Dyspraxia is also known as developmental coordination disorder. Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder. The symptoms of this disorder include clumsiness, trouble remembering, judgement, processing, and other cognitive abilities. Diagnosis usually occurs in childhood, but continues well into adulthood. There is currently no cure, but the sooner an individual is diagnosed, the more promising therapy and other treatments are with improving their symptoms and helping them learn to cope. When those affected by the disorder are not diagnosed, this increases the likelihood that may be unemployed, abuse drugs and alcohol, and have poor interpersonal skills.
Types of Dyspraxia
Motor – Motor dyspraxia is the most common type. The symptoms of this form of dyspraxia include challenges developing gross motor skills, fine motor skills, motor planning, and coordination. An individual with this disorder may have trouble being able to walk up and down the stairs, kicking a ball, or writing. Some signs to look out for include awkward body positions, sensitivity to loud noises, delayed crawling and walking, and trouble feeding. Occupational and physical therapists are recommended to help improve these symptoms.
Verbal – A person affected by verbal dyspraxia difficulties speaking. The challenge for those affected is coordinating the muscles used to speak to make the movement they need to make to produce specific sounds. For example, knowing where to place your tongue when creating the “th” sound and being able to do so. Some signs to look for include challenges making sounds, limited vocabulary, and slow speech. Speech pathologists and therapists are recommended to improve these symptoms.
Oral – A person who is affected by oral dyspraxia has difficulties coordinating the movements of areas such as the lip, tongue, and palate. Though this sounds like the same challenges those with verbal dyspraxia face, the difference is, verbal dyspraxia causes challenges with producing speech while oral dyspraxia causes challenges when speech is not involved. For example, an individual with this form of this disorder may have a hard time being able to stick their tongue out. Individuals with verbal dyspraxia may or may not have oral dyspraxia.