If you’ve ever heard the term dyspraxia and wondered what it actually means, you’re definitely not alone. It’s one of those words that sounds complicated, but the challenges associated with it are often things parents notice every day.
Simply put, dyspraxia is difficulty with planning, organizing, and carrying out motor movements. A child may know exactly what they want their body to do, but getting their body to perform the movement smoothly and efficiently can be much harder.
Dyspraxia is often referred to as a motor planning difficulty. Motor planning is the brain’s ability to come up with a movement, figure out how to perform it, and then carry it out successfully. When a child has difficulty with motor planning, everyday tasks can require significantly more effort.
What Does Dyspraxia Look Like?
Every child is different, but some common signs of dyspraxia may include:
- Frequently tripping, bumping into things, or appearing clumsy
- Difficulty learning new motor skills
- Challenges with playground equipment
- Trouble riding a bike, catching a ball, or participating in sports
- Difficulty with self-care tasks such as dressing, using utensils, or managing fasteners
- Struggles with handwriting, coloring, or pre-writing skills
- Taking longer than peers to learn multi-step physical tasks
- Appearing frustrated when trying something new that requires coordination
It’s important to remember that these challenges are not related to effort or motivation. In many cases, children with dyspraxia are working just as hard, if not harder, than their peers to complete the same tasks.
How Does Dyspraxia Affect Daily Life?
Motor planning impacts much more than what we may initially think of – like sports or handwriting – many daily activities require a child to coordinate multiple movements at the same time. Things like climbing onto a swing, putting on a shirt, navigating a busy playground, or completing a craft all require the brain to organize and sequence movement.
Because these tasks take more effort, children with dyspraxia may become fatigued more quickly, avoid challenging activities, or become frustrated when things don’t go as planned. Over time, difficulty keeping up with peers can also affect confidence and willingness to try new things.
A lot of the time, we notice dyspraxia during play. Play is one of the main ways kids learn about their environment, develop new skills, and figure out how their bodies move through the world around them. When motor planning is difficult, play can sometimes feel overwhelming.
This might look like a child getting ‘stuck’ halfway up a rock wall, or freezing because they’re unsure of what to do next. It can also look like not initiating a new playground activity at all because the task feels too big or complicated to figure out. Often, it’s not that they can’t do it. They just need help breaking it down into smaller, more manageable pieces.
How Can Occupational Therapy Help?
Occupational therapy focuses on helping children participate more successfully in their everyday activities.
For children with dyspraxia, OT works on meeting the child where they’re at and breaking skills down into steps that feel achievable and successful. As their confidence, body awareness, and motor planning improve, we’re able to build on those skills to support greater independence during play and everyday activities.
Treatment may include activities targeting:
-Motor Planning
Practicing obstacle courses, movement sequences, and novel activities that encourage a child to plan and organize their movements.
-Coordination
Working on bilateral coordination skills, balance, body awareness, and timing.
-Fine Motor Skills
Developing the hand skills needed for tasks such as handwriting, manipulating small objects, fasteners, and using utensils.
-Sensory Processing
Many children with motor planning difficulties also benefit from sensory input that improves body awareness and helps them better understand where their body is in space.
-Independence with Daily Activities
Practicing real-life skills such as dressing, feeding, grooming, and navigating routines more successfully.
The Good News!
One thing I always like parents to know is that dyspraxia does not mean a child can’t learn a skill. It usually means they need more practice, more repetition, and sometimes a different approach to learning that skill.
With support, many children make significant progress in their coordination, confidence, and independence. The goal of occupational therapy isn’t perfection. It’s helping children develop the skills they need to participate more successfully in the activities that are meaningful to them.
At the end of the day, every child develops at their own pace. Understanding how motor planning impacts a child’s daily life is often the first step toward giving them the support they need to succeed.