Dyspraxia - Article Example

Dyspraxia No. of pages – 4 – 6530 Dyspraxia is a disease that is recognized to an impairment of the correct and proper movement of the body. In association with this, there would be other problems connected to perception, language and thought. Several other names are used to describe “Dyspaxia”, such as “Clumsy child syndrome”, “Minimal brain dysfunction”, “Motor- learning difficulty”, “Developmental co-ordination disorder”(DCD) and “Perceptuo – motor dysfunction”. The word Dyspraxia is a Greek word – Dys- meaning “bad” and “praxis” meaning “action” or “deed”. Causes of Dyspraxia: Clinically speaking there is no known cause for Dyspraxia but recent study and research shows that this situation happens when the neurons of the brain remain immature or underdeveloped. People suffering from such a condition have no clinical neurological abnormalities to explain their condition. In some cases Dyspraxia could be caused by a stroke or trauma leading to brain damage. A person with this condition is unable to perform certain purposeful gestures and movements due to his sensory and motor impairment. Dyspraxia may also be present in people suffering from Autism Spectral Disorder, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia. Difficulties faced by children in main-stream schools: Motor Skills: A child suffering from Dyspraxia and having to attend school is one of the most difficult things a child can face. The problems a child faces are endless. Firstly, a child finds it very hard to hold his body naturally in a standing or sitting position. He may find it difficult to run, walk, hop, jump or kick a ball like that of his other classmates. When it comes to climbing up or down a flight of stairs, it becomes a very long- drawn and tedious task. He falls over quite often as he has poor control over his body. He is always hesitant in his actions and does not act immediately and spontaneously. Since his motor-system is affected he finds it extremely cumbersome to hold a pen or a pencil between his fingers and write or draw. His writing is poorly formed and is almost sketchy. Therefore his work is very untidy. Co-Ordination and Body Image: A child having Dyspraxia is always unsure and anxious about his environment. He has a very poor sense of dressing and does not know how to behave in company. Therefore he has few or no friends at all. When it comes to class-room learning, the child is faced with even more challenges. Another challenge the child faces in school is his ability to grasp things when the teacher teaches him. In fact he is unable to follow instructions or understand what is being taught. It is possible for him to learn things only on a one-to-one basis. He is not capable of learning instinctively but rather he has to be taught slowly and exclusively. A child with Dyspraxia is easily distracted and not capable of giving his attention for a long time. Since he is unable to co-ordinate the movement of his body and his mind well, he finds it extremely difficult in solving puzzle games, board games or other small mental sums. A child with Dispraxia is at a great disadvantage when it comes to timing and balance. He is unable to co-ordinate a sequence of happenings because of his poor sense of timing and balance. Speech and Language: The child’s linguistic and phonological skills are impaired and therefore it poses a great difficulty when it comes to speaking or learning the language. He is unable to understand concepts of “in”, “on”, “under”, “behind” etc…and is very slow to pick up small words and phrases. He also finds it difficult to articulate and pronounce words that are used in everyday speech. Reading poses another big problem for a child with Dispraxia. His grasping is very slow when compared to his peers and he is unable to reproduce small sentences that are taught. His reading is poor as he is unable to pronounce words correctly and clearly. He is unable to co-ordinate or associate objects, places or any matter taught to him immediately because his mind is going at a very slow pace. He learns things much slower than his peers and his learning is only gradual and not immediate like the other normal kids. Physical Activities: A Dispraxic child has the difficulty of physically handling a pair of scissors, compass box or paint. Hence his work is never neat and tidy but on the other hand it is course and untidy. He is unable to pick up things when they fall down as his movements are not streamlined or coordinated. Activities involving cutting of paper, or pasting pictures or even painting a scenery causes the child a lot of anxiousness. He is very likely to drop paint or paste on his work or litter the places with a lot of paper. Though he may think of doing it the right way, yet he is unable to do so because of his lack of coordination of both mind as well as motor skills.On the playfield he finds activities like throwing or catching a ball very difficult and the same is with dressing himself or eating his food. If left to eat by himself the child would make a mess because he is unable to perform such an activity. General Difficulties: One of the general difficulties he faces is spatial awareness. He finds it hard to differentiate between the left and the right. This problem would continue to take place even when he grows up. He would also find it hard to gauge between the speed and motion of an object. Dyspraxics also have trouble in determining the distance between them and an object. Very often they knock over things or bump into people and fall over. This is due to their poor sense of timing and balance. At times they are either over-sensitive or not too sensitive to external stimuli such as light, sound or touch. But to put it in a nut shell it is extremely difficult to cope or manage with a child suffering from Dysplaxia References: Dyspraxia Foundation www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/services/dys_glance.php NCLD - Dyspraxia www.ncld.org/LDInfoZone_Factsheet_Dyspraxia.cfm Wikipedia- The Free Encyclopedia www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyspraxia Dyspraxia Foundation www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk Dispraxia Home Page www.dispraxiaireland.com Read More