What is Dyspraxia?

In children with dyspraxia, there is a breakdown in one or more of the steps required for motor skills, which impacts a wide range of activities. “Praxis” is the complicated set of steps your brain and body take to get something done. Praxis relies on our sensory systems working effectively. Difficulties with praxis usually reflect underlying sensory processing problems. Praxis is not something you either use or don’t use; we utilize praxis more when we are performing a novel activity and less when it is something we have done millions of times. Most of the time we are unaware of or only slightly aware of this process. It takes the following steps:

1. Ideation: Simply, this is knowing what to do and having some idea of how to go about doing it. This is part of the function in play when you set out to perform or even think about performing a sequence of complex movements, especially new ones—for instance, learning a new dance.
2. Planning: This is the process your brain and body go through to determine how to do something—for instance, how to move your feet for the new dance. This process is active throughout an activity since the brain and body are constantly revising the planning phase in order to accommodate new information, such as what your partner’s feet are doing or the beat of the music. Often, when people use the term motor planning, they are referring to the whole process of praxis. Motor planning is the second step of praxis.
3. Execution: This is the body’s ability to act on the idea and the planning that went on in the brain. Execution is dependent upon an extensive amount of communication between the brain’s motor centers (motor cortex) and the muscles—for example, moving your feet and hands gracefully to all the new dance maneuvers.

Children with dyspraxia may have the following characteristics:

• Difficulties with fine motor skills for arts and crafts, scissor activities, and handwriting
• Difficulties with gross motor skills, such at throwing, kicking, or catching a ball, or jumping with both feet off the ground
• Difficulties with activities that require bilateral coordination (the use of both hands together for one activity)
• Always reluctant or refuses to try a new activity
• Insists on being last for familiar or new motor activities
• Acts like the class clown who is always falling or tripping
• Has difficulty imitating movements for games such as “Simon says”
• Does not follow verbal directions for motor movements well
• Often lacks ideas for play