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What is ‘Dyspraxia’?

Dyspraxia is an impairment or an immaturity of the organisation of movement and therefore practic ability: an ability to carry out non-habitual interaction with the environment.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, the term describes a child with function that is not explainable by other disabling conditions such as brain injury.

The United Kingdom Dyspraxia Trust describes it as an immaturity impairment organisation of planned movement with associated problems of perception and occasionally speech.

PRAXIS                                                                 Practic ability is one of the essential aptitudes that enables us ‘to do’ in the world!

Praxis is a unique human skill and is one of the most critical links between brain and behaviour.

Praxis is to the physical world what speech is to the social world (Ayres, 1985).

‘PRAXIS’ is that ability by which we figure out how much to use our hands to play with toys, use a pencil, or fork, build a tower, tidy up our bedroom or engage in many ‘humam’ occupations.

Practic ability includes three components (Ayres, 1979,1989)

* Ideation ~ forming the idea & knowing what to do

* Motor planning ~ organising the sequence of movement involved in   a task

* Execution ~ carrying out the planned movements in smooth           sequence

A child with Dyspraxia often has trouble with simply organising his or her own behaviour.

Associated with this there may be problems with language, perception, thought and emotional behaviour.

All of these problems will manifest themselves in learning activities and the basic occupations for a child are writing, reading, spelling and daily activities such as eating, dressing and washing.

* difficulty using body in space [clumsy]

* poor fine motor skills [handwriting]

* slow in dressing

* disorganised ‘behaviour’

* daydreaming [often late & forgetful]

* temper tantrums

* easily frustrated

* low self-esteem & self-confidence

* avoidance behaviour

* vulnerable to distractions

* non-focused

Therapy in Praxis Limited uses different evaluation procedures, including standardised tests, to identify the child’s major underlying dysfunctions in the following areas :

a. Sensory Processing ~ Therapy in Praxis will assess the various aspects of the sensory processing status of the vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile and visual systems, and the major behaviour manifestations of deficits in integration of the sensory inputs from these systems.

b. Praxis ~ Praxis is the ability by which an individual works how to use their hands and body in skilled tasks like playing with toys, using a pencil or a fork, building a structure, straightening up a room, or engaging in many other activities and occupations.

Practical ability includes three components :

[i]  ideation

[ii] motor planning

[iii] execution

c. Perceptual Functions ~ the child’s ability to process, analyse and interpret the information that he / she gets through different sensory channels. We also look at the level of conscious / unconscious awareness of his / her own body in terms of knowing the body parts, the relative positions of the body parts and the ability to orientate oneself within spatial environments.

d. Motor Co-ordination ~ assessment of the basic components of different gross and fine motor co-ordination skills and how this may affect a child’s motor performance and learning.

e. Pre-Academic Skills ~ based on the results of assessment of sensory processing, praxis, perceptual function and motor co-ordination, we can correlate it with a child’s difficulties in academic learning, including ‘P.E.’.

f. Handwriting ~ involves motor control [or more specifically the practic ability] and perceptual functions, especially the ability to interpret what he / she sees and puts it into motor expression, i.e., visual-motor integration.

g. Emotion / Behaviour ~ the child may present with a spectrum of emotional behavioural problems which may or may not be related to his / her dysfunction in certain sensory systems, i.e., hyperactive tactile system. Therapy in Praxis may use behavioural therapy techniques to establish the desirable behaviours, e.g., attention / concentration.

h. Activities of Daily Living [A.D.L.] ~ assessment of a child’s independence in basic self- care abilities, [e.g., dressing, eating, toilet, personal hygiene], home management skills, social skills and community skills.

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