Handwriting

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Dyspraxia
You may have seen a child in your classroom
having difficulties with some or all of the
following .

• Getting changed/P.E

• Handwriting

• Copying from the board

• Remembering instructions

• Social interaction

• Cutting and sticking

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Dyspraxia
Did you know..
Dyspraxia is a disability which affects every
aspect of daily living?
The cause is not known but it is thought by
some that lack of oxygen during birth may be
a factor.
Statistics suggest 80 of those affected are
male.
The effects of dyspraxia can be extreme, some
people are mildly affected and may appear a
bit clumsy. Others may be severely
dyspraxic and have difficulties with speech and
language, logical thinking and social
interaction as well as gross and fine motor
problems.
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Difficulties associated with
Dyspraxia

• poor short-term memory

• poor eye contact

• speech language problems

• immaturity chooses to play with younger
  children

• cannot tolerate having hair washed/cut

• hypersensitive to touch/sound

• poor pencil grip - presses too hard or too softly

• poor body/spatial awareness

• cannot hop, skip, ride a bike or swim
• (dislikes water on his face)

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Difficulties associated with
Dyspraxia
Cont . . .

• tires easily due to the extra effort involved
  in coping with everyday tasks

• perceptual problems usually diagnosed by an
  Occupational Therapist after testing, this
  affects how the child views the world. For
  example, poor depth perception may mean stairs
  seem like bottomless pits to a child with
  dyspraxia

• withdrawn/behavioural problems the pupil may
  never contribute to class discussions or may call
  out all the time, may appear to have no friends
  or may present with extremes of behaviour ranging
  from tears to what appears to be temper.

• gross and/or fine motor difficulties these are
  predominant in dyspraxia, praxis meaning
  movement and dys meaning poor.

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Proprioception? - What on earth is that?
UNDERSTANDING OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY TERMS

• Proprioception body awareness. Where our body
  parts are in relation to the space around us.

• Visual Perception how we perceive and
  internalise information from our environment..
  Judgement of distance, depth, height etc,
  difficulties may manifest in the form of poor
  pencil control, gross and fine motor skills
  (throwing and catching a ball etc).

• Tactile Perception touch. How
  things feel. Hypersensitivity may mean the child
  will not touch finger paints or clay etc, they
  may overreact to even the slightest touch.
  Hyposensitivity means they do not respond to
  touch and may find handling objects/materials
  difficult..

• Auditory processing how we internalise sound.
  Problems may mean information is not
  decoded and/or remembered correctly. The child
  may appear confused and may not be able to block
  out competing background noises. Sequencing
  difficulties may result in a language disorder
  (Semantic Pragmatic).

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If you suspect a child may have
Dyspraxia
Parents must always be informed first of any
concerns you may have, they may be worried
themselves but are not sure what to do.
REMEMBER dyspraxia is a medical condition and
therefore requires a medical diagnosis. There may
after all be other reasons why a child appears
clumsy, e.g immaturity or lack of experience.
The earlier a child is diagnosed the earlier
treatment can begin. This will probably take the
form of Occupational and/or Speech therapy.
So how can you help in the classroom?
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Strategies for the Classroom

• sit the child away from windows or the door to
  minimise distractions.

• make sure the child is facing the board.

• give instructions in small steps with visual
  cues if necessary
• (use gesture or actually run through the
  task with the child).

• make sure the child only has the equipment
  needed for the
• current task, e.g if he doesnt need
  coloured pencils ask him to put them away.

• Use different coloured dots next to each line
  of writing on the board
• - this aids tracking

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Strategies for the Classroom - continued

• put a green dot to show the child where to
  start writing and a
• red dot to indicate where they need to
  finish - this will reinforce
• left to right directionality

• use positive reinforcement to encourage
  turn-taking and
• appropriate behaviour.

• modify your language and ensure the child
  understands
• the task/instructions.

• make sure clothes are not left inside out after
  changing for P.E.
• and guide the child when getting changed,
  help them sequence
• what goes on first etc.

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More

• to aid development of poor short-term memory
  play Kims game, place items on a tray, show the
  child, cover, remove an item - ask child whats
  missing

• poor pencil grip Use small whiteboards and dry
  erase pens, it is easier for the child to make a
  mark so letter formation and left to right
  directionality can be practised with different
  coloured pens ( thereby increasing motivation).

• poor social skills Buddy System, encourage
  other pupils to give their support, this may
  help build self-esteem and improve social skills.
  It will also ensure the child with dyspraxia is
  not always last to be picked for team games etc.

• poor organisation Sequencing stories/games,
  use sequencing cards/activities to teach the
  child how order is important in enabling us to
  master most tasks efficiently.
• You should also receive a programme from the
  Occupational Therapy/Speech and Language Therapy
  services which can be followed as part of the
  differentiation in the classroom.

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Most of all, be patient. These children have to
try so much harder to do the everyday tasks we
take for granted. Thank you.