Complaints & connections · borters.ch
Dyspraxia
Neither laziness nor lack of practice: with dyspraxia every movement must be thought through — with time and aids, a great deal succeeds.
Also known as: dyspraxia · DCD · developmental coordination disorder · motor coordination difficulty · clumsy child syndrome
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Developmental coordination disorder — DCD, commonly called dyspraxia — affects the planning and control of movement. Muscles and nerves are healthy; what is missing is smooth coordination: each movement has to be thought through instead of running automatically. Around 5 to 6 percent of children are affected; boys are identified more often, girls later because they quietly avoid tricky activities. It already shows in kindergarten: the child bumps into everything, dislikes drawing and cutting, battles zips, buttons and shoelaces, falls while running and avoids climbing frames and ball games. In the early school years handwriting joins in — cramped, uneven, slow, often painful — along with trouble keeping lines, managing exercise books and copying at speed. In Switzerland assessment starts with the paediatrician, who rules out other causes, then occupational therapy, physiotherapy and the school psychology service. What works is task-oriented practice of exactly the skills daily life needs, adapted aids and formal accommodations such as a keyboard instead of handwriting, or extra time. Many of these children are verbally strong, funny and persistent. The assumption that they simply lack practice or sportiness misses the point — the problem is not willingness but movement planning.
Practising the exact task that bothers — laces, writing, cycling — works better than general exercises.
Grips, thicker pens, less copying and, from a certain age, a keyboard save a lot of energy.
Extra time, marking that ignores handwriting, handouts instead of copying and a laptop in tests are well justified.
Swimming, climbing, riding or cycling without competition build strength and confidence — team sport is not required.
Show, name and practise each step separately — and give the child as much time as it genuinely needs.
Velcro instead of laces, elastic waists instead of buttons, fixed places for things: not giving up, just saving energy.
“Be careful” never helps, because control is not a matter of will. Calmly wiping up and moving on helps more.
Many children with dyspraxia are verbally able, inventive and persistent — that belongs in the picture of the child.
There is no drug. What works is practising the task itself rather than general coordination: a child learns to ride a bike by riding a bike — not through balance exercises with no connection. This approach proved superior to general perceptual programmes in studies. Two to three sessions a week over ten to twelve weeks show measurable progress, tied to the area practised and not transferring automatically.
About five to six in a hundred children are affected, boys more often. The diagnosis is made from about five years, because movement development varies greatly before that. In about half the difficulties persist into adulthood — the idea that it is grown out of applies only to some. A task-based exercise programme shows measurable progress over ten to twelve weeks, in exactly the activities practised.
The child seems markedly clumsy, catches table edges and spills more often than peers.
Buttons, zips and laces stay hard for a long time despite much practice.
The pen is gripped hard, the hand hurts, copying takes longer than for everyone else.
Catching, throwing and balancing are hard — the child withdraws from PE and the playground.
Cycling, swimming or tying laces come much later and stay shaky for long.
Packing the school bag, following a sequence and keeping track of materials often overwhelms — that belongs to the picture.
A lack causes exhaustion, problems concentrating, low mood and forgetfulness — and it is one of the few causes that can be found and put right with a single blood draw.
Low values are common with low mood. Whether correcting it lifts the mood is not settled; that it makes sense in winter at our latitudes is.
An empty store causes tiredness, lack of drive and problems concentrating long before any anaemia becomes visible. In women of childbearing age the most common single reason.
A building block of the cell coverings in the brain. The studies on mood are inconsistent; as part of a good diet it belongs there anyway.
Needed for making the messengers in the brain. It runs short with alcohol and under certain medicines — and it is always judged together with B12.
The Oxford-Durham trial with a mixture of EPA, DHA and a little evening primrose oil over three months found in children with movement clumsiness no improvement in motor skill, but one in reading and behaviour. It is an honest partial result, not proof of what it is mostly quoted for.
Someone who dislikes moving is outdoors less — and muscle weakness from a low vitamin D level strengthens exactly the clumsiness at issue. A circle that a single measurement lets you start on.
Clearly worthwhile and well supported when deficient — vegan, older adults, certain drugs. No energy boost without a deficiency.
Clearly effective with proven deficiency, useless without. Take only with a documented deficiency — excess is harmful.
In pregnancy clearly established against neural-tube defects, otherwise mainly with deficiency. Can mask a B12 deficiency — watch both.
Eating is a fine motor task. Thick-handled cutlery, a non-slip mat and food that stays on the fork make the meal possible — that is occupational therapy at the table, not a diet.
Task-based practice works better than general training: practise the concrete movement needed — tying shoes, cycling, writing. Occupational therapy works exactly this way.