Dyspraxia
What is Dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia, also known as Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD), affects movement and physical co-ordination.
In adults, dyspraxia can affect:
- co-ordination, balance and movement
- organisation and time management skills
- how you learn new skills, think and remember information
- fine motor skills like your ability to write, type or use small objects
- how you deal with emotions and social situations
- speech and language
- perception - how our senses interpret things like distinguishing sounds
Dyspraxia often co-occurs with other learning differences, such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism.
Many people with dyspraxia are creative, determined and good at problem-solving.
Dyspraxic Strengths
Often people with dyspraxia only hear negative things about themselves so we’ve shared a few of the many dyspraxic strengths that the accessibility team see below.
- Creative thinking
- Problem-solving skills
- Unique perspectives on tasks and situations
- Ability to think outside the box
- Empathy and emotional intelligence
- Verbal communication skills
- Good listening skills
- Logical
- Persistence and determination
- Adaptability
- Resilience in facing challenges
- Strong work ethic
- Heightened sense of humour
- Strong sense of justice and fairness
- Exceptional patience with others facing challenges
- Resourcefulness
- Strong imagination and visualization skills
- Appreciation for and creation of art
- Heightened musical appreciation or ability
Common challenges faced by students with dyspraxia
Students with dyspraxia may find everyday tasks more demanding than their peers including:
- Taking longer to learn new skills and absorb information.
- Struggling with organisation, time management, and prioritising tasks.
- Finding it difficult to structure written work and check for spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors.
- Experiencing issues with balance and coordination.
- Difficulty processing and organising information effectively.
- Challenges with fine motor skills, impacting handwriting, typing, craft activities, lab work, and using apparatus and rulers.
- A poor sense of direction, including confusion between left and right and difficulty reading maps.
- Losing or forgetting things.
- Heightened sensitivity to light, sound, smell, taste, and other sensory stimuli.
- Difficulty filtering out background noise, particularly in group discussions.
- Increased risk of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
With the right support and strategies, students with dyspraxia can develop ways to navigate these challenges successfully. You can read more about challenges for adults with dyspraxia on the Dyspraxia Foundation USA website.
