Indicators of Dyspraxia/DCD

Potential Indicators of Dyspraxia/DCD in Pre-school Age Children may include:

• Taking longer to reach developmental milestones e.g. rolling over, sitting, walking and speaking
• Experiencing difficulty with physical activities at the same level as their peers
• Requiring additional time to learn new tasks instinctively
• Taking longer to learn dressing skills and needing additional time to dress themselves
• Alternative or rigid pencil grip
• Line and shape drawing may be below age expectations.
• Benefiting from additional support with body awareness and directionality ie: in, on, behind,in front of, etc
• Challenges with participating in activities such as catching or kicking a ball.

Potential Indicators of Dyspraxia/DCD in School Age Children may include:

• Challenges experienced during the pre-school years may still be evident
• Responding significantly better on a one-to-one basis (rather than larger groups)
• Handwriting may be below that of their peers, despite significant effort
• Copying larger pieces of text from the board can be challenging or take longer
• Finding subjects that involved greater organisation and multiple steps such as mathematics or essay writing to be more challenging than their peers
• Organisation of more complex tasks, such as tidying a bedroom or packing a school bag, may be challenging.
• Gravitating towards less dynamic or single person sporting activities rather than open-play games
• Attending to tasks for an extended period of time
• Fatigue, particularly when faced with complex tasks
• Requiring additional time to complete tasks, particularly those that have multiple components.
• Challenges with social interactions and cues

Potential Indicators of Dyspraxia/DCD in Adults may include:

Indicators of Dyspraxia in Adults are varied and are very often masked by adults who have spent many years adapting to a society that has not recognised dyspraxia. While indicators are varied they may include challenges in some or multiple of the following areas:

• Skills of everyday independent living and organising ones day e.g. dressing, shaving, applying makeup, cooking.
• Difficulty with fine motor skills, such as writing, typing, or using small objects.
• Challenges with balance, coordination, and tasks requiring motor skills, like playing sports or driving.
• Learning new skills and remembering information, which can affect work and home life.
• Social challenges, including functioning in social situations and dealing with emotions.
• Co-occurrence with other conditions, such as ADHD, dyslexia, or autism spectrum disorder.

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