Dyspraxia & Sensory Integration Dysfunction in Children

Dyspraxia is a disorder than affects a child's ability to develop gross and fine motor skills. Dyspraxia is classified as a sensory integration disorder. A sensory integration disorder occurs when a child's nervous system is unable process senses from their body or their environment properly.

Early Dyspraxia Symptoms

• Infants with dyspraxia may suffer from colic symptoms as a baby. They may also have milk allergies and other feeding difficulties. Motor development may be delayed, resulting in late rolling, sitting and crawling. They may also engage in repetitive motions such as moving arms and legs or head banging. They may also be difficult to potty train and may be delayed in speech development.

Childhood Symptoms of Dyspraxia

• Children with dyspraxia may appear clumsy and uncoordinated. They may have difficulty sitting still for more than a few minutes and may have difficulty sustaining attention for more than two or three minutes at a time. These children may be very emiotional and have frequent tamtrums. They may not like to be touched and may dislike the feel of some clothing items. Dyspraxia may interfere with basic skills such as eating with utensils, buttoning and handwriting.

Significance

• According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, approximately 6 percent of all children exhibit some characteristics of dyspraxia. Of those that have dyspraxia symptoms, 70 percent are boys.

Considerations

• Dyspraxia may coexist with other conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia. Children with dyspraxia may also experience depression, low self-esteem, emotional problems, behavioral problems and mental health problems.

Treatments

• Dyspraxia may be treated with physical, occupational and speech therapies. The best results occur when treatments begin during early childhood.