Dyspraxia
What is Dyspraxia?
, affects movement and physical co-ordination.
In adults, dyspraxia can affect:
- co-ordination, balance and movement
- organisation and time management skills
- how you learn new skills, think and remember information
- fine motor skills like your ability to write, type or use small objects
- how you deal with emotions and social situations
- speech and language
- perception - how our senses interpret things like distinguishing sounds
Dyspraxia often co-occurs with other learning differences, such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism.
Many people with dyspraxia are creative, determined and good at problem-solving.
Dyspraxic Strengths
Often people with dyspraxia only hear negative things about themselves so we’ve shared a few of the many dyspraxic strengths that the accessibility team see below.
- Creative thinking
- Problem-solving skills?
- Unique perspectives on tasks and situations?
- Ability to think outside the box?
- Empathy and emotional intelligence?
- Verbal communication skills?
- Good listening skills?
- Logical?
- Persistence and determination?
- Adaptability
- Resilience in facing challenges?
- Strong work ethic
- Heightened sense of humour?
- Strong sense of justice and fairness?
- Exceptional patience with others facing challenges?
- Resourcefulness?
- Strong imagination and visualization skills?
- Appreciation for and creation of art
- Heightened musical appreciation or ability?
Common challenges faced by students with dyspraxia
Students with dyspraxia may find everyday tasks more demanding than their peers including:
- Taking longer to learn new skills and absorb information.
- Struggling with organisation, time management, and prioritising tasks.
- Finding it difficult to structure written work and check for spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors.
- Experiencing issues with balance and coordination.
- Difficulty processing and organising information effectively.
- Challenges with fine motor skills, impacting handwriting, typing, craft activities, lab work, and using apparatus and rulers.
- A poor sense of direction, including confusion between left and right and difficulty reading maps.
- Losing or forgetting things.
- Heightened sensitivity to light, sound, smell, taste, and other sensory stimuli.
- Difficulty filtering out background noise, particularly in group discussions.
- Increased risk of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
With the right support and strategies, students with dyspraxia can develop ways to navigate these challenges successfully. You can .