‘feel’ of clothes, labels, fabric, tightness etc
• Lack of awareness or over-cautious of potential danger.
• Feeling of inadequate or different
• Tendency to be a loner and have limited development of social skills

Symptoms of Dyspraxia/DCD in Adults

Dyspraxia/DCD is a condition only really recognised in the last 20 years or so. This means there could be many adults with dyspraxia who were not diagnosed as children. Over many years adults with poor coordination and organisation skills tend to find ways around many of these problems and focus on their strengths. For example an adult does not have to play sport or cycle or study if they don’t want to and there are many hobbies and types of work that adults with Dyspraxia can manage very well. However, under the surface there is often an acute awareness of an awkwardness, an on-going struggle to keep up, a self-consciousness an over whelming tiredness and a feeling that others don’t know or understand how hard life can be

The symptoms of dyspraxia can vary between individuals and may change over time. Any one adult might only experience a few of the following symptoms.

Difficulty with organisation and day-to-day tasks in the home or at work, e.g.

• Self-care, hair styling, make-up, cutting nails, shaving
• Choosing stylish clothes, matching, colours, sizing
• Writing, typing, filing
• Riding a bike and playing sport
• Driving a car, meal preparation or DIY
• Shopping, remembering what to get, sell-by dates etc
• Meal preparation as it involves multi-tasking.
• Laundry, sorting colours and fabrics for washing
• Hanging clothes efficiently, ironing
• Making appointments and remembering them
• Time management
• Clumsiness of knocking things over, spilling or tripping really causes embarrassment.
• Adults with dyspraxia may also have social and emotional difficulties, as well as problems with time management, colleagues, neighbours etc.
• Poor sense of direction difficulty finding places.
• Has a tendency to start classes/courses but not finish them
• Limited sense of fashion, choice of clothes, matching etc.
• Great difficulty with multi-tasking, e.g. checking a child’s homework while cooking the dinner
• Weak short-term memory causing the individual to lose or forget their keys, phone, bag, wallet etc.
• Weak at dealing with the unexpected
• Slower than average in processing information or instructions
• Tires more easily than average.
• Lacking sensitivity or over sensitive
• Problems with budgeting