Dyspraxia

[YoopreMama]

I am going through the GAPS book (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), and one of the conditions that the program purports to help is dyspraxia.

Not knowing what that was, I looked it up.     It's very interesting; it pulls together a lot of behavioral symptoms that I wouldn't have thought to group together.

Being that GAPS was initially designed to help a child w/ autism, you can see how it would also help dyspraxia.

http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/services/dys_glance.php

What is Dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia is generally recognised to be an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. Associated with this may be problems of language, perception and thought. Other names for dyspraxic include Clumsy Child Syndrome; Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD); Minimal Brain Dysfunction: Motor learning Difficulty; and Pereceptuo-motor Dysfunction.

What causes Dyspraxia?

For the majority of those with the condition, there is no known cause. Current research suggests that it is due to an immaturity of neurone development in the brain rather than to brain damage. People with dyspraxia have no clinical neurological abnormality to explain their condition.

How would I recognise a child with Dyspraxia?

The pre-school child

    * Is late in reaching milestones e.g. rolling over, sitting, standing, walking,
       and speaking
    * May not be able to run, hop, jump, or catch or kick a ball although their
       peers can do so
    * Has difficulty in keeping friends; or judging how to behave in company
    * Has little understanding of concepts such as 'in', 'on', 'in front of' etc
    * Has difficulty in walking up and down stairs
    * Poor at dressing
    * Slow and hesitant in most actions
    * Appears not to be able to learn anything instinctively but must be taught
       skills
    * Falls over frequently
    * Poor pencil grip
    * Cannot do jigsaws or shape sorting games
    * Artwork is very immature
    * Often anxious and easily distracted

The school age child

    * Probably has all the difficulties experienced by the pre-school child with
       dyspraxia, with little or no improvement
    * Avoids PE and games
    * Does badly in class but significantly better on a one-to -one basis
    * Reacts to all stimuli without discrimination and attention span is poor
    * May have trouble with maths and writing structured stories
    * Experiences great difficulty in copying from the blackboard
    * Writes laboriously and immaturely
    * Unable to remember and /or follow instructions
    * Is generally poorly organised

[BJ_BOBBI_JO]

I dont think I remember ever hearing about dyspraxia.

It kind of sounds like ADD/ADHD and dyslexia.

The book sounds interresting.

[YoopreMama]

Yeah, BJ, those are other things that GAPS has been giving improvement to.  The book is like none other that I've read.  Anyone w/ a history of antibiotics use (especially as a child)  should read it.

I thought dyspraxia sounded like a British thing  .  I've got a social work background and DH is in counseling, and he wasn't familiar w/ it either. 

I recognize some of those patterns in my childhood...I'll be curious to chart any related effects of the program.

[hi_itsgwen]

I looked this condition up yesterday as well after looking at the GAPS book webpage.  A friend of mine has a little one (6 mos.) that is being tested for Mitochondrial disease.  The symptoms of Dyspraxia sound very similar.

[Livelovely]

I am a retired speech language pathologist and I worked with kids with dyspraxia.  It's speech and motor problems that effect children much the same as apraxia effects an adult after a stroke.  Mitochondrial and dyspraxia are different and  I wouldn't even cross the two personally.  Remember that children aren't text book.  I worked with several childen who were very coordinated but had dyspraxic speech.  It's nothing like ADHD/ADD.

[infojunkie00]

My oldest has dyspraxia.  I typically hear it as apraxia in the US. You might also see/hear it referred to as praxis or motor planning disorder.

[mhoward1999]

I have a student with apraxia. I am a regular classroom teacher in a Christian school. I have only had the intro to special ed classes that were part of my BS Ed. Training. Those of you who have dealt with this, are there any online resources that you have found particularly helpful? When I have tried to research this, I have only found highly technical articals that are geared toward specialists who are familiar with the jargon.

[WellTellMommy]

I also am reading GAPS ,it is a must read, I understand now that all things are related back to the gut flora and balance, how the entire body is nourished or malnourished by the proper function of the gut and how that affects every other organs ability to function.
DD,6yrs has (mommy diagnosed) Dyspraxia,  She can be looking at you while you tell her a job to do(like- go to the bathroom and pick up the clothes you left on the floor) the whole time your talking to her she'll be playing with her fingers, swaying her arms, looking around behind her. Once you have given the instructions and say go, she'll run to the bathroom, running into the doorway tripping on the clothes that she is to pick up and then stand swinging up and down from the hip reaching forward to get the clothes only to knock herself down again then once she has finally gotten the clothes she has distracted herself with other thoughts so instead of putting the clothes away she takes them to the living room and puts them on the couch as she falls onto the couch.
I am in no way being critical of my child but this is common way of dispraxic children, There bodies have literally given them (drugged) actions.   
Most people in passing at church or the store see a normal child but when you are sitting still and the child in front of you seems to be falling, tripping, dropping, with little control of his/her own accord the gut is in dysbosis and the most common symptoms of abnormal bodily flora are eczema, asthma, digestive problems,and anaemia. Less common are ADD, ADHD, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, and Autism. 

[boysmama]

A few months ago I dug into different neurological processing issues to try to understand what I could do to help our son. Dyspraxia was the closest "diagnosis" I could find. As was mentioned everyone else sees a normal, if quiet, reserved child. He is definitely improving. So much improvement!
 He did not exhibit any language impairment. He is actually advanced in launguage and speech, but was text book on the motor impairments and processing descriptions for dyspraxia. He overreacted to every stimulus as a baby.
 He showed signs of mixed dominance as he matured. As we allowed that to correct itself he is now a dominate leftie. (He loves to use pencils, crayons, markers - anywhere. It wasn't enough to stop the poor choice in where to write. After getting nowhere in that track we started correcting the "bad" choice with the "proper" response of getting out his drawing pad.)
 In the last two months I discovered he is profoundly dyslexic. At times he will not only write his name or copywork completely backwards (mirror imaged) but also upside down. This happens in "episodes" that correspond with motor skill and stimulusreaction/ comprehension relapses, some of these are definitely diet related, but not all.

Perhaps dyspraxia is not the best description for his basic dis-functions. I'm still learning in this.

The best part of his story is that it takes very little one on one time to bring improvement. Practice and consistency are what matter with him. As I watch him, I believe that common sense and God  open my understanding to routines and exercises that stimulate the weak areas in his nervous system and brain. He is three, and in many ways once we overcome a hurdle he shows more intuitive, intelligent response than my 4 year old. Does that make sense?

It was a great moment for me when I realized that some of my son's unacceptable behaviors and limitations would go away by themselves as I addressed his neurological needs. Too often kids like this are either overly disciplined (which won't work because they can't process or comprehend the action) or ignored and left to their own whims- equally unprofitable!

[boysmama]

It may be important to note that dyspraxia and apraxia are similar but not interchangable terms.
Here is what I understood...
Dys- is usually used for an impairment  or partial loss where A- is a total absence (in a child) or complete loss (adult).