10 Dyspraxia Symptoms
Dyspraxia, also known as developmental coordination disorder, is a chronic neurological disorder that begins in early childhood. It is a common condition that affects both children and adults. This condition is formally recognized by international organizations and should be distinguished from other motor disorders such as stroke or cerebral palsy.
Different individuals may vary in presentation with changes depending on their life experiences and environmental demands. Since they face difficulties that affect their everyday life, it also affects education and employment. Symptoms of dyspraxia involve both the physical, emotional, and mental aspects.
While it is a disorder that may occur on its own, it is also frequently associated with other conditions such as dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and other language, emotional, or behavioral difficulties. Although there is no known cause of dyspraxia, research has suggested that it may be attributed to the immaturity of neuronal development in the brain.
Symptom #1: Poor Short-Term Memory
Short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of ready information. In contrast, long-term memory holds information for a longer duration. The limited duration of short-term memory suggests that the contents retained decay spontaneously with time. It is approximated to be able to retain information for about 15 seconds.
In patients with dyspraxia, it has been observed that they have poor short-term memory in comparison with others. This also contributes to their learning difficulties.
Symptom #2: Hypotonia
Hypotonia refers to a state of low muscle tone where there is often reduced muscle strength. It is not a disorder but rather a manifestation of various diseases that potentially affect muscle strength or motor nerve control.
In some individuals with dyspraxia, the presence of hypotonia and low muscle tone also detrimentally affects their balance and worsens coordination. Hypotonia can also contribute to speech difficulties as they experience issues in the mouth and jaw that potentially affects pronunciation and lowers self-esteem.
Symptom #3: Panic Attacks
Panic attacks refer to periods of intense fear that may result in shaking, palpitations, breathlessness, numbness, sweating, chest pain, and more. Individuals experiencing panic attacks often have an intense fear of losing control. Panic attacks can occur unexpectedly. However, psychological stress and smoking have been found to increase the risk of a panic attack.
Before diagnosis, disorders such as heart disease, hyperthyroidism, substance abuse, and hyperparathyroidism should be ruled out. Treatment options involve counselling, medications, and relaxation techniques. In individuals with dyspraxia, since they are more sensitive to their surroundings such as noise, light, and temperature, along with a higher tendency for anxiety, they are also likely to experience panic attacks.
Symptom #4: Poor Gross Motor Control
Gross motor skills are generally acquired during childhood. Examples include standing up, walking, running, climbing up stairs, jumping, and more. These skills are acquired and improved throughout childhood with continued refinement during their many years of development. Gross movements come from large groups of muscles and involve whole body movement.
In individuals with dyspraxia, poor gross motor control can result in poor balance, poor posture, difficulty with sports, difficulty driving, clumsy movements, and a tendency to fall and trip. To compensate, they may also have exaggerated “accessory movements” to help with balancing such as flapping arms when they are running.
Symptom #5: Difficulty with Fine Motor Control
Fine motor skills are based on the dexterity and coordination of small muscles usually seen in the hands and fingers. The development of fine motor skills helps with the growth of intelligence and will develop throughout the various stages of human development. Fine motor skills involve the use of fingers, hands, wrists, toes, and feet. Examples include actions such as picking up objects between the finger and thumb, blinking, and writing.
Since individuals with dyspraxia experience difficulty with fine motor control, they also have poor handwriting. Children with dyspraxia should only be judged against their best efforts in handwriting. Progress should be encouraged in a relaxed way. There are also some exercises that may help improve handwriting.
Symptom #6: Delayed Language Development
In children with dyspraxia, their speech may be unintelligible or immature during their early years as there is delayed language development. This may be due to their difficulty of coordinating movements required in the production of spoken language or proper phonation resulting in persisting speech difficulties. This is also known as developmental verbal dyspraxia and may either occur in isolation or together with other general motor issues.
Children with dyspraxia who experience speech or language difficulties should see a speech and language therapist as soon as possible. The therapist will assess, identify, and help with rehabilitation and support of the child.
Symptom #7: Difficulty with Reading and Spelling
Individuals with dyspraxia can experience difficulties with reading and spelling due to their poor listening skills and limited concentration. This can also be attributed to their literal use of language. While they may be able to read well, they may be unable to understand the underlying concepts in the language.
Due to articulation challenges and lack of self-confidence, children with dyspraxia may be reluctant to read out loud. Exercises may be beneficial for these individuals where a series of exercises can be provided for teachers, parents, and therapists to help children with dyspraxia. Research has found that children who have developmental verbal dyspraxia with speech issues persisting beyond 5 to 6 years of age have a higher risk of difficulties with literacy. This risk is further heightened if there is positive family history with language, speech, or learning challenges.
Symptom #8: Difficulty with Daily Activities
Since individuals with dyspraxia experience difficulties with both gross and fine motor control, they also experience difficulties with their daily activities such as in cooking, driving, household chores, and grooming. It may also be hard for them to cope with work. This may mean that those with more severe cases of dyspraxia, or those who have not learnt to cope as well, would need occasional help from another individual.
Once considered to be a disorder of childhood, dyspraxia is now recognized to affect individuals of all ages, even into adulthood. However, since the awareness of dyspraxia in adults is limited, online support groups and forums are increasingly available for adults with dyspraxia to share their coping strategies and experiences.
Symptom #9: Issues with Perception
Patients with dyspraxia may have issues with perception. For example, they can be oversensitive to light and noise. They can have difficulty distinguishing sounds from other background noise. These individuals may also have an aversion or dislike being touched. They can be picky or fussy with clothing where they have a specific preference for a certain fitting or fabric. Other increased senses can involve temperature, smell, taste, and pain.
Since they have a lack of awareness regarding spatial relations and space, they may often bump or trip into others. They also have a poor sense of direction as they have trouble distinguishing left and right.
Symptom #10: Emotional Issues
Some of the emotional issues that patients with dyspraxia may experience are a higher tendency to become depressed, stressed, and anxious. This can result in trouble with sleeping. They also have a lower self-esteem and may have emotional outbursts, fears, phobias, compulsions, obsessions, and addictive behavior.
Patients with dyspraxia also have difficulty listening to others and encounter issues with teamwork. They may take things literally and have difficulty picking up nonverbal cues or different tones in voice.
