Understanding Developmental Dyspraxia

Imagine living in a world where your body doesn't respond the way you want it to. You are extremely intelligent, but the messages from your brain to the rest of your body seem to get lost or changed along the way, causing you to have trouble doing simple things that other people take for granted, such as tying your shoes, cutting your food and brushing your hair and teeth. What could cause an otherwise healthy, intelligent person to become trapped in a body that is hard to control?

Developmental Dyspraxia is a hidden handicap that affects as many as one child in 20, with males being affected approximately 70% of the time; however, these figures are guestimates as there are currently no sufficient studies to confirm the actual number. People with dyspraxia look like everyone else, and in most ways they are, but they often find it harder to do things than a "normal" person does. Developmental Dyspraxia is, according to www.dyspraxia.org.nz, "a neurologically based disorder of the processes involved in praxis or the planning of movement to achieve a predetermined idea or purpose, which may affect the acquisition of new skills and the execution of those already learned. More specifically, it is a disorder of praxis, or the process of ideation (forming an idea of using a known movement to achieve a planned purpose), motor planning (planning the action needed to achieve the idea), and execution (carrying out the planned movement)."

Very little is known about the causes of developmental dyspraxia, but it has been determined to be a mild form of brain damage. In older people, it can be acquired through stroke or head trauma. More often, it is acquired during brain development in the prenatal period, and then the condition is worsened in infancy. www.socsci.ulst.ac.uk/education/scte/sen/resources/dyspraxia.pdf provides an explanation of what happens during this developmental period. Researcher Gerald Edelman suggests that during infancy, "…the developing infant experiments with movements, connections between neurones in the cerebral cortex are reinforced as a result of "successful" outcomes (such as grasping a toy or balancing a brick) because the movement sequences that lead to success are practised again and again. In short, neuronal links form as the infant consolidates motor movements. In dyspraxic children, it is suggested that this reinforcement of neuronal connections in the cerebral cortex is somehow impeded, leaving the brain in a state of immaturity" (Bowens and Smith, 12).

Dyspraxia can affect all areas of development, gross motor, social, language, emotional, sensory, and it can also affect the normal learning processes. People with developmental dyspraxia are of normal or, more often, above average intelligence, yet they find many daily activities difficult. Riding a bike is challenging if not impossible. Pouring a drink from a pitcher into a cup is an exercise in frustration. Handwriting is laborious and the finished product is almost always sloppy and hard to read, even for the person who wrote it.

Dyspraxia seems to be a defect of the motor neurons in the brain. We know that while most of the cells in the body divide and reproduce themselves, the neurons of the brain do not. They are formed and then normally do not divide again (Starr, 130).

Is it possible for persons afflicted with dyspraxia to lead normal lives? Yes, it is, but it requires much hard work and dedication from a lot of people. There is still much research to be done into the causes and treatments of developmental dyspraxia, but for the majority of people, occupational therapy seems to offer promise, as do therapeutic activities performed at home. In school-aged children, some school districts offer OT during school time, and there are steps that can be taken by teachers to help ensure the classroom success of children with dyspraxia. It's not an easy road to travel, but with hard work, dedication and love, the journey can be successful.