Dyspraxia facts for kids

Dyspraxia is a chronic disability that affects coordination. It is also known as developmental coordination disorder. Around 2-6% of people have dyspraxia. Four times as many males than females have it. It is sometimes called 'clumsy child syndrome', but adults have it too. People with dyspraxia (Dyspraxics) may have other disabilities such as ADHD or autism.

There is no single cause of dyspraxia. It may not be diagnosed until later in childhood or sometimes teenage years. It cannot be cured: people who have it will live with it for life, however people are able to overcome it and find alternative ways to accomplish tasks which may usually be difficult without support.

Signs

• Finding it hard to tell between left and right
• Finding it hard to learn to tie shoelaces, ties or put on tights
• Bad balance and poor self-awareness some children's heads go fuzzy and forget things
• Messy/untidy, hard-to-read handwriting (some use a computer)

Associated disorders

People who have developmental coordination disorder may also have one or more of these conditions:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (inattention, hyperactivity, impulsive behaviour).
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Dyscalculia (difficulty with mathematics),
• Dysgraphia (an inability to write neatly and/or draw),
• Dyslexia (difficulty with reading and spelling),
• Hypotonia (low muscle tone)
• Sensory processing disorder
• Specific language impairment (SLI)
• Visual perception deficits

Famous people with dyspraxia

Daniel Radcliffe has dyspraxia.

See also

In Spanish: Dispraxia para niños