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Children
with Special Needs -> What is Dyspraxia ?
Dyspraxia is
a neurological problem that mainly affects children during
their developmental stage. The simplest of tasks that
require muscular movement is a heartbreaking struggle
for many kids afflicted with this disorder.
What is
dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia is
a disorder commonly seen in many physical activities.
A person with dyspraxia has a hard time understanding
sensory messages and interpreting these messages into
actions. As a result, the person suffers difficulty in
forming ideas, planning, and executing body movements.
Many physical activities become a struggle to learn and
retain. And when they finally perform these actions, it
is often clumsy and awkward in execution.
Dyspraxia can affect a person
in various ways. It could occur during the different stages
of physical, emotional, intellectual, social, language,
and sensory development. It impairs the normal learning
process. How a person is affected by dyspraxia varies,
too. One day, a specific physical movement is easy to
perform, but becomes a very difficult task the next day.
Dyspraxia is commonly defined
as an immaturity or impairment of organizing movements.
Problems of language, thought, and perception are usually
related to dyspraxia.
What causes dyspraxia?
There is often no obvious
cause for dyspraxia. However, brain injuries, improper
cellular development while in the womb, and shortage of
oxygen during birth are listed as probable causes. Dyspraxia
could occur later in life, after a person suffers from
brain damage due to stroke, accident, or illness.
What are the recognizable
signs of dyspraxia?
During the early formative
years, a child suffering from dyspraxia may have difficulty
learning to walk, run, and jump. Walking up and down a
flight of stairs and dressing up is not easy for them,
too. Developing the ability to speak is very slow for
these kids. They are prone to unintelligible and incomprehensible
speech. In worse cases, the child's ability to speak may
be permanently impaired.
When the child goes to school,
mathematics and writing stories are often very difficult.
Poor handwriting is among the most prevalent signs of
dyspraxia. Others common symptoms include the following:
short attention span, disorganization, inability to tie
shoelaces, tendency to avoid games, and slowness in dressing
themselves up.
During their adult years,
routine tasks become very difficult for them to perform.
Driving, riding bicycles, personal grooming, and certain
household chores are a cause for constant struggle. They
walk in a clumsy manner and encounter problems with sports,
especially those that involve the usage of bats. They
often bail out of work or things that are hard for them
to do.
What else should you
know about dyspraxia?
Children with dyspraxia
seem to appear normal like other children, which is why
it is often considered a hidden problem. Up to ten percent
(10%) of the general population are afflicted with dyspraxia.
Around two percent (2%) of these are classified as very
severe cases. Males are four times more prone to suffer
from dyspraxia than their female counterparts. Dyspraxia
could be hereditary.
How is dyspraxia cured?
There is no possible cure
for dyspraxia, but those affected can still achieve their
full potential after overcoming their difficulties. Therapy
is a good way of alleviating dyspraxia. Speech and language
therapists, occupational therapists, specialist teachers,
and psychologists could be relied upon to help patients
with dyspraxia. The specialists needed for therapy could
vary, depending on the specific problem needs. A set of
activities and exercises are given by these therapists
to help patients in learning how to perform physical tasks.
Reading and writing skills could also be developed with
the help of therapists. Advice on how to modify a patient's
behavior is also given.
Children
with Special Needs -> What is Dyspraxia ?
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