Affecting 3% to 6% of children, dyspraxia
dyspraxia
is a learning disorder that disrupts their movements, both in everyday life and in their school activities: struggling to coordinate their movements, children are unable to manage the time and space around them. From clumsy gestures to motor disorders, how can we distinguish between simple clumsiness and this developmental problem?
Clumsiness in small everyday gestures
Clumsiness varies greatly from one child to the next: he may drop objects he picks up, bump into things or miss steps, have difficulty tying shoelaces or buttoning a sweater, and so on.
These difficulties reflect poor body management. Traditionally, when a child has a problem developing fine motor skills and coordination, it’s because they weren’t stimulated enough in their early years. Just like a child who has been in a stroller for too long and is struggling to learn to walk. Hyper-stimulation can also cause motor development to skip stages, leading to clumsiness.
In such cases, it’s best not to point out these difficulties (especially in public), but to suggest activities to work on walking and/or fine motor skills.
When clumsiness comes to school…
When a child’s clumsiness extends beyond everyday life and is repeated in other areas, it’s important to keep an eye out for certain signs that may suggest dyspraxia. Although symptoms vary considerably from one child to the next, there are a few symptoms that are indicative of this learning disability:
- Children don’t like construction games, preferring imaginative play;
- Graphic activities are complicated: he cannot draw a triangle and his drawings are poor and badly structured;
- Handwriting is slow and clumsy, with ill-formed letters and messy, untidy notebooks;
- The child has difficulty manipulating objects (keys, scissors, compasses, etc.) and engaging in leisure activities requiring a certain degree of coordination (playing marbles, musical instruments, bicycles, etc.).
Dyspraxia, the handicap of clumsy children
Traditionally, a 5-year-old can reproduce a triangle, copy his first name, dress himself and use a knife. By age 6, he can write his first name in cursive, copy a rhombus, comb his hair, blow his nose, spread bread… By age 12, his skills are those of an adult.
If you suspect that his clumsiness goes beyond the norm, don’t hesitate to confide your doubts to a doctor or pediatrician , who will refer you to a specialist – be it a speech therapist, occupational therapist or psychomotor therapist.
With an early diagnosis of dyspraxia, your child can benefit from appropriate re-education that will offer solutions to overcome some of his difficulties. For the most severe disorders, he can benefit from
accommodations
to enable them to attend school more peacefully.
