Early signs
An early sign of dyspraxia may be that your child does not reach the normal stages of development. For example, they may take longer than expected to roll over, sit, crawl, stand, walk, speak and toilet train. Sometimes, a child with dyspraxia does not get past the crawling stage.
Your child's speech may be very immature or impossible to understand in their early years, and language and vocabulary skills may take longer to develop.
Symptoms in childhood
As your child gets a bit older, they may find it harder than other children of the same age to join in playground games, to perform fine (detailed) movements, such as handwriting, and to process thoughts and concentrate.
Problems with movement and coordination
Your child may find the following difficult:
- Playground activities such as hopping, jumping, running and catching or kicking a ball. They often avoid joining in because of their lack of coordination and may be at risk of becoming unfit.
- Games including shape-sorter toys, building blocks and jigsaws.
- Using scissors and colouring pens. Their drawings may appear to be scribbled and more childish than they should be for their age.
- Fine movements, such as handwriting, tying shoelaces, doing up buttons and using a knife and fork.
- Keeping still. They may swing or move their arms and legs a lot and find it hard to sit still.
- Walking up and down stairs.
- Getting dressed.
A child with dyspraxia may have a tendency to bump into objects or drop things, and they may fall over a lot. This makes them appear awkward and clumsy.
Problems with concentration and learning
At school, children with dyspraxia tend to do much better on a one-to-one basis than in a group.
- They may have a poor attention span, finding it difficult to concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes.
- They may not automatically pick up new skills and need encouragement and repetition to help them learn.
- They may have problems with writing stories and copying from the blackboard.
These problems can be upsetting for the child at school.
More information
For a full list of symptoms, see External links.
